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We use highly a focused laser beam incident on a carbon coated coverslip to create microcavitation. Full optical control of the radii of the bubbles is attained. Multiple bubbles can also be created and their size changed independently. The dynamics of such multi-bubble systems are studied. These bubble systems generate strong flows such as Marangoni convection and also large thermal gradients. Since the size of the micro-bubbles is highly dependent on the temperature, we anticipate that these systems can be used for precise temperature control of samples. These methods are of use when the knowledge of exact and local temperature profiles are of importance. Furthermore, since bubble expansion can generate orders of magnitude more force than conventional optical tweezers, systems have application in manipulation of particles where large forces are required. We present methods based on optical tweezers for using the generated bubbles as thermal sensors and as opto-mechanical transducers.

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