Heat and pressure are ultimately transmitted via quantized degrees of freedom, like gas particles and phonons. While a continuous Brownian description of these noise sources is adequate to model measurements with relatively long integration times, sufficiently precise measurements can resolve the detailed time dependence coming from individual bath-system interactions. We propose the use of nanomechanical devices operated with impulse readout sensitivity around the ``standard quantum limit'' to sense ultra-low gas pressures by directly counting the individual collisions of gas particles on a sensor. We illustrate this in two paradigmatic model systems: an optically levitated nanobead and a tethered membrane system in a phononic bandgap shield.
@article{arxiv.2303.09922,
title = {Collision-resolved pressure sensing},
author = {Daniel S. Barker and Daniel Carney and Thomas W. LeBrun and David C. Moore and Jacob M. Taylor},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.09922},
year = {2024}
}