Short-range force detection using optically-cooled levitated microspheres
Abstract
We propose an experiment using optically trapped and cooled dielectric microspheres for the detection of short-range forces. The center-of-mass motion of a microsphere trapped in vacuum can experience extremely low dissipation and quality factors of , leading to yoctonewton force sensitivity. Trapping the sphere in an optical field enables positioning at less than 1 m from a surface, a regime where exotic new forces may exist. We expect that the proposed system could advance the search for non-Newtonian gravity forces via an enhanced sensitivity of over current experiments at the 1 m length scale. Moreover, our system may be useful for characterizing other short-range physics such as Casimir forces.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1006.0261,
title = {Short-range force detection using optically-cooled levitated microspheres},
author = {Andrew A. Geraci and Scott B. Papp and John Kitching},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1006.0261},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, Figs. 1 and 2 replaced