Related papers: Ultrasensitive force detection with a nanotube mec…
Mechanical resonators based on a single carbon nanotube are exceptional sensors of mass and force. The force sensitivity in these ultra-light resonators is often limited by the noise in the detection of the vibrations. Here, we report on an…
Mechanical resonators based on low-dimensional materials provide a unique platform for exploring a broad range of physical phenomena. The mechanical vibrational states are indeed extremely sensitive to charges, spins, photons, and adsorbed…
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) allows to probe matter at atomic scale by measuring the perturbation of a nanomechanical oscillator induced by near-field interaction forces. The quest to improve sensitivity and resolution of AFM has forced…
We propose a technique for sensitive magnetic point force detection using a suspended carbon nanotube (CNT) mechanical resonator combined with a magnetic field gradient generated by a ferromagnetic gate electrode. Numerical calculations of…
Nanometer-scale structures with high aspect ratio such as nanowires and nanotubes combine low mechanical dissipation with high resonance frequencies, making them ideal force transducers and scanning probes in applications requiring the…
Miniaturization of force probes into nanomechanical oscillators enables ultrasensitive investigations of forces on dimensions smaller than their characteristic length scale. Meanwhile it also unravels the force field vectorial character and…
An increasing number of experiments require the use of ultrasensitive nanomechanical resonators. Relevant examples are the investigation of quantum effects in mechanical systems [1] or the detection of exceedingly small forces as in…
Cooling down nanomechanical force probes is a generic strategy to enhance their sensitivities through the concomitant reduction of their thermal noise and mechanical damping rates. However, heat conduction mechanisms become less efficient…
Miniaturized mechanical resonators have proven to be excellent force sensors. However, they usually rely on resonant sensing schemes, and their excellent performance cannot be utilized for the detection of static forces. Here, we report on…
Nano- and micromechanical oscillators with high quality (Q) factors have gained much attention for their potential application as ultrasensitive detectors. In contrast to micro-fabricated devices, optically trapped nanoparticles in vacuum…
Carbon nanotube mechanical resonators have attracted considerable interest because of their small mass, the high quality of their surface, and the pristine electronic states they host. However, their small dimensions result in fragile…
Achieving optimal force sensitivity with nanomechanical resonators requires the ability to resolve their thermal vibrations. In two-dimensional resonators, this can be done by measuring the energy they absorb while vibrating in an optical…
We report the use of a silicon nanowire mechanical oscillator as a low-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance force sensor to detect the statistical polarization of 1H spins in polystyrene. Under operating conditions, the nanowire…
We report on the fabrication of sensitive nanotorsional resonators, which can be utilized as magnetometers for investigating the magnetization dynamics in small magnetic elements. The thermo-mechanical noise is calibrated with the resonator…
Mechanical resonators based on low-dimensional materials are promising for force and mass sensing experiments. The force sensitivity in these ultra-light resonators is often limited by the imprecision in the measurement of the vibrations,…
Torque sensors such as the torsion balance enabled the first determination of the gravitational constant by Cavendish and the discovery of Coulomb's law. Torque sensors are also widely used in studying small-scale magnetism, the Casimir…
The thermal Casimir effect, arising from fluctuating electromagnetic fields of thermally agitated charges, induces thermosensitive forces and presents a novel approach to detecting nanoscale hot electrons, elusive yet ubiquitous in modern…
We describe a transducer for low-temperature atomic force microscopy based on electromechanical coupling due to a strain-dependent kinetic inductance of a superconducting nanowire. The force sensor is a bending triangular plate (cantilever)…
We present the instrumentation and measurement scheme of a new Casimir force probe that bridges Casimir force measurements at microscale and macroscale. A metallized high Q silicon nitride nanomembrane resonator is employed as a sensitive…
Levitated optomechanics is showing potential for precise force measurements. Here, we report a case study, to show experimentally the capacity of such a force sensor. Using an electric field as a tool to detect a Coulomb force applied onto…