Related papers: KWISP: an ultra-sensitive force sensor for the Dar…
We demonstrate thermally limited force spectroscopy using a probe formed by a dielectric microsphere optically trapped in water near a dielectric surface. We achieve force resolution below 1 fN in 100 s, corresponding to a 2 {\AA} rms…
Oscillators based on levitated particles are promising for the development of ultrasensitive force detectors. The theoretical performance of levitated nanomechanical sensors is usually characterized by the so-called thermal noise limit…
Many well theoretically motivated models of ultralight dark matter are expected to give rise to feeble oscillatory forces on macroscopic objects. Optically trapped sensors have high force sensitivities but have remained relatively…
The center-of-mass motion of optically trapped dielectric nanoparticles in vacuum is extremely well-decoupled from its environment, making a powerful tool for measurements of feeble sub-attonewton forces. We demonstrate a method to trap and…
Ultrasensitive measurement of a small displacement is an essential goal in various applications of science and technology, ranging from large-scale laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors to micro-electro-mechanical-systems-based…
We propose force sensing protocols using linear ion chain which can operate beyond the quantum standard limit. We show that oscillating forces that are off-resonance with the motional trap frequency can be detected very efficiently by using…
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…
We report on progress in developing compact sensors for atomic force microscopy (AFM), in which the mechanical transducer is integrated with near-field optical readout on a single chip. The motion of a nanoscale, doubly-clamped cantilever…
We describe the use of monolithic, buckled-dome cavities as ultrasound sensors. Patterned delamination within a compressively stressed thin film stack produces high-finesse plano-concave optical resonators with sealed and empty cavity…
We propose a sensing scheme for detecting weak forces that achieves Heisenberg-limited sensitivity without relying on entanglement or other non-classical resources. Our scheme utilizes coherent averaging across a chain of N optomechanical…
A novel table-top experiment is introduced to detect photon-axion conversion: WISP Searches on a Fiber Interferometer (WISPFI). The setup consists of a Mach-Zehnder-type interferometer with a fiber placed inside an external magnetic field,…
We describe a rigidly-mounted optical cavity which is insensitive to inertial forces acting in any direction and to the compressive force used to constrain it. The design is based on a cubic geometry with four supports placed symmetrically…
We investigate quantum-squeezing-enhanced weak-force sensing via a nonlinear optomechanical resonator containing a movable mechanical mirror and an optical parametric amplifier (OPA). Herein, we determined that tuning the OPA parameters can…
We report the development of a scanning force microscope based on an ultra-sensitive silicon nitride membrane transducer. Our development is made possible by inverting the standard microscope geometry - in our instrument, the substrate is…
We present a proposal for a nanomechanical membrane resonator integrated into a moderate-finesse ($\mathcal{F}\sim 10$) optical cavity as a versatile platform for detecting high-frequency gravitational waves and vector dark matter.…
In recent years microfabricated microwave cavities have been extremely successful in a wide variety of detector applications. In this article we focus this technology on the challenge of quantum-limited displacement detection of a…
In recent years, self-assembled semiconductor nanowires have been successfully used as ultra-sensitive cantilevers in a number of unique scanning probe microscopy (SPM) settings. We describe the fabrication of ultra-low dissipation…
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have been applied to many measurement problems in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. In parallel, cavity optomechanical systems have achieved quantum-limited displacement sensitivity and ground…
Any two objects in contact with each other exert a force that could be simply due to gravity or mechanical contact, such as a robotic arm gripping an object or even the contact between two bones at our knee joints. The ability to naturally…
Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are promising optical biomechanical force sensors due to their near infrared excitation, low toxicity, photostability, and linear colorimetric sensitivity to micronewtons of force. Recently, a composite…