Related papers: Controlling the net charge on a nanoparticle optic…
Levitated particles are a promising platform for precision sensing of external perturbations and probing the boundary between quantum and classical worlds. A critical obstacle for these applications is the difficulty of generating…
We demonstrate a technique to estimate the strength of non-linearities present in the trapping potential of an optically levitated nanoparticle. By applying a brief pulsed reduction in trapping laser power of the system such as to squeeze…
Isolating neutral and charged particles from the environment is essential in precision experiments. For decades, this has been achieved by trapping ions with radio-frequency (rf) fields and neutral particles with optical fields. Recently,…
We confine a microparticle in a hybrid potential created by a Paul trap and a dual-beam optical trap. We transfer the particle between the Paul trap and the optical trap at different pressures and study the influence of feedback cooling on…
Achieving efficient three-dimensional feedback cooling of levitated nanoparticles is a key requirement for precision sensing and quantum control in levitated optomechanics. Here we demonstrate three-dimensional optical feedback cooling of a…
We describe the design, construction, and operation of an apparatus utilizing a piezoelectric transducer for in-vacuum loading of nanoparticles into an optical trap for use in levitated optomechanics experiments. In contrast to commonly…
Optical trapping, also known as optical tweezing or optical levitation, is a technique that uses highly focused laser beams to manipulate micro- and nanoscopic particles. In optical traps driven by high-energy pulses, material non-linearity…
The deterministic control of light-matter interactions at the level of single particles and on subwavelength scales is central to quantum optics and hybrid integrated quantum technologies. However, combining cold atom research with…
A scheme for fast, compact, and controllable acceleration of heavy particles in vacuum is proposed, in which two counterpropagating lasers with variable frequencies drive a beat-wave structure with variable phase velocity, thus allowing for…
Control of the potential energy and free evolution lie at the heart of levitodynamics as key requirements for sensing, wave function expansion, and mechanical squeezing protocols. Here, we experimentally demonstrate full control over the…
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…
We propose and analyze a scheme to interface individual neutral atoms with nanoscale solid-state systems. The interface is enabled by optically trapping the atom via the strong near-field generated by a sharp metallic nanotip. We show that…
We find exact conditions for the enhancement or suppression of internal and/or scattered fields and the determination of their spatial distribution or angular momentum through the combination of simple fields. The incident fields can be…
The ability to engineer cavity-mediated interactions has emerged as a powerful tool for the generation of non-local correlations and the investigation of non-equilibrium phenomena in many-body systems. Levitated optomechanical systems have…
Optically trapped nanoparticles have recently emerged as exciting candidates for tests of quantum mechanics at the macroscale and as versatile platforms for ultrasensitive metrology. Recent experiments have demonstrated parametric feedback…
Optically-levitated dielectric particles can serve as ultra-sensitive detectors of feeble forces and torques, as tools for use in quantum information science, and as a testbed for quantum coherence in macroscopic systems. Knowledge of the…
We propose a scheme to create and transfer thermal squeezed states and random-phase coherent states in a system of two interacting levitated nanoparticles. In this coupled levitated system, we create a thermal squeezed state of motion in…
We report results from a search for stable particles with charge > $10^{-5}$ e in bulk matter using levitated dielectric microspheres in high vacuum. No evidence for such particles was found in a total sample of 1.4 ng, providing an upper…
Optical forces allow manipulation of small particles and control of nanophotonic structures with light beams. Here, we describe a counter-intuitive lateral optical force acting on particles placed above a substrate, under uniform plane wave…
We report on strong cooling and orientational control of all translational and angular degrees of freedom of a nanoparticle levitated in an optical trap in high vacuum. The motional cooling and control of all six degrees of freedom of a…