Related papers: Direct measurement of short-range forces with a le…
The controllable positioning of a vacuum-levitated object near a material surface is of importance for studying short-range forces, such as Casimir forces, interfacial friction forces, or gravity in yet unexplored parameter regimes. Here we…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Levitated nanoparticles are being intensively investigated from two different perspectives: as a potential realisation of macroscopic quantum coherence; and as ultra-sensitive sensors of force, down to the zeptoNewton level, with a range of…
Gravitomagnetic and gravitoelectric forces have been studied for sometime and tests for detecting such forces arising from the earth, are under way. We apply similar considerations at the level of elementary particles in a formulation using…
Casimir forces are of fundamental interest because they originate from quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. Apart from controlling the Casimir force via the optical properties of the materials, a number of novel geometries…
The development of levitated optomechanics has enabled precise force sensors that operate in the quantum measurement regime, opening up unique opportunities to search for new physics whose weak interactions may have evaded existing sensors.…
Nanomechanical resonators are widely operated as force and mass sensors with sensitivities in the zepto-Newton and yocto-gram regime, respectively. Their accuracy, however, is usually undermined by high uncertainties in the effective mass…
Surface electric noise, i.e., the non-uniform distribution of charges and potentials on a surface, poses a great experimental challenge in modern precision force measurements. Such a challenge is encountered in a number of different…
Quantum fluctuations give rise to van der Waals and Casimir forces that dominate the interaction between electrically neutral objects at sub-micron separations. Under the trend of miniaturization, such quantum electrodynamical effects are…
We show that for nanoparticles with giant polarizability $\alpha$ (a prominent example being the recently studied Na$_{14}$F$_{13}$ molecular clusters) van der Waals forces are significantly enhanced at interparticle distances shorter than…
Light has shown up an incredibe capability in precision measurement based on opto-mechanic interaction in high vacuum by isolating environment noises. However, there are still obstructions, such as displacement and mass estimation error,…
The lateral Casimir-Polder force between an atom and a corrugated surface should allow one to study experimentally non trivial geometrical effects in quantum vacuum. Here, we derive the theoretical expression of this force in a scattering…
The appearance of new fundamental forces and extra-dimensional modifications to gravity in extensions of the Standard Model has motivated considerable interest in testing Newtonian gravity at short distances (<10^-3 m). Presently a number…
Levitated optomechanics, a rapidly expanding field that employs light to monitor and manipulate the mechanical motion of levitated objects, is increasingly relevant across physics, engineering, and other fields. This technique, which…
We investigate the force between plasmonic nanoparticle and highly excited two-level system (molecule). Usually van der Waals force between nanoscale electrically neutral systems is monotonic and attractive at moderate and larger distances…
Levitated dielectric particles in a vacuum have emerged as a new platform in quantum science, with applications ranging from precision acceleration and force sensing to testing quantum physics beyond the microscopic domain. Traditionally,…
The sensitivity of a mechanical transducer is ultimately limited by its inherent quantum fluctuations. Here, we use an optically levitated nanoparticle to measure impulsive forces smaller than the particle's zero-point momentum uncertainty.…