Related papers: Optical potential mapping with a levitated nanopar…
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…
Interferometric methods for detecting the motion of a levitated nanoparticle provide a route to the quantum ground state, but such methods are currently limited by mode mismatch between the reference beam and the dipolar field scattered by…
Optomechanics is concerned with the use of light to control mechanical objects. As a field, it has been hugely successful in the production of precise and novel sensors, the development of low-dissipation nanomechanical devices, and the…
We study the energy spectrum of atoms trapped in a vertical 1D optical lattice in close proximity to a reflective surface. We propose an effective model to describe the interaction between the atoms and the surface at any distance. Our…
A high sensitivity force sensor based on dielectric microspheres in vacuum, optically trapped by a single, upward-propagating laser beam, is described. Off-axis parabolic mirrors are used both to focus the 1064~nm trapping beam and to…
Optically levitated multiple nanoparticles has emerged as a platform for studying complex fundamental physics such as non-equilibrium phenomena, quantum entanglement, and light-matter interaction, which could be applied for sensing weak…
Levitated optomechanical systems are rapidly becoming leading tools for precision sensing of forces and accelerations acting on particles in the femtogram to nanogram mass range. These systems enable a high level of control over the…
The principle of optical trapping is conventionally based on the interaction of optical fields with linear induced polarizations. However, the optical force originating from the nonlinear polarization becomes significant when nonlinear…
Accurate delivery of small targets in high vacuum is a pivotal task in many branches of science and technology. Beyond the different strategies developed for atoms, proteins, macroscopic clusters and pellets, the manipulation of neutral…
Forces on a nanoparticle in an optical trap are analysed. Brownian motion is found to be one of the major challenges to trap a nanoparticle. Accordingly, suitable spatial electric field distribution of laser beam is suggested to enhance the…
Conducting levitated mechanical experiments in extreme conditions has long been the aim of researchers, as it allows for the investigation of new fundamental physics phenomena. One of the great frontiers has been sending these experiments…
Optically levitated micro- and nanoparticles offer an ideal playground for investigating photon-phonon interactions over macroscopic distances. Here we report the observation of long-range optical binding of multiple microparticles,…
Quantum measurements of mechanical systems can produce optical squeezing via ponderomotive forces. Its observation requires high environmental isolation and efficient detection, typically achieved by using optical cavities and cryogenic…
We describe theoretically a setup in which a tapered optical nanofibre is introduced into an optical lattice potential for cold atoms. Firstly, we consider the disturbance to the geometry of the lattice potential due to scattering of the…
Optically trapped nanospheres in high-vaccum experience little friction and hence are promising for ultra-sensitive force detection. Here we demonstrate measurement times exceeding $10^5$ seconds and zeptonewton force sensitivity with…
We introduce and theoretically analyze a scheme to prepare and detect non-Gaussian quantum states of an optically levitated particle via the interaction with a light pulse that generates cubic and inverted potentials. We show that this…
We propose and theoretically analyze an experiment where displacement sensing of an optically levitated nanoparticle in front of a surface can be used to measure the induced dipole-dipole interaction between the nanoparticle and its thermal…
The control of levitated nano- and micro-objects in vacuum is of considerable interest, capitalizing on the scientific achievements in the fields of atomic physics, control theory and optomechanics. The ability to couple the motion of…
Standard optical tweezers rely on optical forces that arise when a focused laser beam interacts with a microscopic particle: scattering forces, which push the particle along the beam direction, and gradient forces, which attract it towards…
Matter manipulation with optical forces has become commonplace in a wide range of research fields and is epitomized by the optical trap. Calculations of optical forces on small illuminated particles typically neglect multiple scattering on…