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The ultimate sensitivity of optical measurements is a key element of many recent works. Classically, it is mainly limited by the shot noise limit. However, a measurement setup that incorporates quantum mechanical principles can surpass the…
Powerful approaches to squeeze the motional state of a harmonic oscillator rely on the stepwise modulation of its resonance frequency. Such protocols can be limited by forces that vary slowly between experimental runs but are constant…
The interaction of an object with its surrounding bath can lead to a coupling between the object's internal degrees of freedom and its center-of-mass motion. This coupling is especially important for nanomechanical oscillators, which are…
We demonstrate how noise can be turned into an advantage for optical sensing using a nonlinear cavity. The cavity is driven by a continuous wave laser into the regime of optical bistability. Due to the influence of fluctuations, the cavity…
Spectroscopy has played the key role in revealing, and thereby understanding, the structure of atoms and molecules. A central drive in this field is the pursuit of higher precision and accuracy so that ever more subtle effects might be…
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,…
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…
Cavity optomechanical systems can be used for sensitive detection of mechanical motion and to control mechanical resonators, down to the quantum level. The strength with which optical and mechanical degrees of freedom interact is defined by…
In this letter we report on an all optical-fibre approach to the synthesis of ultra-low noise microwave signals by photodetection of femtosecond laser pulses. We use a cascade of Mach-Zehnder fibre interferometers to realize stable and…
The small mass and high coherence of nanomechanical resonators render them the ultimate force probe, with applications ranging from biosensing and magnetic resonance force microscopy, to quantum optomechanics. A notorious challenge in these…
Ultrafast optical pump-probe spectroscopy is a powerful tool to study dynamics in solid materials on femto- and picosecond timescales. In such experiments, a pump pulse induces dynamics inside a sample by impulsive light-matter interaction,…
Super-oscillating beams can be used to create light spots whose size is below the diffraction limit with a side ring of high intensity adjacent to them. Optical traps made of the super-oscillating part of such beams exhibit superior…
We demonstrate optical levitation of SiO$_2$ spheres with masses ranging from 0.1 to 30 nanograms. In high vacuum, we observe that the measured acceleration sensitivity improves for larger masses and obtain a sensitivity of $0.4 \times…
Levitated nanoparticles in vacuum are prime candidates for generating macroscopic quantum superposition states of massive objects. Most protocols for preparing these states necessitate coherent expansion beyond the scale of the zero-point…
We report the optical imaging of a single atom with nanometer resolution using an adaptive optical alignment technique that is applicable to general optical microscopy. By decomposing the image of a single laser-cooled atom, we identify and…
Cavity-enhanced radiation pressure coupling between optical and mechanical degrees of freedom allows quantum-limited position measurements and gives rise to dynamical backaction enabling amplification and cooling of mechanical motion. Here…
We show that a magnetically levitated microsphere in high vacuum can be used as an accelerometer by comparing its response to that of a commercially available geophone. This system shows great promise for ultrahigh acceleration…
Due to the large surface-to-volume ratio, surface trap states play a dominant role in the optoelectronic properties of nanoscale devices(1-6). Understanding the surface trap states allows us to properly engineer the device surfaces for…
In many areas of imaging science, it is difficult to measure the phase of linear measurements. As such, one often wishes to reconstruct a signal from intensity measurements, that is, perform phase retrieval. In several applications the…
We propose and demonstrate purely optical feedback cooling of neutral nanoparticles in an optical lattice to an occupation number of $0.85\pm0.20$. The cooling force is derived from the optical gradients of displaced optical lattices…