Related papers: Force and acceleration sensing with optically levi…
Highly coherent mechanical resonators are invaluable to ultrasensitive detection techniques by enabling detection of small forces. Studying mechanical resonators in a thermal equilibrium state at millikelvin temperatures provides a…
Deep laser cooling of atoms, ions, and molecules facilitates the study of fundamental physics as well as applied research. In this work, we report on the narrow-line laser cooling of thulium atoms at the wavelength of $506.2\,\textrm{nm}$…
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel optical method for trapping and cooling dielectric nanospheres at (sub)-micron distances from a reflective metallic surface. By translating a tilted mirror towards the focus of a single-beam…
We report on direct feedback cooling of single nanoparticles in an optical lattice to near their motional ground state. We find that the laser phase noise triggers severe heating of nanoparticles' motion along the optical lattice. When the…
We describe the implementation of laser-cooled silica microspheres as force sensors in a dual-beam optical dipole trap in high vacuum. Using this system we have demonstrated trap lifetimes exceeding several days, attonewton force detection…
We introduce a scheme for deep laser cooling of molecules based on robust dark states at zero velocity. By simulating this scheme, we show it to be a widely applicable method that can reach the recoil limit or below. We demonstrate and…
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 demonstrate a scanning force microscope, based upon a quartz tuning fork, that operates below 100 mK and in magnetic fields up to 6 T. The microscope has a conducting tip for electrical probing of nanostructures of interest, and it…
We propose a mass sensor using optically trapped and cooled dielectric microdisks with "measuring after cooling" scheme. The center-of-mass motion of a trapped particle in vacuum can experience extremely low dissipation resulting in robust…
We consider a possible route to ground state cooling of a levitated nanoparticle, magnetically trapped by a strong permanent magnet, using a combination of measurement and feedback. The trap frequency of this system is much lower than those…
We report on the electrostatic trapping of neutral SrF molecules. The molecules are captured from a cryogenic buffer-gas beam source into the moving traps of a 4.5 m long traveling-wave Stark decelerator. The SrF molecules in…
Recently [3] predicted the existence of an intriguing new phenomenon. It was shown that if temperature is suddenly raised at the surface of a sphere the temperature in the interior initially decreases. The authors of [3] gave a thorough…
Squeezing the quadrature noise of a harmonic oscillator used as a sensor can enhance its sensitivity in certain measurment schemes. The canonical approach, based on parametric modulation of the oscillation frequency, is usually limited to a…
Optically levitated nonspherical particles in vacuum are excellent candidates for torque sensing, rotational quantum mechanics, high-frequency gravitational wave detection, and multiple other applications. Many potential applications, such…
The field of levitodynamics has made significant progress towards controlling and studying the motion of a levitated nanoparticle. Motional control relies on either autonomous feedback via a cavity or measurement-based feedback via external…
We consider mid-infrared (5 to 25 micrometers), optically cooled detectors based on a microcantilever sensor of the radiation pressure. A significant enhancement of sensitivity is achieved due the combination of low effective temperature…
We cool the fundamental mechanical mode of an ultrasoft silicon cantilever from a base temperature of 2.2 K to 2.9 +/- 0.3 mK using active optomechanical feedback. The lowest observed mode temperature is consistent with limits determined by…
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…
Atoms trapped in the evanescent field around a nanofiber experience strong coupling to the light guided in the fiber mode. However, due to the intrinsically strong positional dependence of the coupling, thermal motion of the ensemble limits…
Narrow line laser cooling is advancing the frontier for experiments ranging from studies of fundamental atomic physics to high precision optical frequency standards. In this paper, we present an extensive description of the systems and…