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Optical levitation of dielectric particles in vacuum is a powerful technique for precision measurements, testing fundamental physics, and quantum information science. Conventional optical tweezers require bulky optical components for…
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…
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,…
Imaging-based detection of the motion of the levitated nanoparticles complements a widely-used interferometric detection method, providing a precise and robust way to estimate the position of the particle. Here, we show the camera-based…
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…
A new strategy for trapping quantum particles is presented, which behaves like an effective harmonic oscillator potential trap wherever is desired. The approach is based on harmonic contraction and expansion of the system around a fixed…
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…
We propose a novel way to trap and manipulate nano-objects above a dielectric substrate using an apertureless near-field probe. A combination of evanescent illumination and light scattering at the probe apex is used to shape the optical…
We demonstrate levitation and three-dimensionally stable trapping of a wide variety of particles in a vacuum chamber through the use of the thermophoretic force in the presence of a strong temperature gradient. Typical sizes of the trapped…
We utilize the combination of two standard trapping techniques, a magnetic trap and an optical trap in a Raman setup, to propose a versatile and tunable trap for cold atoms. The created potential provides several advantages over…
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…
Quantum vacuum forces dictate the interaction between individual atoms and dielectric surfaces at nanoscale distances. For example, their large strengths typically overwhelm externally applied forces, which makes it challenging to…
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…
We demonstrate the stable trapping of a levitated nanoparticle on top of an inverted potential using a combination of optical readout and electrostatic control. The feedback levitation on an inverted potential (FLIP) method stabilizes the…
We discuss the design and implementation of a system for generating charged multilayer graphene nanoplatelets and introducing a nanoplatelet into a quadrupole ion trap in high vacuum. Levitation decouples the platelet from its environment…
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 suggest a technique for the observation of a predicted supersolid phase in extended Bose-Hubbard models which are potentially realizable in cold atom optical lattice systems. In particular, we discuss important subtleties arising from…
We report on three-dimensional optical trapping of single ions in an optical lattice formed by two counter-propagating laser beams. We characterize the trapping parameters of the standing wave using the ion as a sensor stored in a hybrid…
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…
We demonstrate a combined magneto-optical trap and imaging system that is suitable for the investigation of cold atoms near surfaces. In particular, we are able to trap atoms close to optically scattering surfaces and to image them with an…