Related papers: Ultrasensitive nano-optomechanical force sensor at…
Photo-induced forces can be used to manipulate and cool the mechanical motion of oscillators. When the oscillator is used as a force sensor, such as in atomic force microscopy, active feedback is an enticing route to enhancing measurement…
Oscillators based on levitated particles are promising for the development of ultrasensitive force detectors. The theoretical performance of levitated nanomechanical sensors is usually characterized by the so-called thermal noise limit…
Optical measurement of the motion of a 940 kHz mechanical resonance of a silicon nitride nanostring resonator is demonstrated with a read out noise imprecision reaching 37 dB below that of the resonator's zero-point fluctuations. Via…
This paper demonstrates cooling of the center-of-mass motion of 10 $\mu$m-diameter optically levitated silica spheres to an effective temperature of $50\pm22 \mu$K, achieved by minimizing the technical pointing noise of the trapping laser.…
Since the advent of atomic force microscopy, mechanical resonators have been used to study a wide variety of phenomena, such as the dynamics of individual electron spins, persistent currents in normal metal rings, and the Casimir force. Key…
Nanomechanical oscillators have been employed as transducers to measure force, mass and charge with high sensitivity. They are also used in opto- or electromechanical experiments with the goal of quantum control and phenomena of mechanical…
Nano- and micromechanical oscillators with high quality (Q) factors have gained much attention for their potential application as ultrasensitive detectors. In contrast to micro-fabricated devices, optically trapped nanoparticles in vacuum…
Measuring very small forces, particularly those of a gravitational nature, has always been of great interest, as fundamental tests of our understanding of the physical laws. Ultra-long period mechanical oscillators, typically used in such…
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…
The ultimate sensitivities achieved in force or mass sensing are limited by the employed nanomechanical probes thermal noise. Its proper understanding is critical for ultimate operation and any deviation from the underlying fluctuation…
Torque sensors such as the torsion balance enabled the first determination of the gravitational constant by Cavendish and the discovery of Coulomb's law. Torque sensors are also widely used in studying small-scale magnetism, the Casimir…
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…
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…
Achieving optimal force sensitivity with nanomechanical resonators requires the ability to resolve their thermal vibrations. In two-dimensional resonators, this can be done by measuring the energy they absorb while vibrating in an optical…
Optical measurements of a nanoscale silicon optomechanical crystal cavity with a mechanical resonance frequency of 3.6GHz are performed at sub-kelvin temperatures. We infer optical-absorption-induced heating and damping of the mechanical…
Mechanical transduction of torque has been key to probing a number of physical phenomena, such as gravity, the angular momentum of light, the Casimir effect, magnetism, and quantum oscillations. Following similar trends as mass and force…
Methods for controlling the motion of single particles, optically levitated in vacuum, have developed rapidly in recent years. The technique of cold damping makes use of feedback-controlled, electrostatic forces to increase dissipation…
Optically trapped nanoparticles have recently emerged as exciting candidates for tests of quantum mechanics at the macroscale and as versatile platforms for ultrasensitive metrology. Recent experiments have demonstrated parametric feedback…
In a canonical optomechanical system, mechanical vibrations are dynamically encoded on an optical probe field which reciprocally exerts a backaction force. Due to the weak single photon coupling strength achieved with macroscopic…
Miniaturization of force probes into nanomechanical oscillators enables ultrasensitive investigations of forces on dimensions smaller than their characteristic length scale. Meanwhile it also unravels the force field vectorial character and…