Related papers: A general approach to state-dependent optical twee…
We present a detailed description on how to build a Thin WIre electroStatic Trap (TWIST) for ultracold polar molecules. It is the first design of an electrostatic trap that can be superimposed directly onto a magneto optical trap (MOT). We…
The design and implementation of a multiplexed spiral phase mask in an experimental optical tweezer setup are presented. This diffractive optical element allows the generation of multiple concentric vortex beams with independent topological…
Simultaneous two-dimensional trapping of neutral dipolar molecules in low- and high-field seeking states is analyzed. A trapping potential of the order of 20 mK can be produced for molecules like ND3 with time-dependent electric fields. The…
Ultracold polar molecules uniquely combine a rich structure of long-lived internal states with access to controllable long-range, anisotropic dipole-dipole interactions. In particular, the rotational states of polar molecules confined in…
Near-field patterns of light provide a way to optically trap, deliver and sort single nanoscopic particles in a wide variety of applications in nanophotonics, microbiology and nanotechnology. Using rigorous electromagnetic theory, we…
Ultracold polar molecules are promising for quantum information processing and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. Laser cooling to ultracold temperatures is an established technique for trapped diatomic and triatomic molecules.…
Optical tweezers use laser light to trap and move microscopic particles in space. Here we demonstrate a similar control over ultrashort light pulses, but in time. Our experiment involves temporal cavity solitons that are stored in a passive…
Polar molecules are a quantum resource with rich internal structure that can be coherently controlled. The structure, however, also makes the state preparation and measurement (SPAM) of molecules challenging. We advance the SPAM of…
Since the pioneering work of Arthur Ashkin, optical tweezers have become an indispensable tool for contactless manipulation of micro- and nanoparticles. Nowadays optical tweezers are employed in a myriad of applications demonstrating the…
A strongly confined light field necessarily exhibits a local polarization that varies on a subwavelength scale. We demonstrate that a single optical mode of such kind can be used to selectively and simultaneously manipulate atomic ensembles…
Switching anisotropic molecules from strongly-absorbing to strongly-amplifying through a transparent state is shown to be possible by application of dc or ac control electric fields without the requirement of the population inversion. It is…
Optical tweezers are widely used as a highly sensitive tool to measure forces on micron-scale particles. One such application is the measurement of the electric charge of a particle, which can be done with high precision in liquids, air, or…
We report the preparation and observation of single atoms of dysprosium in arrays of optical tweezers with a wavelength of 532 nm imaged on the intercombination line at 626 nm. We use the anisotropic light shift specific to lanthanides and…
Optical tweezers are highly versatile laser traps for neutral microparticles, with fundamental applications in physics and in single molecule cell biology. Force measurements are performed by converting the stiffness response to…
We show that the motion of a cold trapped ion can be squeezed by modulating the intensity of a phase-stable optical lattice placed inside the trap. As this method is reversible and state selective it effectively implements a…
The trapping of ultracold atoms using two-colour evanescent light waves formed by propagating modes of suspended optical rib waveguides is modelled in different configurations. Reducing the anisotropy of the two-colour evanescent optical…
We present an optical system designed to capture and observe a single neutral atom in an optical dipole trap, created by focussing a laser beam using a large numerical aperture N.A.=0.5 aspheric lens. We experimentally evaluate the…
The assembly of arbitrary 3D structures using nano- to micron-scale colloidal building blocks has broad applications in photonics, electronics, and biology. Combining optical tweezers (OT) with two-photon polymerization (TPP) enables 3D…
Critical Casimir forces emerge between objects, such as colloidal particles, whenever their surfaces spatially confine the fluctuations of the order parameter of a critical liquid used as a solvent. These forces act at short but…
Optical tweezers, the three-dimensional confinement of a nanoparticle by a strongly focused beam of light, have been widely employed in investigating biomaterial nanomechanics, nanoscopic fluid properties, and ultrasensitive detections in…