Related papers: A background-free optically levitated charge senso…
A circularly polarized laser beam is used to levitate and control the rotation of microspheres in high vacuum. At low pressure, rotation frequencies as high as 6 MHz are observed for birefringent vaterite spheres, limited by centrifugal…
Precision measurements of rare particle physics phenomena (flavor oscillations and decays, electric dipole moments, etc.) are often sensitive to the effects of new physics encoded in higher-dimensional operators with Wilson coefficients…
Optically levitated multiple nanoparticles has emerged as a platform for studying complex fundamental physics such as non-equilibrium phenomena, quantum entanglement, and light-matter interaction, which could be applied for sensing weak…
We discuss the experimental techniques used to date for measuring the changes in polarization state of a laser produced by a strong transverse magnetic field acting in a vacuum. We point out the likely artifacts that can arise in such…
Accumulation of electrical charge on the end mirrors of gravitational wave observatories, such as the space-based LISA mission and ground-based LIGO detectors, can become a source of noise limiting the sensitivity of such detectors through…
Using light as a probe to detect a mechanical motion is one of the most successful experimental approaches in physics. The history of mechanical sensing based on the reflection, refraction and scattering of light dates back to the 16th…
Phonon lasers, as mechanical analogues of optical lasers, are unique tools for not only fundamental studies of phononics but also diverse applications such as acoustic imaging and force sensing. Very recently, by levitating a micro-size…
Phonon lasers, exploiting coherent amplifications of phonons, have been a cornerstone for exploring nonlinear phononics, imaging nanomaterial structures, and operating phononic devices. Very recently, by levitating a nanosphere in an…
Quantum control techniques applied at macroscopic scales provide us with opportunities in fundamental physics and practical applications. Among them, measurement-based feedback allows efficient control of optomechanical systems and…
Humans are able to manipulate Deformable Linear Objects (DLOs) such as cables and wires, with little or no visual information, relying mostly on force sensing. In this work, we propose a reduced DLO model which enables such blind…
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…
Optically levitated nanoparticles offer enormous potential for precision sensing. However, as for any other metrology device, the absolute measurement performance of a levitated-particle sensor is limited by the accuracy of the calibration…
A mechanically compliant element can be set into motion by the interaction with light. In turn, this light-driven motion can give rise to ponderomotive correlations in the electromagnetic field. In optomechanical systems, cavities are often…
Optically levitated nanoparticles in vacuum provide a highly sensitive platform for probing weak light-matter interactions. In this work, we present an interference-based method to amplify the optical force exerted by a weak field on a…
We show that Bloch oscillations of ultracold fermionic atoms in the periodic potential of an optical lattice can be used for a sensitive measurement of forces at the micrometer length scale, e.g. in the vicinity of dielectric surface. In…
Laser frequency noise is a dominant noise background for the detection of gravitational waves using long-baseline optical interferometry. Amelioration of this noise requires near simultaneous strain measurements on more than one…
In this work, the force due to radiation pressure is measured with sub-10 pN sensitivity, corresponding to less than 2 mW of optical power. The apparatus adds homemade reflectors to a commercial Cavendish balance, which consists of a…
We investigate experimentally the dynamics of a non-spherical levitated nanoparticle in vacuum. In addition to translation and rotation motion, we observe the light torque-induced precession and nutation of the trapped particle. We provide…
We perform the first search for ultralight dark matter using a magnetically levitated particle. A sub-millimeter permanent magnet is levitated in a superconducting trap with a measured force sensitivity of $0.2\,\mathrm{fN/\sqrt{Hz}}$. We…
The quantum noise of light fundamentally limits optical phase sensors. A semiclassical picture attributes this noise to the random arrival time of photons from a coherent light source such as a laser. An engineered source of squeezed states…