Related papers: Force Detection Using a Fiber-Optic Cantilever
High-frequency atomic force microscopy has enabled extraordinary new science through large bandwidth, high speed measurements of atomic and molecular structures. However, traditional optical detection schemes restrict the dimensions, and…
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…
A high sensitivity force sensor based on dielectric microspheres in vacuum, optically trapped by a single, upward-propagating laser beam, is described. Off-axis parabolic mirrors are used both to focus the 1064~nm trapping beam and to…
A spreadsheet algorithm is given for the atomic force microscope that accounts for non-linear behavior in the deflection of the cantilever and in the photo-diode response. In addition, the data analysis algorithm takes into account…
We propose an experiment using optically trapped and cooled dielectric microspheres for the detection of short-range forces. The center-of-mass motion of a microsphere trapped in vacuum can experience extremely low dissipation and quality…
Force sensors are at the heart of different technologies such as atomic force microscopy or inertial sensing \cite{RMPforce2003, Rugar2004, YazdiIEEE}. These sensors often rely on the measurement of the displacement amplitude of mechanical…
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) methods utilizing resonant mechanical vibrations of cantilevers in contact with a sample surface have shown sensitivities as high as few picometers for detecting surface displacements. Such a high sensitivity…
We describe a novel method to measure the surface charge densities on optical fibers placed in the vicinity of a trapped ion, where the ion itself acts as the probe. Surface charges distort the trapping potential, and when the fibers are…
The ability to detect extremely small forces is vital for a variety of disciplines including precision spin-resonance imaging, microscopy, and tests of fundamental physical phenomena. Current force-detection sensitivity limits have…
We demonstrate the measurement of laterally induced optical forces using an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The lateral electric field distribution between a gold coated AFM probe and a nano-aperture in a gold film is mapped by measuring the…
We report on progress in developing compact sensors for atomic force microscopy (AFM), in which the mechanical transducer is integrated with near-field optical readout on a single chip. The motion of a nanoscale, doubly-clamped cantilever…
We report on the measurement of the Casimir force between conducting surfaces in a parallel configuration. The force is exerted between a silicon cantilever coated with chromium and a similar rigid surface and is detected looking at the…
A sensitive photoacoustic detection approach employing a silicon cantilever is investigated for power measurement of electromagnetic radiation. The technique which is actuated by pressure waves generated through radiation-induced heat,…
Sensitive transduction of the motion of a microscale cantilever is central to many applications in mass, force, magnetic resonance, and displacement sensing. Reducing cantilever size to nanoscale dimensions can improve the bandwidth and…
The quantitative interatomic force measurements open a new pathway to materials characterization, surface science, and chemistry by elucidating the force between 'two' interacting atoms as a function of their separation. Atomic force…
Optically levitated macroscopic objects are a powerful tool in the field of force sensing, owing to high sensitivity, absolute force calibration, environmental isolation and the advanced degree of control over their dynamics that have been…
We study the detection of weak coherent forces by means of an optomechanical device formed by a highly reflecting isolated mirror shined by an intense and highly monochromatic laser field. Radiation pressure excites a vibrational mode of…
We report on the realization of a displacement sensor based on an optical nanofiber. A single gold nano-sphere is deposited on top of a nanofiber and the system is placed within a standing wave which serves as a position ruler. Scattered…
Although stiction is a cumbersome problem for microsystems, it stimulates investigations of surface adhesion. In fact, the shape of an adhered cantilever carries information of the adhesion energy that locks one end to the substrate. We…
An ultra-sensitive opto-mechanical force sensor has been built and tested in the optics laboratory at INFN Trieste. Its application to experiments in the Dark Energy sector, such as those for Chameleon-type WISPs, is particularly…