Sensing with levitated systems

In this project, we exploit the inertial and force sensing capabilities of our highly isolated, optically levitated nanoparticles, sitting in a harmonic potential.

Motivation

Force and inertial sensing is ubiquitous in our everyday life. Due to their isolated eigenmodes, wide range of masses and experimentally relative low complexity, levitated nanoparticles are promising candidates for sensing applications.

Within this project we aim to develop levitation platforms for sensing applications in vacuum. We use a levitated, charged silica nanoparticle in optical tweezers combined with optimal control protocols to control the centre of mass motion down to a few mK. The feedback is realized by exerting a Coulomb force on the charged particle with a pair of electrodes, and thus requires no additional optics.

Previously we measured the mass of the particle up to 2% accuracy using its electrically driven motion. This corresponds to more than one order of magnitude improvement of the state-of-the-art mass measurements.
In the future we work towards the development of a chip based, broadband force and inertial sensors aiming at zeptoNewton sensitivity.

Research focus

  • Developing a robust and high throughput optical platform enabling force and inertial sensing
  • Enabling atto- and Zeptonewton force sensing
  • Force sensing on a chip

Project members

Selected publications

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