Zeptonewton force sensing with nanospheres in an optical lattice Article Swipe
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· 2016
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.93.053801
· OA: W2294829566
Optically trapped nanospheres in high-vaccum experience little friction and\nhence are promising for ultra-sensitive force detection. Here we demonstrate\nmeasurement times exceeding $10^5$ seconds and zeptonewton force sensitivity\nwith laser-cooled silica nanospheres trapped in an optical lattice. The\nsensitivity achieved exceeds that of conventional room-temperature solid-state\nforce sensors, and enables a variety of applications including electric field\nsensing, inertial sensing, and gravimetry. The optical potential allows the\nparticle to be confined in a number of possible trapping sites, with precise\nlocalization at the anti-nodes of the optical standing wave. By studying the\nmotion of a particle which has been moved to an adjacent trapping site, the\nknown spacing of the lattice anti-nodes can be used to calibrate the\ndisplacement spectrum of the particle. Finally, we study the dependence of the\ntrap stability and lifetime on the laser intensity and gas pressure, and\nexamine the heating rate of the particle in high vacuum in the absence of\noptical feedback cooling.\n