P. F. Barker

Exploiting quantum mechanics for sensing offers unprecedented possibilities. State-of-the-art proposals for novel quantum sensors often rely on the creation of large superpositions and generally detect a field. However, what is the optimal superposition size for detecting an incident particle from a specific direction?

Abstract We report on measurements of the photon-induced heating of silica nanospheres levitated in a vacuum by a thermal light source formed by a superluminescent diode. Heating of the nanospheres motion along the three trap axes was measured as a function of gas pressure for two particle sizes and recoil heating was shown to dominate other heating mechanisms due to relative intensity noise and beam pointing fluctuations.

A multi-beam optical tweezer scheme achieves levitation and cooling of two nanoparticles at the same time. Single nanoparticles and microparticles, isolated from the environment by levitation in vacuum, are a burgeoning platform both for exploring fundamental science and for sensing applications. Now, writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Vijayan et al.