Zeptonewton force sensing with nanospheres in an optical lattice

Understand

Optically trapped nanospheres in high-vaccum experience little friction and hence are promising for ultra-sensitive force detection.

• Here we demonstrate measurement times exceeding $10^5$ seconds and zeptonewton force sensitivity with laser-cooled silica nanospheres trapped in an optical lattice.
• The sensitivity achieved exceeds that of conventional room-temperature solid-state force sensors, and enables a variety of applications including electric field sensing, inertial sensing, and gravimetry.
• The optical potential allows the particle to be confined in a number of possible trapping sites, with precise localization at the anti-nodes of the optical standing wave.