[Seminar] 'Levitodynamics: Optomechanics with a levitated nanoparticle' by Prof Romain Quidant

Title: Levitodynamics: Optomechanics with a levitated nanoparticle

Speaker: Dr. Romain Quidant

Professor, Nanophotonic Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Abstract:
Levitodynamics—the trapping and control of nano- and micro-objects in vacuum—has established itself as an exciting research field by combining several ingredients from other fields in a single platform. When compared with other levitation platforms, two features stand out: (i) the large mass and density (and hence complexity) of the levitated object, as compared with the mass and density of trapped atoms; (ii) the high degree of control over both conservative dynamics and coupling to the environment, as compared with the degree of control for levitated meter-scale objects. The combination of these two features provides a springboard to many applications and branches of physics.
In this talk we first introduce the audience to the field of levitodynamics, highlighting its advantages over other clamped optomechanical platforms. We then present the different strategies developed to gain control over the center-of-mass motion of levitated objects. This includes the implementation of hybrid levitation platforms combining optical and RF potentials. Finally, we discuss the latest advances from our laboratory related to engineering of quantum states and force sensing.

References:
[1] Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero, Markus Aspelmeyer, Lukas Novotny, Romain Quidant, Oriol Romero-Isart, Science 374, 6563 (2021)
[2] Johannes Piotrowski, Dominik Windey, Jayadev Vijayan, Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero, Andrés de los Ríos Sommer, Nadine Meyer, Romain Quidant, Oriol Romero-Isart, René Reimann, Lukas Novotny, Nature Physics, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-01956-1 (2023)
[3] J Gieseler, B Deutsch, R Quidant, L Novotny, Physical review letters 109 (10), 103603 (2012)

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