2006/12/31 by T. R. Corbitt, T. Corbitt, Yanbei Chen +13 · 13 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.98.150802
published as Physical Review Letters 98, 150802 (2007) · Major revision. Replacement is version that appears in Phy. Rev. Lett. 98, 150802 (2007)
openalex publication_date 2007/04/13 · arxiv created 2007/07/26 · arxiv updated 2013/05/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We report on a stable optical trap suitable for a macroscopic mirror, wherein the dynamics of the mirror are fully dominated by radiation pressure. The technique employs two frequency-offset laser fields to simultaneously create a stiff optical restoring force and a viscous optical damping force. We show how these forces may be used to optically trap a free mass without introducing thermal noise; and we demonstrate the technique experimentally with a 1 gram mirror. The observed optical spring has an inferred Young's modulus of 1.2 TPa, 20% stiffer than diamond. The trap is intrinsically cold and reaches an effective temperature of 0.8 K, limited by technical noise in our apparatus.