Levitated optomechanics
Levitated optomechanics is a field of mesoscopic physics which deals with the mechanical motion of mesoscopic particles which are optically or electrically or magnetically levitated. Through the use of levitation, it is possible to decouple the particle's mechanical motion exceptionally well from the environment. This in turn enables the study of high-mass quantum physics, out-of-equilibrium- and nano-thermodynamics and provides the basis for precise sensing applications. Motivation In order to use mechanical oscillators in the regime of quantum physics or for sensing applications, low damping of the oscillator's motion and thus high quality factors are desirable. In nano and micromechanics, the Q-factor of a system is often limited by its suspension, which usually demands filigree structures. Nevertheless, the maximally achievable Q-factor usually correlates with the system's size, requiring large systems for achieving high Q-factors. Particle levitation in external fields can alleviate this constraint. This is one of the reasons why the field of levitated optomechanics has become attractive for research on the foundations in physics and for high-precision applications. Physical basics The interaction between a dielectric particle with polarizability and an electric field is given by the gradient force . When a particle is trapped and optically levitated in the focus