Levitated nanoparticle detects single-atom collisions
Pressure sensors and particle detectors could benefit from research The post Levitated nanoparticle detects single-atom collisions appeared first on Physics World .
Researchers at Yale University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a method to detect single-atom collisions using a levitated silica nanoparticle. This proof-of-principle demonstration could lead to the creation of a background pressure sensor for optomechanical sensors and may even serve as a future pressure standard.
The team trapped a 50 nm silica nanosphere in a vacuum chamber using a laser beam and monitored its motion in response to collisions with different gases. By measuring these perturbations, they were able to detect the collision impulses and infer the gas pressure. The researchers tested krypton, xenon, and sulphur hexafluoride, observing that the rate of impulses increased with pressure and was consistent with the kinetic theory of gases. The study, led by Maxime Perdriat and his colleagues, was published in Physical Review Letters.
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