Imaging a force field via an optically levitated nanoparticle array

Abstract

Levitated optomechanical systems represent an excellent candidate platform for force and acceleration sensing. We propose a force-sensing protocol utilizing an optically levitated nanoparticle array. In our scheme, N nanoparticles are trapped in an optical cavity using holographic optical tweezers. An external laser drives the cavity, exciting N cavity modes interacting simultaneously with the N nanoparticles. The optomechanical interaction encodes the information of the force acting on each nanoparticle onto the intracavity photons, which can be detected directly at the output ports of the cavity. Consequently, our protocol enables real-time imaging of a force field.