


2019-01-18
ION HANCU
ION HANCU

2019-01-29
MARIA MAFFEI
MARIA MAFFEI

2019-02-13
BORIS BOURDONCLE
BORIS BOURDONCLE

2019-02-15
JORDI MORALES DALMAU
JORDI MORALES DALMAU

2019-02-22
FRANCESCO RICCI
FRANCESCO RICCI

2019-03-06
CLARA GREGORI
CLARA GREGORI

2019-03-26
ALEXIA SALAVRAKOS
ALEXIA SALAVRAKOS

2019-04-12
SENAIDA HERNANDEZ SANTANA
SENAIDA HERNANDEZ SANTANA

2019-04-15
DAVID RAVENTÓS RIBERA
DAVID RAVENTÓS RIBERA

2019-04-16
PETER SCHMIDT
PETER SCHMIDT

2019-04-29
CALLUM O’DONNELL
CALLUM O’DONNELL

2019-05-02
LUCIANA VIDAS
LUCIANA VIDAS

2019-05-03
HANYU YE
HANYU YE

2019-05-10
TANJA DRAGOJEVIC
TANJA DRAGOJEVIC

2019-05-17
FLAVIO BACCARI
FLAVIO BACCARI

2019-06-04
MARTINA GIOVANNELLA
MARTINA GIOVANNELLA

2019-07-02
OZLEM YAVAS
OZLEM YAVAS

2019-07-03
ALESSANDRO SERI
ALESSANDRO SERI

2019-07-11
RENWEN YU
RENWEN YU

2019-09-06
ALEXANDER BLOCK
ALEXANDER BLOCK

2019-10-04
MARCO PAGLIAZZI
MARCO PAGLIAZZI

2019-10-07
RINU MANIYARA
RINU MANIYARA

2019-10-15
ALEJANDRO POZAS-KERSTJENS
ALEJANDRO POZAS-KERSTJENS
Levitodynamics toward Force Nano-Sensors in Vacuum


Francesco Ricci
February 22nd, 2019
FRANCESCO RICCI
Plasmon Nano-Optics
ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences
Levitodynamics addresses the levitation and manipulation of micro- and nanoresonators with the purpose of studying their dynamics. This emerging field has attracted much attention over the last few years owing to unprecedented performances in terms of mechanical quality factors, cooling rates at room temperature, and ultra-high force sensitivities. In this thesis, I establish the use of an optically levitated and electrically driven charged silica nanoparticle as a promising and reliable force sensor in vacuum. The first two experiments discussed in this work seek a deeper knowledge and a higher control of the levitated system. Firstly, I suggest and demonstrate a novel protocol to measure the mass of the particle up to 2% accuracy using its electrically driven motion. This method improves by more than one order of magnitude the state-of-the-art mass measurements in standard optical tweezers schemes. Then, leveraging on these results, a second experiment is performed to address important open issues regarding the morphology of the nanoparticles used, with particular interest in their surface chemistry and in the understanding of mass-losses due to water desorption from the silica spheres. Finally, backed up by extensive theoretical background in nonlinear mechanical oscillators, I investigate the stochastic bistable dynamics of a parametrically driven nanoresonator in the nonlinear regime, discussing the potential of noise-activated stochastic switching and stochastic resonance as unconventional force detection schemes.
Friday February 22, 11:00. ICFO Auditorium
Thesis Advisor: Prof Dr Romain Quidant
Thesis Co-advisor: Prof Raúl Rica
ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences
Levitodynamics addresses the levitation and manipulation of micro- and nanoresonators with the purpose of studying their dynamics. This emerging field has attracted much attention over the last few years owing to unprecedented performances in terms of mechanical quality factors, cooling rates at room temperature, and ultra-high force sensitivities. In this thesis, I establish the use of an optically levitated and electrically driven charged silica nanoparticle as a promising and reliable force sensor in vacuum. The first two experiments discussed in this work seek a deeper knowledge and a higher control of the levitated system. Firstly, I suggest and demonstrate a novel protocol to measure the mass of the particle up to 2% accuracy using its electrically driven motion. This method improves by more than one order of magnitude the state-of-the-art mass measurements in standard optical tweezers schemes. Then, leveraging on these results, a second experiment is performed to address important open issues regarding the morphology of the nanoparticles used, with particular interest in their surface chemistry and in the understanding of mass-losses due to water desorption from the silica spheres. Finally, backed up by extensive theoretical background in nonlinear mechanical oscillators, I investigate the stochastic bistable dynamics of a parametrically driven nanoresonator in the nonlinear regime, discussing the potential of noise-activated stochastic switching and stochastic resonance as unconventional force detection schemes.
Friday February 22, 11:00. ICFO Auditorium
Thesis Advisor: Prof Dr Romain Quidant
Thesis Co-advisor: Prof Raúl Rica