The interaction of optically levitated particles with their environment can be controlled to the level, where the particle interacts with its environment solely via the radiation field. Accordingly, such levitated particles are superb candidates for precision-sensing at the ultimate limits of sensitivity. We present the principle of a levitated optomechanical sensor and discuss its features at the example of charge sensing.

---

Bio

Martin Frimmer is a post-doctoral researcher at the Photonics Laboratory at ETH in Zürich, where he is focusing on levitated optomechanics. Before moving to Zürich, Martin obtained his PhD from the FOM Institute AMOLF in Amsterdam in 2008 working on spontaneous-emission control at the subwavelength scale.