Optically leviting dielectrics in the quantum regime

The field of optical trapping and manipulation of small neutral particles using the radiation pressure force of lasers was originated in 1970 by the seminal experiment of Ashkin. Over the course of the next 40 years, the techniques of optical trapping and manipulation have stimulated revolutionary developments: atom interferometry, quantum simulations of condensed matter systems with ultracold gases, the implementation of quantum gates for quantum computation purposes.

More recently, the possibility to apply the techniques of optical cooling and manipulation to the mechanical degree of freedom of larger objects has established a very active research field -- cavity quantum optomechanics. Future applications range from ultra-high sensitivity detectors of mass- or force and quantum transducers for quantum computation purposes, to their potential of being an ideal testbed for the investigation of fundamental aspects of quantum.

A potential improvement to better isolated system is the use optically leviting nanodielectrics as a cavity quantum optomechanical system. This consists in optically trapping a nanodielectric by means of optical tweezers inside a high finesse optical cavity. More recently, both theoretical and experimental research along this direction has been reported. It can thus be foreseen that a new generation of exciting experiments, aiming at bringing levitating dielectrics into the quantum regime, will eventually take place in the near future. Indeed, from a broad perspective, this project aims at extending the techniques developed during the last decades of optical cooling and manipulation of atoms (e.g. like in cavity QED with single atoms and molecules), back to the nanodielectrics that were first used in the times of birth of optical trapping. This experimental challenge, if successful, would allow to test quantum mechanics at unprecedented scales.

In this talk I will review the field of quantum optomechanics and I will particularly focus on the proposal of using optically levitating dielectrics. I will concentrate on its state-of-art and future applications.