Optical Trapping of Microdisks for Detection of Gravitational Waves

POSTER

Abstract

We present an update on the Levitated Sensor Detector (LSD) project for detection of high frequency (10-100kHz) gravitational waves above the region previously probed by LIGO. Motivated sources of gravitational waves in this frequency range include superradiance from QCD axion clouds around black holes. The experiment will make use of optically-levitated flat dielectric micro-scale particles as force sensors with the advantage of reduced photon recoil heating. We therefore discuss initial experimental trapping and cooling results of high-aspect-ratio NaYF4 hexagonal prisms, and we examine the experimental progress of the 1-meter LSD prototype that is in construction at Northwestern University.

*This work was partially supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation, the Office of Naval Research grant no.417315//N00014-18-1-2370, the National Science Foundation, and the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Publication: G. Winstone, Z. Wang, S. Klomp, G. R. Felsted, A. Laeuger, C. Gupta, D. Grass, N. Aggarwal, J. Sprague, P. J. Pauzauskie, S. L. Larson, V. Kalogera, and A. A. Geraci (LSD Collaboration), Optical trapping of high-aspect-ratio NaYF hexagonal prisms for kHz-MHz gravitational wave detectors, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 053604 (2022).

N. Aggarwal, G. P. Winstone, M. Teo, M. Baryakhtar, S. L. Larson, V. Kalogera, and A. A. Geraci, Searching for new physics with a levitated-sensor-based gravitational-wave detector, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 111101 (2022).

A. Arvanitaki and A. A. Geraci, Detecting high-frequency gravitational waves with optically levitated sensors, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 071105 (2013).

Presenters

  • Shelby Klomp

    • Northwestern University

Authors

  • Shelby Klomp

    • Northwestern University

  • Aaron Wang

    • Northwestern University

  • George P Winstone

    • Northwestern University

  • Greg Felsted

    • University of Washington

  • Andrew S Laeuger

    • Northwestern University

  • Daniel Grass

    • Northwestern University

  • Jacob Sprague

    • Northwestern University

  • Peter Pauzauskie

    • University of Washington

  • Nancy Aggarwal

    • Northwestern University

  • Shane L Larson

    • Northwestern University

  • Vicky Kalogera

    • Northwestern University

  • Andrew A Geraci

    • Northwestern University