title: Direct Measurement of Photon Recoil from a Levitated Nanoparticle.
abstract: The momentum transfer between a photon and an object defines a fundamental limit for the precision with which the object can be measured. If the object oscillates at a frequency Ω_{0}, this measurement backaction adds quanta ℏΩ_{0} to the oscillator's energy at a rate Γ_{recoil}, a process called photon recoil heating, and sets bounds to coherence times in cavity optomechanical systems. Here, we use an optically levitated nanoparticle in ultrahigh vacuum to directly measure Γ_{recoil}. By means of a phase-sensitive feedback scheme, we cool the harmonic motion of the nanoparticle from ambient to microkelvin temperatures and measure its reheating rate under the influence of the radiation field. The recoil heating rate is measured for different particle sizes and for different excitation powers, without the need for cavity optics or cryogenic environments. The measurements are in quantitative agreement with theoretical predictions and provide valuable guidance for the realization of quantum ground-state cooling protocols and the measurement of ultrasmall forces.
authors.affiliation: Photonics Laboratory, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.|Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
authors.forename: Vijay
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.affiliation: Photonics Laboratory, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gieseler
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moritz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dellago
authors.affiliation: ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain.|ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quidant
authors.affiliation: Photonics Laboratory, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Novotny