Optomechanics and Levitation

The motivations behind the huge interest in developing quantum opto-mechanical systems are varied. On a technological level, these systems are pushing the limits of high precision sensing for the detection of small forces, displacements, masses and accelerations which when packaged appropriately provide sought-after commercial applications. On a more fundamental level, quantum opto-mechanics focuses on manipulating and detecting of the mechanical motion in the quantum regime using light, thereby allowing for the generation non-classical states of the mechanical oscillator.