Femtonewtons and tens of picometers

Another publication appeared in Physical Review Applied last week ! This study presents a method to measure radiation pressure on metallic nanoparticles down to the thermal limit, with a large dynamic range and fine resolution in position. This is made possible by a careful assessment of the conditions of stability through an Allan-based deviation analysis. The capacity to measure femtonewton forces is important in the context of optical spin-orbit interactions and chiral forces.