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Scheme for continuous force detection with a single electron at the level of 10−27 N

Dominika Ďurovčíková1,2,* and Vivishek Sudhir3,4,†

  • *Contact author: dominika@mit.edu
  • †Contact author: vivishek@mit.edu
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Phys. Rev. Applied 23, 054088 – Published 29 May, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.23.054088

Abstract

The detection of weak forces is a central problem in physics and engineering, ranging in importance from fundamental pursuits such as precision tests of gravity, gravitational-wave detection, and searches for dark matter to applications such as force microscopy. These pursuits require a low-mass mechanical force transducer with a high quality factor, whose motion can be measured in a quantum-noise-limited manner. Here, we study the ultimate example of such a transducer: a single trapped electron. We propose and analyze in detail a scheme for high-sensitivity continuous force detection using a single trapped electron whose motion is coupled to a microwave cavity field via image currents induced in an antenna. We derive the fundamental and technical limits to the sensitivity of this scheme and show that despite the disparity in size between that of a single electron and the wavelength of the microwave field, it is possible to continuously monitor the charge’s zero-point motion and use it as a force detector with a sensitivity as low as 6×10−27N/Hz in the gigahertz regime. This sensitivity improves on the state of the art by 4 orders of magnitude and thus paves the way to experiments with previously unattainable precision.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 23, 054088– Published 29 May, 2025
  • Received 8 February 2024
  • Revised 22 December 2024
  • Accepted 13 March 2025
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