Cascaded optomechanical sensing for small signals
Marchese MM, Braun D, Nimmrichter S, Rätzel D. 2026. Cascaded optomechanical sensing for small signals. New Journal of Physics. 28(8), 084505.
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Journal Article
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Author
Marchese, Marta MISTA;
Braun, Daniel;
Nimmrichter, Stefan;
Rätzel, Dennis
Corresponding author has ISTA affiliation
Department
Abstract
We propose a sensing scheme for detecting weak forces that achieves sensitivity scaling proportional to the number of individual sensors without relying on entanglement or other non-classical resources. Our scheme utilizes coherent averaging across a chain of
optomechanical cavities, unidirectionally coupled via a laser beam. As the beam passes through the cavities, it accumulates phase shifts induced by a common external force acting on the mechanical elements. Remarkably, this fully classical approach achieves the sensitivity scaling typically associated with quantum-enhanced protocols, providing a robust and experimentally feasible route to precision sensing. Potential applications range from high-sensitivity gravitational field measurements at the Large Hadron Collider to probing dark matter interactions and detecting gravitational waves. This work opens a new pathway for leveraging coherent light-matter interactions for force sensing.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2026-08-13
Journal Title
New Journal of Physics
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Acknowledgement
We thank Germain Tobar, Navdeep Arya, Magdalena Zych, Teodor Strömberg and Onur Hosten for useful discussions. M M M acknowledges support from the Walter Benjamin Programme (Project Number 510053905) and from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/COE1]. DB acknowledges funding by the EU EIC Pathfinder project QuCoM (101046973). D R acknowledges funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany in the project ‘Open6GHub’ (Grant Number: 16KISK016), financial support from EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom) Grant Number EP/X009467/1, and support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy—EXC-2123 QuantumFrontiers - 390837967.
Volume
28
Issue
8
Article Number
084505
eISSN
IST-REx-ID
Cite this
Marchese MM, Braun D, Nimmrichter S, Rätzel D. Cascaded optomechanical sensing for small signals. New Journal of Physics. 2026;28(8). doi:10.1088/1367-2630/ae8b16
Marchese, M. M., Braun, D., Nimmrichter, S., & Rätzel, D. (2026). Cascaded optomechanical sensing for small signals. New Journal of Physics. IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ae8b16
Marchese, Marta M, Daniel Braun, Stefan Nimmrichter, and Dennis Rätzel. “Cascaded Optomechanical Sensing for Small Signals.” New Journal of Physics. IOP Publishing, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ae8b16.
M. M. Marchese, D. Braun, S. Nimmrichter, and D. Rätzel, “Cascaded optomechanical sensing for small signals,” New Journal of Physics, vol. 28, no. 8. IOP Publishing, 2026.
Marchese MM, Braun D, Nimmrichter S, Rätzel D. 2026. Cascaded optomechanical sensing for small signals. New Journal of Physics. 28(8), 084505.
Marchese, Marta M., et al. “Cascaded Optomechanical Sensing for Small Signals.” New Journal of Physics, vol. 28, no. 8, 084505, IOP Publishing, 2026, doi:10.1088/1367-2630/ae8b16.
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