Levitated Optomechanics, Swansea
The Optomechanics Group is based in the Department of Physics within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Swansea University.
Optomechanics uses light to control nanoscale motion, offers quantum-limited control over mesoscopic devices, and builds on mature techniques from cold atom physics.
Research within the group spans technology development, theoretical work on optical scattering and information, and Bayesian inference and experiment design for matterwave interferometry.
Space and matterwave interferometry
Our interest in optomechanics in space began with MAQRO, a proposal for a medium-sized space mission to harness long free-fall times for matterwave interferometry with nanoparticles. James Bateman’s work in levitated optomechanics started around 2012 as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Hendrik Ulbricht at the University of Southampton, who introduced him to the field and to MAQRO. His work on near-field interferometry (Bateman et al., Nat. Commun. 5, 4788 (2014)) set out the scheme that MAQRO adopted as the basis for its matterwave interferometer. He is a co-author of the MAQRO research campaign paper (Kaltenbaek et al., Quantum Sci. Technol. 8, 014006 (2023)) and served twice as a consulting scientist at ESA’s ESTEC during the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) study of the mission. MAQRO remains a long-term goal for fundamental physics in space. The group’s current work focuses on nearer-term missions and experiments such as LEVITAS, which develop the techniques and technology that a mission like MAQRO will draw upon. Further reading on MAQRO is collected on the MAQRO publications page.
Past networks
The group was part of LeviNet (Levitation Network for Advanced Quantum Technologies) and INSQT (International Network for Space Quantum Technologies), which supported the UK and international levitated optomechanics and space quantum technologies communities. LeviNet supported Shaun Laing on a Scientific Mission to the Geraci Research Group at Northwestern University.
Contact
Dr James Bateman, j.e.bateman@swansea.ac.uk
Department of Physics, Singleton Campus, Swansea University, SA2 8PP, UK