A material change for ultra-high precision force sensing

An original form of photonic force microscope has been developed. Operating with a trapped lanthanide-doped crystal of nanometric dimensions, a minimum detected force of the order of 110 aN and a force sensitivity down to 1.8 fN/Hz\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\sqrt{{\rm{Hz}}}$$\end{document} have been realised. This opens up new prospects for force sensing in the physical sciences. A photonic force microscope has been developed with a trapped lanthanide-doped crystal detecting forces as small as 110 aN. This opens new prospects for force sensing in the physical sciences.