Speaker
Description
Developments in levitated systems have paved the way for implementing nm to μm scale objects as mechanical sensors for rare phenomena within and beyond the Standard Model. Solid noble elements are an attractive alternative to the silica spheres typically used in previous work for these sensors. Due to low optical absorption and high achievable purity levels, using noble elements may allow for larger sphere sizes with minimized dipole moments in comparison to silica spheres. With higher freezing points, heavier noble elements such as xenon can be implemented with relatively simple cryogenics. We will present the recent developments in the first trapping of xenon spheres and planned work to utilize this technology for precision measurement experiments. These systems may find applications in searches for dark matter, measurements of the properties of neutrinos emitted from radioactively loaded spheres, and as platforms for measurements of fundamental xenon properties.