Mechanical Detection of Nuclear Decays

Wang, Jiaxiang; Penny, T. W.; Recoaro, Juan; Siegel, Benjamin; Tseng, Yu-Han; Moore, David C.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.133.023602

Title: Mechanical Detection of Nuclear Decays

Journal Article · Mon Jul 08 00:00:00 UTC 2024 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.133.023602 · OSTI ID:2396272

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^[2]; Tseng, Yu-Han ^[2];

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Yale University, New Haven, CT (United States); Yale University
Yale University, New Haven, CT (United States)

We report the detection of individual nuclear alpha decays through the mechanical recoil of the entire micron-sized particle in which the decaying nuclei are embedded. Momentum conservation ensures that such measurements are sensitive to any particles emitted in the decay, including neutral particles that may otherwise evade detection with existing techniques. Detection of the minuscule recoil of an object more than 10^12 times more massive than the emitted particles is made possible by recently developed techniques in levitated optomechanics, which enable high-precision optical control and measurement of the mechanical motion of optically trapped particles. Observation of a change in the net charge of the particle coincident with the recoil allows decays to be identified with background levels at the micro-Becquerel level. Here, the techniques developed here may find use in fields ranging from nuclear forensics to dark matter and neutrino physics.

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Research Organization:: Yale University, New Haven, CT (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); ONR; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0023672

OSTI ID:: 2396272

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 133; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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