Event

Title: Lighting Up the Force: Remote Detection of Multiple Scales of Force by Photon-Avalanche

Abstract: Mechanical force is a critical feature for most physical processes, and remote measure of mechanical signals with high force sensitivity and spatial resolution is crucial for progress in fields as diverse as robotics, biophysics, civil engineering, and medicine. Existing nanoscale remote force sensors, however, are very limited in the dynamic range of forces they can detect, and are rarely compatible with subsurface operation, restricting sensor applicability [1]. In this talk, I will describe how we leverage the extreme optical nonlinearity offered by photon-avalanche [2], and its susceptibility to steep change due to minute changes in the environment – to create nanoscale force sensors that can be addressed remotely by continuous-wave, deeply-penetrating, infrared light, and can detect picoNewton to microNewton forces with a dynamic range spanning more than four orders of magnitude [3]. Using atomic force microscopy coupled with single-nanoparticle optical spectroscopy, we characterize the mechano-optics of different Tm3+-doped avalanching upconverting nanoparticles on a single particle level, to rationally design force sensors with different modalities of force-dependent optical readout, including mechanobrightening and mechanochromism. By manipulating the interionic distances and hence energy transfer pathways within the nanosensors by application of force, we demonstrate exceptional mechanical sensitivity coupled with high single-particle brightness, over multiple scales of force. The adaptability of these nanoscale optical force sensors, along with their multiscale sensing capability, enable operation in the dynamic and versatile environments present in diverse, real-world structures spanning biological organisms to nanoelectromechanical systems.

Bio: Natalie Fardian-Melamed is a Marie Sklodowska Curie Global Fellow in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University in the City of New York. After earning her PhD from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 2020, she joined the Schuck Nano-Optics Group as a Fulbright Scholar in 2021, where she is currently pursuing her MSCA research. With the ultimate goal of exploiting the extreme nonlinearity offered by nano-confined photon-avalanche for environmental sensing and RT quantum light sources, Natalie investigates novel designs of avalanching upconverters on a single particle level – through combined scanning probe and optical methodologies. Dr. Fardian-Melamed is the recipient of numerous prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship, the Zuckerman-CHE STEM Leadership Scholarship, the ISEF International Science Fellowship, the Weizmann Postdoctoral Career Development in Science Award, and the Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship – for which her application was ranked as the top 0.2% in the Global Physics Panel.