Researchers at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology used laser pulses to change the spin states of nitrogen-vacancy centers in a diamond and produce a tiny force.
That force moved a levitated graphite-and-diamond resonator with a total mass of 128 milligrams. The team measured motion of about 100 nanometers in air and up to about 1.5 micrometers in vacuum.
The study, published in Science Advances on October 7, extends the mass scale at which researchers can study motion driven by quantum spin.
The experiment did not put the resonator into a macroscopic quantum superposition. The authors describe the work as a platform for future research, not as a new everyday technology.
