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Comparison of electrostatic and photon pressure force references at the nanonewton level
Published
Author(s)
Gordon Shaw, John A. Kramar, Paul Williams, Matthew Spidell, Richard Mirin, Julian Stirling
Abstract
This work describes a comparison between nanonewton force references derived from an electrostatic force balance and photon pressure force from calibrated laser optical power in the 1 watt range. The NIST Electrostatic Force Balance (EFB) is used to measure photon pressure force in the 10 nanonewton range from the reflection of a laser from a III-V semiconductor high-reflectivity Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) mirror. This work establishes a link between mass, force and laser power within the International System of Units (SI).
Shaw, G.
, Kramar, J.
, Williams, P.
, Spidell, M.
, Mirin, R.
and Stirling, J.
(2021),
Comparison of electrostatic and photon pressure force references at the nanonewton level, Measurement Science & Technology, [online], https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1681-7575/aaf9c2, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=922358
(Accessed October 8, 2025)