Résumé
The optical torque wrench is a laser trapping technique capable of applying and directly measuring torque on microscopic birefringent particles using spin momentum transfer, and has found application in the measurement of static torsional properties of biological molecules such as single DNAs. Motivated by the potential of the optical torque wrench to access the fast rotational dynamics of biological systems, a result of its all-optical manipulation and detection, we focus on the angular dynamics of the trapped birefringent particle, demonstrating its excitability in the vicinity of a critical point. This links the optical torque wrench to nonlinear dynamical systems such as neuronal and cardiovascular tissues, nonlinear optics and chemical reactions, all of which display an excitable binary ('all-or-none') response to input perturbations. On the basis of this dynamical feature, we devise and implement a conceptually new sensing technique capable of detecting single perturbation events with high signal-to-noise ratio and continuously adjustable sensitivity.