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Frontiers in Optics

Microkelvin Control of an Optically Levitated Nanoparticle

Vijay Jain, Felix Tebbenjohanns, Lukáš Novotný

Published Jan 1, 2016• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Here, a high-power photodetector is used in conjunction with parametric feedback in an optical tweezer trap to cool the center-of-mass motion of a levitated nanoparticle from room temperature to 145 µK, or n = 21.
DOI
10.1364/fio.2016.ff5b.2

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Levitated nanoparticles are a forerunner as an experimental platform to test the limits of quantum mechanics at a macroscopic scale. Some important initial steps have been made towards preparing a macroscopic quantum state of a relatively massive (femtogram) particle. Specifically, the community has achieved ground-state cooling of the center-of-mass motion of a nanoparticle levitated in an optical trap. One crucial further step is now to expand the wavefunction of the particle. This step should happen in the presence of a minimum of decoherence, which makes evolution in an optical trap (inevitably exerting measurement backaction) unsuitable.
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We demonstrate optical levitation and feedback cooling of a silica nanoparticle (radius = 78~nm) trapped within a radial vector beam (RVB) in high vacuum. Radial vector beams, when focused by a high-NA lens, produce a smaller focal spot than conventional Gaussian beams, yielding tighter optical potentials and potentially reduced photon-recoil heating rates. A vortex wave plate was used to generate the RVB using an aspheric lens (NA = 0.77) to form the trap. Cold-damping feedback was used to cool the center of mass motion in the radial and axial trap directions to temperatures in the mK range. At higher temperatures and pressures, additional trap frequencies arising from the nonlinear RVB optical potential are observed. This demonstration is a step toward exploiting structured light for levitated quantum optomechanics where these traps can be used to suppress bulk and motional heating.