Sympathetic cooling and squeezing of two co-levitated nanoparticles

Levitated particles are an ideal tool for measuring weak forces and investigating quantum mechanics in macroscopic objects. Arrays of two or more of these particles have been suggested for improving force sensitivity and entangling macropscopic objects. In this article, two charged, silica nanoparti...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2022-11
Main Authors: Penny, T W, Pontin, A, Barker, P F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Compressing
Cooling
Nanoparticles
Silicon dioxide
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Levitated particles are an ideal tool for measuring weak forces and investigating quantum mechanics in macroscopic objects. Arrays of two or more of these particles have been suggested for improving force sensitivity and entangling macropscopic objects. In this article, two charged, silica nanoparticles, that are coupled through their mutual Coulomb repulsion, are trapped in a Paul trap, and the individual masses and charges of both particles are characterised. We demonstrate sympathetic cooling of one nanoparticle coupled via the Coulomb interaction to the second nanoparticle to which feedback cooling is directly applied. We also implement sympathetic squeezing through a similar process showing non-thermal motional states can be transferred by the Coulomb interaction. This work establishes protocols to cool and manipulate arrays of nanoparticles for sensing and minimising the effect of optical heating in future experiments.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2111.03123