Lukas Novotny
Photonics Laboratory, ETH Zurich
Christian Degen (left) with Lukas Novotny
Date
20 March 2013
Host
Christian Degen
Title
Cooling and Amplification of a Vacuum-Trapped Nanoparticle
Abstract
We optically trap a single nanoparticle in high vacuum and cool its three spatial degrees of freedom by means of active parametric feedback. The small size and mass of the nanoparticle yield high resonance frequencies and high Q-factors along with low recoil heating, which are essential conditions for ground state cooling and for low decoherence. The vacuum-trapped nanoparticle forms an ideal model system for studying non-equilibrium processes, nonlinear interactions, and ultrasmall forces.