No Arabic abstract
We theoretically show that a magnet can be stably levitated on top of a punctured superconductor sheet in the Meissner state without applying any external field. The trapping potential created by such induced-only superconducting currents is characterized for magnetic spheres ranging from tens of nanometers to tens of millimeters. Such a diamagnetically levitated magnet is predicted to be extremely well isolated from the environment. We therefore propose to use it as an ultrasensitive force and inertial sensor. A magnetomechanical read-out of its displacement can be performed by using superconducting quantum interference devices. An analysis using current technology shows that force and acceleration sensitivities on the order of $10^{-23}text{N}/sqrt{text{Hz}}$ (for a 100 nm magnet) and $10^{-14}g/sqrt{text{Hz}}$ (for a 10 mm magnet) might be within reach in a cryogenic environment. Such unprecedented sensitivities can be used for a variety of purposes, from designing ultra-sensitive inertial sensors for technological applications (i.e. gravimetry, avionics, and space industry), to scientific investigations on measuring Casimir forces of magnetic origin and gravitational physics.
We present a ground-state cooling scheme for the mechanical degrees of freedom of mesoscopic magnetic particles levitated in low-frequency traps. Our method makes use of a binary sensor and suitably shaped pulses to perform weak, adaptive measurements on the position of the magnet. This allows us to precisely determine the position and momentum of the particle, transforming the initial high-entropy thermal state into a pure coherent state. The energy is then extracted by shifting the trap center. By delegating the task of energy extraction to a coherent displacement operation we overcome the limitations associated with cooling schemes that rely on the dissipation of a two-level system coupled to the oscillator. We numerically benchmark our protocol in realistic experimental conditions, including heating rates and imperfect readout fidelities, showing that it is well suited for magnetogravitational traps operating at cryogenic temperatures. Our results pave the way for ground-state cooling of micron-scale particles.
Particles with electric charge 10^(-12)e in bulk mass are not excluded by present experiments. In the present letter we provide a feasible scheme to measure the millicharged particles via the optical cavity coupled to a levitated microsphere. The results show that the optical probe spectrum of the micro-oscillator presents a distinct shift due to the existence of millicharged particles. Owing to the very narrow linewidth(10^(-7) Hz) of the optical Kerr effect, this shift will be more obvious, which makes the millicharges more easy to be detectable. We propose a method to eliminate the polarization force background via the homogeneously charged ring, which makes the scheme displays strong advantages in precision than the current experiments. The technique proposed here paves the way for new applications for probing dark matter and nonzero charged neutrino in the condensed matter.
Torque sensors such as the torsion balance enabled the first determination of the gravitational constant by Cavendish and the discovery of Coulombs law. Torque sensors are also widely used in studying small-scale magnetism, the Casimir effect, and other applications. Great effort has been made to improve the torque detection sensitivity by nanofabrication and cryogenic cooling. The most sensitive nanofabricated torque sensor has achieved a remarkable sensitivity of $10^{-24} rm{Nm}/sqrt{rm{Hz}}$ at millikelvin temperatures in a dilution refrigerator. Here we dramatically improve the torque detection sensitivity by developing an ultrasensitive torque sensor with an optically levitated nanorotor in vacuum. We measure a torque as small as $(1.2 pm 0.5) times 10^{-27} rm{Nm}$ in 100 seconds at room temperature. Our system does not require complex nanofabrication or cryogenic cooling. Moreover, we drive a nanoparticle to rotate at a record high speed beyond 5 GHz (300 billion rpm). Our calculations show that this system will be able to detect the long-sought vacuum friction near a surface under realistic conditions. The optically levitated nanorotor will also have applications in studying nanoscale magnetism and quantum geometric phase.
We demonstrate a new mechanical transduction platform for individual spin qubits. In our approach, single micro-magnets are trapped using a type-II superconductor in proximity of spin qubits, enabling direct magnetic coupling between the two systems. Controlling the distance between the magnet and the superconductor during cooldown, we demonstrate three dimensional trapping with quality factors around one million and kHz trapping frequencies. We further exploit the large magnetic moment to mass ratio of this mechanical oscillator to couple its motion to the spin degree of freedom of an individual nitrogen vacancy center in diamond. Our approach provides a new path towards interfacing individual spin qubits with mechanical motion for testing quantum mechanics with mesoscopic objects, realization of quantum networks, and ultra-sensitive metrology.
Optomechanical systems explore and exploit the coupling between light and the mechanical motion of matter. A nonlinear coupling offers access to rich new physics, in both the quantum and classical regimes. We investigate a dynamic, as opposed to the usually studied static, nonlinear optomechanical system, comprising of a nanosphere levitated and cooled in a hybrid electro-optical trap. An optical cavity offers readout of both linear-in-position and quadratic-in-position (nonlinear) light-matter coupling, whilst simultaneously cooling the nanosphere to millikelvin temperatures for indefinite periods of time in high vacuum. We observe cooling of the linear and non-linear motion, leading to a $10^5$ fold reduction in phonon number $n_p$, attaining final occupancies of $n_p = 100-1000$. This work puts cavity cooling of a levitated object to the quantum ground-state firmly within reach.