Position measurement of a levitated nanoparticle via interference with its mirror image

Abstract

Interferometric methods for detecting the motion of a levitated nanoparticle provide a route to the quantum ground state, but such methods are currently limited by mode mismatch between the reference beam and the dipolar field scattered by the particle. Here we demonstrate a self-interference method to detect the particle's motion that solves this problem. A Paul trap confines a charged dielectric nanoparticle in high vacuum, and a mirror retro-reflects the scattered light. We measure the particle's motion with a sensitivity of $1.7\times 10^{-12}\text{m}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$, corresponding to a detection efficiency of 2.1%, with a numerical aperture of 0.18. As an application of this method, we cool the particle, via feedback, to temperatures below those achieved in the same setup using a standard position measurement.

12 pages, 8 figures

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Ultra-high quality factor of a levitated nanomechanical oscillator
• Sympathetic cooling and squeezing of two co-levitated nanoparticles
• Dark Matter Searches with Levitated Sensors
• Interaction Between an Optically Levitated Nanoparticle and Its Thermal Image: Internal Thermometry via Displacement Sensing
• Optically Hyperpolarized Materials for Levitated Optomechanics
• Optomechanical preparation of photon number-squeezed states with a pair of thermal reservoirs of opposite temperatures
• Back action suppression for levitated dipolar scatterers
• Squeezing below the ground state of motion of a continuously monitored levitating nanoparticle
• Backaction suppression in levitated optomechanics using reflective boundaries
• Roto-translational optomechanics
• Angular Momentum Entanglement Mediated By General Relativistic Frame Dragging
• Feedback Cooling and Thermometry of a Single Trapped Ion Using a Knife Edge