Cooling carbon nanotubes to the phononic ground state with constant electron current

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum theory for cooling a nanotube mechanical resonator to its ground state using a constant electron current, highlighting conditions for effective cooling.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum model for resonator cooling via electron tunneling in a nanotube double quantum dot system.

Findings

Ground state cooling is achievable under realistic parameters.

Theoretical framework for phonon absorption during electron tunneling.

Identification of regimes for optimal cooling performance.

Abstract

We present a quantum theory of cooling of a mechanical resonator using back-action with constant electron current. The resonator device is based on a doubly clamped nanotube, which mechanically vibrates and acts as a double quantum dot for electron transport. Mechanical vibrations and electrons are coupled electrostatically using an external gate. The fundamental eigenmode is cooled by absorbing phonons when electrons tunnel through the double quantum dot. We identify the regimes in which ground state cooling can be achieved for realistic experimental parameters.