Vacuum properties of high quality value tuning fork in high magnetic field up to 8 Tesla and at mK temperatures

TL;DR

This study investigates the vacuum properties of high-Q tuning forks at millikelvin temperatures in magnetic fields up to 8 Tesla, revealing magnetic field-dependent damping effects.

Contribution

It provides the first measurements of tuning fork behavior in high magnetic fields at ultra-low temperatures, highlighting magnetic damping phenomena.

Findings

Weak magnetic field-dependent damping observed

High Q-value tuning forks maintain stability at mK temperatures

Damping increases with magnetic field strength

Abstract

Tuning forks are very popular experimental tools widely applied in low and ultra low temperature physics as mechanical resonators and cantilevers in the study of quantum liquids, STM and AFM techniques, etc. As an added benefit, these forks being cooled, have very high Q-value, typically $10^6$ and their properties seems to be magnetic field independent. We present preliminary vacuum measurements of a commercial tuning fork oscillating at frequency 32~kHz conducted in magnetic fields up to 8~T and at temperature $\sim 10$~mK. We found an additional weak damping of the tuning fork motion depending on magnetic field magnitude and we discuss physical nature of the observed phenomena.