Cooling of Levitated Graphene Nanoplatelets in High Vacuum

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the cooling of levitated charged graphene nanoplatelets in high vacuum to 20 K using parametric feedback, enabling control over their motion in three dimensions.

Contribution

It introduces a method for cooling levitated graphene nanoplatelets in high vacuum and explores calibration techniques for their mass and charge.

Findings

Achieved cooling to 20 K in high vacuum.

Demonstrated cooling along all three axes of motion.

Analyzed dependence of cooling on electric fields.

Abstract

We demonstrate cooling of the center of mass motion of charged graphene nanoplatelets levitated in a quadrupole ion trap in high vacuum down to temperatures of 20 K. Parametric feedback based on optical measurements of particle motion was used to achieve the particle cooling at pressure $p<10^{-6}$ Torr, and cooling along all three axes of motion was observed. Dependence of cooling on the electric fields was measured by varying DC voltages on a set of auxiliary electrodes used to spatially shift the trap minimum. Methods to calibrate mass and charge of the nanoplatelet by measuring its motion frequency dependence on discharge were also explored.