Fast equilibrium switch of a micro mechanical oscillator

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to rapidly control a micromechanical oscillator's motion, significantly reducing equilibration time and analyzing the energetic cost of fast equilibration in an AFM setup.

Contribution

It introduces a precise external force protocol to achieve two orders of magnitude faster equilibrium in a micromechanical oscillator and measures the associated energy exchanges.

Findings

Equilibration time reduced by two orders of magnitude.

Energy exchanges measured with kBT accuracy.

Method applicable to AFM cantilever control.

Abstract

We demonstrate an accurate method to control the motion of a micromechanical oscillator in contact with a thermal bath. The experiment is carried out on the cantilever tip of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). Applying an appropriate time dependent external force, we decrease the time necessary to reach equilibrium by two orders of magnitude compared to the intrinsic equilibration time. Finally, we analyze the energetic cost of such a fast equilibration, by measuring with kBT accuracy the energy exchanges along the process.