Sensing and cooling of a nanomechanical resonator with an electron beam stimulated internal feedback and a capacitive force

TL;DR

This paper models how a free electron beam can be used to sense and cool a nanomechanical resonator via capacitive interaction, potentially achieving significant temperature reduction and enhancing force sensing in electron microscopes.

Contribution

It introduces a new model demonstrating that electron beam stimulated internal feedback and capacitive forces can drastically cool nanocantilevers, surpassing traditional electrostatic damping methods.

Findings

Capacitive force and internal feedback can reduce nanocantilever temperature by orders of magnitude.

Optimal sensing and cooling parameters are estimated from experimental conditions.

The work provides a protocol for experimental parameter extraction.

Abstract

A model for the cooling properties of a nanocantilever by a free electron beam is presented for a capacitive interaction. The optimal parameters for position sensing and cooling applications are estimated from previous experimental conditions. In particular , we demonstrate that a purely capacitive force and an electron beam stimulated internal feedback can lower the temperature of a nanocantilever by several orders of magnitude in striking contrast with the conventional electrostatic damping regime. We propose a step by step protocol to extract the interdependent parameters of the experiments. This work will aid future developments of ultra sensitive force sensors in electron microscopes.