Cooling nanorotors by elliptic coherent scattering

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to cool nanorotors to their quantum ground state using elliptic coherent scattering, advancing quantum sensing and fundamental physics experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cooling technique employing elliptically polarized optical tweezers for six-dimensional ground state cooling of nanorotors.

Findings

Achieves six-dimensional ground state cooling of nanorotors

Provides realistic estimates of cooling rates and steady-state occupations

Discusses potential applications in sensing and quantum experiments

Abstract

Simultaneously cooling the rotational and translational motion of nanoscale dielectrics into the quantum regime is an open task of great importance for sensing applications and quantum superposition tests. Here, we show that the six-dimensional ground state can be reached by coherent-scattering cooling with an elliptically polarized and shaped optical tweezer. We determine the cooling rates and steady-state occupations in a realistic setup and discuss applications for mechanical sensing and fundamental experiments.