Characterisation of a charged particle levitated nano-oscillator

Year: 2020

Authors: Bullier N.P., Pontin A., Barker P.F.

Autors Affiliation: UCL, Dept Phys & Astron, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT, England.

Abstract: We describe the construction and characterisation of a nano-oscillator formed by a Paul trap. The frequency and temperature stability of the nano-oscillator was measured over several days allowing us to identify the major sources of trap and environmental fluctuations. We measure an overall frequency stability of 2 ppm h(-1) and a temperature stability of more than 5 h via the Allan deviation. Importantly, we find that the charge on the nanoscillator is stable over a timescale of at least two weeks and that the mass of the oscillator, can be measured with a 3% uncertainty. This allows us to distinguish between the trapping of a single nanosphere and a nano-dumbbell formed by a cluster of two nanospheres.

Journal/Review: JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS

Volume: 53 (17)      Pages from: 175302-1  to: 175302-10

More Information: The authors would like to thank Thomas Penny for interesting discussions and Jonathan Gosling for taking the SEM picture. The authors acknowledge funding from the EPSRC Grant No. EP/N031105/1 and from the EU H2020 FET project TEQ (Grant No. 766900). N P B acknowledges funding from the EPSRC Grant No. EP/L015242/1. AP has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 749709.
KeyWords: Paul trap; nanoparticle; quantum mechanics
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/ab71a7