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Laser refrigeration, alignment and rotation of levitated Yb3+:YLF nanocrystals

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Abstract

The ability to cool and manipulate levitated nanoparticles in vacuum is a promising tool for exploring macroscopic quantum mechanics1,2, precision measurements of forces3 and non-equilibrium thermodynamics4,5. The extreme isolation afforded by optical levitation offers a low-noise, undamped environment that has been used to measure zeptonewton forces3 and radiation pressure shot noise6, and to demonstrate centre-of-mass motion cooling7,8. Ground-state cooling and the creation of macroscopic quantum superpositions are now within reach, but control of both the centre of mass and internal temperature is required. While cooling the centre-of-mass motion to micro-kelvin temperatures has now been achieved, the internal temperature has remained at or above room temperature. Here, we realize a nanocryostat by refrigerating levitated Yb3+:YLF nanocrystals to 130 K using anti-Stokes fluorescence cooling, while simultaneously using the optical trapping field to align the crystal to maximize cooling.

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Fig. 1: Experimental overview.
Fig. 2: Blueshifted fluorescence from Yb3+:YLF nanocrystals in 1,031 nm and 1,064 nm trapping beams.
Fig. 3: Alignment and rotation of levitated Yb3+:YLF particles.
Fig. 4: Power spectral density.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge support from a UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council grant (EP/N031105/1). The authors thank G.W. Morley and A.C. Frangeskou for help with scanning electron microscopy imaging.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    A. T. M. Anishur Rahman & P. F. Barker

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  1. A. T. M. Anishur Rahman
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  2. P. F. Barker
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Contributions

A.T.M.A.R. and P.F.B. conceived and designed the experiment. Both authors performed the experiment, analysed the data and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to P. F. Barker.

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Laser refrigeration, alignment and rotation of levitated Yb3+:YLF nanocrystals

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Rahman, A., Barker, P.F. Laser refrigeration, alignment and rotation of levitated Yb3+:YLF nanocrystals. Nature Photon 11, 634–638 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-017-0005-3

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