ÖPG-CMD Joint Meeting 2026

Toward sympathetic cooling of a nanoparticle with an ion

Sep 23, 2026, 4:00 PM

30m

HS 15.12 (University of Graz)

4) Invited talk M29 - Nanomechanical, Electromechanical, Optomechanical and Levitated Systems Mini-Colloquium

Speaker

Tracy Northup (University of Innsbruck)

Description

If two levitated particles are charged and separated by only a short distance, their motion may be appreciably coupled via their Coulomb interaction: cooling just one particle allows the second particle to be cooled as well. This sympathetic cooling is an enabling tool for trapped-ion metrology and computing and has also been demonstrated with nanoparticles in a linear Paul trap [1]. Here, I will discuss prospects for sympathetically cooling a levitated nanoparticle via Doppler cooling of an atomic ion [2]. The proposed experiment builds on our recent demonstration of a nanoparticle stored with a calcium ion in a linear Paul trap [3]. It would allow us to characterize the ion-nanoparticle coupling and understand how it could be applied to future quantum experiments.

[1] D. S. Bykov, L. Dania, F. Goschin, T. E. Northup, Optica 10, 438 (2023)
[2] S. Gupta, D. S. Bykov, T. E. Northup, C. Gonzalez-Ballestero, arXiv:2511:21495 (2025)
[3] D. S. Bykov, L. Dania, F. Goschin, T. E. Northup, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 213602 (2025)