Speaker
Description
Paul traps offer exceptional control over charged micro- and nanoparticles, making them ideal platforms for non-destructive optical characterization. In this work, we present a setup combining a Paul trap with Raman spectroscopy to study nanoparticles in levitation. Individual particles are loaded into the trap and confined through electric fields, allowing extended interrogation times without substrate contact, preparation artifacts, or contamination from the environment. Raman spectra are acquired to characterize the chemical composition and molecular structure of the trapped particles. This approach demonstrates the potential of levitated single-particle platforms for label free chemical identification of airborne and environmentally relevant particles. The mechanical behaviour of the confined particles is systematically characterized to ensure stability and determine oscillation amplitudes, improving the consistency of the acquired spectra. In the future, we plan to perform additional measurements of the nanoparticles' mass [1], and to control the temperature as well as the surface chemistry of the particles in order to implement a chemical nanoreactor [2].
References:
[1] F. Ricci, M. T. Cuairan, G. P. Conangla, A. W. Schell, and R. Quidant. Accurate
mass measurement of a levitated nanomechanical resonator using corona discharge.
Nano Letters, 19(10):6711-6715, 2019.
[2] F. Ricci, M. T. Cuairan, A. W. Schell, E. Hebestreit, R. A. Rica, N. Meyer, and
R. Quidant. A chemical nanoreactor based on a levitated nanoparticle in vacuum.
ACS Nano, 16(6):8677-8683, 2022.