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Optical particle trapping in a standing wave
The objective of this project is to build an optical trap consisting of two counter-propagating beams. The visibility of the standing wave should be tunable from no interference to full visibility. The student will study the eigenfrequencies as a function of standing wave visibility.
Optically levitated nanoparticles are prime candidates to test quantum mechanics at the
mesoscopic scale. Current levitodynamics experiments are on the brink of achieving
quantum control over the motion of the trapped particles [1,2,3]. One problem of the field
are the rather low mechanical eigenfrequencies in the order of 10 to 100 kHz. A way
to drastically increase the resonance frequency along the optical beam is in a standing
wave [4].
The objective of this project is to build an optical trap consisting of two counterpropagating
beams. The visibility of the standing wave should be tunable from no interference to
full visibility. The student will study the eigenfrequencies as a function of standing wave
visibility.
References:
[1] D. Windey, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 123601 (2019).
[2] U. Delic, et al., Science 367, 892 (2020).
[3] F. Tebbenjohanns, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 013603 (2020).
[4] R. Diehl, et al., Phys. Rev. A 98, 013851 (2018).
Prerequisites:
Electromagnetic theory, electronics and measurement techniques.
Optically levitated nanoparticles are prime candidates to test quantum mechanics at the mesoscopic scale. Current levitodynamics experiments are on the brink of achieving quantum control over the motion of the trapped particles [1,2,3]. One problem of the field are the rather low mechanical eigenfrequencies in the order of 10 to 100 kHz. A way to drastically increase the resonance frequency along the optical beam is in a standing wave [4]. The objective of this project is to build an optical trap consisting of two counterpropagating beams. The visibility of the standing wave should be tunable from no interference to full visibility. The student will study the eigenfrequencies as a function of standing wave visibility.
References: [1] D. Windey, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 123601 (2019). [2] U. Delic, et al., Science 367, 892 (2020). [3] F. Tebbenjohanns, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 013603 (2020). [4] R. Diehl, et al., Phys. Rev. A 98, 013851 (2018).
Prerequisites: Electromagnetic theory, electronics and measurement techniques.
Not specified
Supervisor:
Massimiliano Rossi (marossi@ethz.ch), Felix Tebbenjohanns (tefelix@ethz.ch)
Supervisor: Massimiliano Rossi (marossi@ethz.ch), Felix Tebbenjohanns (tefelix@ethz.ch)