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Superconducting Microsphere Magnetically Levitated in an Anharmonic Potential with Integrated Magnetic Readout

Martí Gutierrez Latorre1, Gerard Higgins1,2, Achintya Paradkar1, Thilo Bauch1, and Witlef Wieczorek1,*

  • 1Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg SE-412 96, Sweden
  • 2Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria

  • *witlef.wieczorek@chalmers.se
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Phys. Rev. Applied 19, 054047 – Published 12 May, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.19.054047

Abstract

Magnetically levitated superconducting microparticles offer a promising path to quantum experiments with picogram to microgram objects. In this work, we levitate a 700 ng∼1017amu superconducting microsphere in a magnetic chip trap in which detection is integrated. We measure the center-of-mass motion of the particle using a dc superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer. The trap frequencies are continuously tunable between 30 and 160 Hz and the particle remains stably trapped over days in a dilution-refrigerator environment. We characterize the motional-amplitude-dependent frequency shifts, which arise from trap anharmonicities, namely, Duffing nonlinearities and mode couplings. We explain this nonlinear behavior using finite-element modeling of the chip-based trap potential. This work may constitute a first step toward quantum experiments and ultrasensitive inertial sensors with magnetically levitated superconducting microparticles.

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Corrections

21 June, 2023

Correction: The omission of a data availability statement and the corresponding reference has been rectified.

26 June, 2023

Second Correction: The prior Correction to insert a data availability statement and corresponding reference was implemented incorrectly by the production staff and has now been rectified (the source information appearing in Refs. [76] and [77] has been interchanged to align with the citations in the paper).

Article Text

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Phys. Rev. Applied 19, 054047– Published 12 May, 2023
  • Received 26 October 2022
  • Revised 23 March 2023
  • Accepted 27 March 2023
  • Corrected 21 June 2023
  • Corrected 26 June 2023
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