Meissner Levitated Magnetic Microparticle

Well isolated mechanical systems have the potential to be developed into systems for magnetic, accelerometric and gravitational sensing, as well as to investigate the limits of quantum theory. This holds especially for mechanical resonators which consist of levitated nano- and microparticles, since an advantage of this type of system is the lack of clamping losses, potentially resulting in an extremely low energy dissipation. Here, a mechanical resonator is presented, where a magnetic microparticle is levitated in a cylindrical trap of a type I superconductor. SQUID detection has been used to measure the vibrational modes of the particle. The damping factors of the resonator have been analytically calculated, resulting in an expected quality factor Q of 10^11. The coupling and energy of the six translational and rotational rigid body modes of the particle have been simulated, based on analytical approximations. Experimentally, a resonance is detected with a damping time of 47...Show moreWell isolated mechanical systems have the potential to be developed into systems for magnetic, accelerometric and gravitational sensing, as well as to investigate the limits of quantum theory. This holds especially for mechanical resonators which consist of levitated nano- and microparticles, since an advantage of this type of system is the lack of clamping losses, potentially resulting in an extremely low energy dissipation. Here, a mechanical resonator is presented, where a magnetic microparticle is levitated in a cylindrical trap of a type I superconductor. SQUID detection has been used to measure the vibrational modes of the particle. The damping factors of the resonator have been analytically calculated, resulting in an expected quality factor Q of 10^11. The coupling and energy of the six translational and rotational rigid body modes of the particle have been simulated, based on analytical approximations. Experimentally, a resonance is detected with a damping time of 47 seconds and a Q of 2.2*10^4. These are promising first results, since this difference in damping and Q factor can be explained as the Earth's magnetic field was trapped inside the experiment. With these complications resolved, an extremely sensitive micromechanical resonator can be developed. This opens a new road in the investigation of the boundary between the quantum and classical regime and gravitational research.Show less

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Meissner Levitated Magnetic Microparticle