title: Cavity-Assisted Manipulation of Freely Rotating Silicon Nanorods in High Vacuum.
abstract: Optical control of nanoscale objects has recently developed into a thriving field of research with far-reaching promises for precision measurements, fundamental quantum physics and studies on single-particle thermodynamics. Here, we demonstrate the optical manipulation of silicon nanorods in high vacuum. Initially, we sculpture these particles into a silicon substrate with a tailored geometry to facilitate their launch into high vacuum by laser-induced mechanical cleavage. We manipulate and trace their center-of-mass and rotational motion through the interaction with an intense intracavity field. Our experiments show that the anisotropy of the nanorotors leads to optical forces that are three times stronger than on silicon nanospheres of the same mass. The optical torque experienced by the spinning rods will enable cooling of the rotational motion and torsional optomechanics in a dissipation-free environment.
authors.affiliation: †University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.affiliation: †University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Asenbaum
authors.affiliation: ‡School of Chemistry, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Alon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kosloff
authors.affiliation: †University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sclafani
authors.affiliation: §University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstraße 1, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Stickler
authors.affiliation: §University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstraße 1, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nimmrichter
authors.affiliation: §University of Duisburg-Essen, Lotharstraße 1, 47048 Duisburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hornberger
authors.affiliation: ‡School of Chemistry, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Ori
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cheshnovsky
authors.affiliation: ‡School of Chemistry, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Patolsky
authors.affiliation: †University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, VCQ, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arndt
keywords: Nanoparticle launching; cavity optomechanics; nanoparticle detection; silicon nanorods