Abstract
We demonstrate that soft-clamped silicon nitride strings with a large aspect ratio can be operated at mK temperatures. The quality factors (Q) of two measured devices show consistent dependency on the cryostat temperature, with soft-clamped mechanical modes reaching Q>10^{9} at roughly 46 mK. For low optical readout power, Q is found to saturate, indicating good thermalization between the sample and the stage it is mounted on. Our best device exhibits a calculated force sensitivity of 9.6 zN/sqrt[Hz] and a thermal decoherence time of 0.38 s, which bode well for future applications such as nanomechanical force sensing. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000574110Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Physical Review LettersVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
American Physical SocietyOrganisational unit
03906 - Degen, Christian / Degen, Christian
Funding
ETH-51 19-2 - Differential magnetic imaging with an inverted scanning force microscope (ETHZ)
177198 - Zeptonewton force sensing on a membrane resonator platform (SNF)
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