Using a Laguerre-Gaussian beam to trap and cool the rotational motion of a mirror

Abstract

We show theoretically that it is possible to trap and cool the rotational motion of a macroscopic mirror made of a perfectly reflecting spiral phase element using orbital angular momentum transfer from a Laguerre-Gaussian optical field. This technique offers a promising route to the placement of the rotor in its quantum mechanical ground state in the presence of thermal noise. It also opens up the possibility of simultaneously cooling a vibrational mode of the same mirror. Lastly, the proposed design may serve as a sensitive torsional balance in the quantum regime.