Magnetic Actuation and Feedback Cooling of a Cavity Optomechanical Torque Sensor

Abstract

We demonstrate the integration of a mesoscopic ferromagnetic needle with a cavity optomechanical torsional resonator, and its use for quantitative determination of the needle's magnetic properties, as well as amplification and cooling of the resonator motion. With this system we measure torques as small as 32 zNm, corresponding to sensing an external magnetic field of 0.12 A/m (150 nT). Furthermore, we are able to extract the magnetization (1710 kA/m) of the magnetic sample, not known a priori, demonstrating this system's potential for studies of nanomagnetism. Finally, we show that we can magnetically drive the torsional resonator into regenerative oscillations, and dampen its mechanical mode temperature from room temperature to 11.6 K, without sacrificing torque sensitivity.