Cryogenic pressure sensing with an ultrafast Meissner-levitated microrotor

Abstract

Magnetically levitated spinning rotors are key elements in important technologies such as navigation by gyroscopes, energy storage by flywheels, ultra-high vacuum generation by turbomolecular pumps, and pressure sensing for process control. However, mechanical rotors are typically macroscopic and limited to room temperature and low rotation frequencies. In particular, sensing pressure at low temperatures remains a technological challenge, while emerging quantum technologies demand a precise evaluation of pressure conditions at low temperatures to cope with quantum-spoiling decoherence. To close this gap, we demonstrate wide range pressure sensing by a spinning rotor based on a micromagnet levitated by the Meissner effect at 4.2 Kelvin. We achieve rotational speeds of up to 138 million rotations per minute, resulting in very high effective quality factors, outperforming current platforms. Beside sensing applications, we envision the use of levitated rotors for probing fundamental science including quantum mechanics and gravity, enabled by ultralow torque noise.