Nonlinear dynamics and mechanical frequency combs with a Meissner-levitated micromagnet

Abstract

Nonlinearities in multimode mechanical systems can give rise to rich dynamical phenomena with great potential for sensing applications and for future quantum experiments. We demonstrate that the coupled center-of-mass and rotational motion of a Meissner-levitated micromagnet offer a promising platform for nonlinear dynamics, combining low dissipation, magnetic tunability, strong intrinsic Duffing nonlinearities, and nonlinear intermodal couplings. We use this tunability to demonstrate the generation of a mechanical frequency comb in the micromagnet dynamics, realized by parametric excitation of two translational modes followed by cascaded nonlinear frequency mixing, which produces a phononic comb with tunable spacing. At large amplitudes, nonlinear coupling to a low-frequency librational mode of the magnet leads to parametric excitation and phase locking of that mode, generating a dense spectral fine structure at subharmonics of the drive. These results establish levitated micromagnets as a platform for nonlinear multimode mechanics, with potential applications in precision sensing and quantum-limited metrology.