Abstract (eng)
The present thesis seeks to summarize the theoretical fundamentals of cooling optically levitated nanoparticles in all degrees of freedom, comprising both translational and rotational motion. In preparation to further studies, we also treat interactions with the environment, which give rise to heating and ultimately to decoherence. We explain the experimental steps undertaken so far and describe our current setup as well as envisioned modifications, which we are planning to implement in order to create a versatile and reliable platform for the investigation of rotational quantum phenomena. A particle that is optically trapped inside a tightly focused laser beam behaves, to a first approximation, like a harmonic oscillator and hence features quantized energy levels. Successful cooling will thus allow us to approach the ground state of energy as a well-defined quantum state. This serves as a prerequisite towards the demonstration of matter-wave interference, which is one of the central predictions of quantum physics, in mesoscopic systems and also holds promise of finding application in ultrasensitive force and torque sensing techniques. To that end, we are planning to apply the method of coherent scattering cooling, which exploits the optomechanical interaction between the levitated particle and the two polarization modes of an optical resonator. In more concrete terms, a suitable choice of detuning between the wavelength of the laser and the resonance of the cavity causes an enhancement of the inelastic scattering of blue-shifted photons, which carry away mechanical energy of the particle. As first steps towards our goals, we determine the linewidth of our resonator, which constitutes one of the central parameters governing the cooling efficiency, stabilize the laser frequency with respect to the cavity resonance, detect particles with a diameter of 100 nanometers using both a scattering fiber inside the vacuum chamber and balanced detectors in backscattering, demonstrate loading of the trap in low vacuum using laser-induced acoustic desorption and measure the power spectral density of the particle motion in preparation to parametric feedback cooling and the transition to high vacuum.