6 GHz hyperfast rotation of an optically levitated nanoparticle in vacuum

We report an experimental observation of a record-breaking ultrahigh rotation frequency about 6 GHz in an optically levitated nanoparticle system. We optically trap a nanoparticle in the gravity direction with a high numerical aperture (NA) objective lens, which shows significant advantages in compensating the influences of the scattering force and the photophoretic force on the trap, especially at intermediate pressure (about 100 Pa). This allows us to trap a nanoparticle from atmospheric to low pressure ( 10 − 3 Pa ) without using feedback cooling. We measure a highest rotation frequency about 4.3 GHz of the trapped nanoparticle without feedback cooling and a 6 GHz rotation with feedback cooling, which is the fastest mechanical rotation ever reported to date. Our work provides useful guides for efficiently observing hyperfast rotation in the optical levitation system and may find various applications such as in ultra-sensitive torque detection, probing vacuum friction, and testing unconventional decoherence theories.