By studying levitated optomechanics with birefringent vaterite microspheres in the focus of a circularly polarised light beam, the authors explain the unexpected stability of the trap against azimuthal forces and demonstrate feedback cooling of the residual particle revolutions (limit cycles) in the 2D plane. These findings are a first step towards designing high-stability rotors carrying greater centripetal loads and cooling to the quantum level.
- Yoshihiko Arita
- Stephen H. Simpson
- Kishan Dholakia
