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Researchers Achieve Ground State Cooling of Silica Nanorotor

4/10/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Researchers from the University of Vienna, Technische Universität Wien, and Ulm University trapped a silica nanorotor in its quantum ground state.
They cooled the rotor with intense light to near absolute zero to enable precise control of its orientation.
This work marks the first cooling of a system in two dimensions.
Nature Physics published the findings.
The results point to quantum torque sensing and new insights into quantum physics.

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Story summary

Researchers from the University of Vienna, Technische Universität Wien, and Ulm University trapped a silica nanorotor in its quantum ground state.
They cooled the rotor with intense light to near absolute zero to enable precise control of its orientation.
This work marks the first cooling of a system in two dimensions.
Nature Physics published the findings.
The results point to quantum torque sensing and new insights into quantum physics.