Phase locking of the rotation of a graphene nanoplatelet to an RF electric field in a quadrupole ion trap

Particle trapping technologies provide the opportunity to study two-dimensional materials that are fully decoupled from substrates. We investigate the dynamics of a rotating micron-scale graphene particle that is levitated in high vacuum in a quadrupole ion trap and probed via optical scattering. The particle is spun to frequencies ranging from hundreds of kHz to above 50 MHz using a circularly polarized laser. We observe phase locking of particle rotation frequency to an applied RF electric field. The rotation frequency can be adjusted by changing the applied field frequency. We discuss prospects for measurements of particle properties enabled by this technique.