Trapping and manipulation of individual nanoparticles in a planar Paul trap

Visualisation and manipulation of nanoscale matter is one of the main and current challenges in nanosciences. To this aim, different techniques have been recently developed to non-invasively trap and manipulate nano-specimens, like nanoparticles or molecules. However, operating in air or vacuum still remains very challenging since most approaches are limited to a liquid environment. In this letter, we design and characterise a planar Paul trap optimised to trap and manipulate individual charged nanoparticles. This configuration offers competitive capabilities to manipulate nano-specimens in air or vacuum, including in-plane integration, high trap confinement along with dynamical trap reconfiguration, pointing towards applications in the field of levitated optomechanics. Published by AIP Publishing.