Sensing and cooling of a nanomechanical resonator with an electron beam stimulated internal feedback and a capacitive force

A model for the cooling properties of a nanocantilever by a free electron beam is presented for a capacitive interaction. The optimal parameters for position sensing and cooling applications are estimated from previous experimental conditions. In particular, we demonstrate that a purely capacitive force and an electron beam stimulated internal feedback can lower the temperature of a nanocantilever by several orders of magnitude, in striking contrast with the conventional electrostatic damping regime. We propose a step by step protocol to extract the interdependent parameters of the experiments. This work will aid future developments of ultra-sensitive force sensors in electron microscopes.