We describe the design, construction, and operation of an apparatus utilizing
a piezoelectric transducer for in-vacuum loading of nanoparticles into an
optical trap for use in levitated optomechanics experiments. In contrast to
commonly used nebulizer-based trap-loading methods which generate aerosolized
liquid droplets containing nanoparticles, the method produces dry aerosols of
both spherical and high-aspect ratio particles ranging in size by approximately
two orders of mangitude. The device has been shown to generate accelerations of
order 107g, which is sufficient to overcome stiction forces between glass
nanoparticles and a glass substrate for particles as small as 170 nm
diameter. Particles with sizes ranging from 170 nm to ∼10μm have
been successfully loaded into optical traps at pressures ranging from 1 bar
to 0.6 mbar. We report the velocity distribution of the particles launched
from the substrate and our results indicate promise for direct loading into
ultra-high-vacuum with sufficient laser feedback cooling. This loading
technique could be useful for the development of compact fieldable sensors
based on optically levitated nanoparticles as well as matter-wave interference
experiments with ultra-cold nano-objects which rely on multiple repeated
free-fall measurements and thus require rapid trap re-loading in high vacuum
conditions.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure