Cross-correlation between photons and phonons in quadratically coupled optomechanical systems

Abstract

We study photon, phonon statistics, and the cross-correlation between photons and phonons in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system. Photon blockade, phonon blockade, and strong anticorrelation between photons and phonons can be observed in the same parameter regime with the effective nonlinear coupling between the optical and the mechanical modes, enhanced by a strong optical driving field. Interestingly, an optimal value of the effective nonlinear coupling strength for the photon blockade is not within the strong nonlinear coupling regime. This abnormal phenomenon results from the destructive interference between different paths for two-photon excitation in the optical mode with a moderate effective nonlinear coupling strength. Furthermore, we show that phonon (photon) pairs or correlated photons and phonons can be generated in the strong nonlinear coupling regime with a proper detuning between the weak mechanical driving field and mechanical mode. Our results open up a way to generate anticorrelated and correlated photons and phonons, which may have important applications in quantum information processing.