Design strategies of opto-mechanical micro oscillators for the detection of the ponderomotive squeezing

Abstract

The interaction of the radiation pressure with micro-mechanical oscillators is earning a growing interest for its wide-range applications (including high sensitivity measurements of force and position) and for fundamental research (entanglement, ponderomotive squeezing, quantum non-demolition measurements). In this contribution we describe the fabrication of a family of opto-mechanical devices specifically designed to ease the detection of ponderomotive squeezing and of entanglement between macroscopic objects and light. These phenomena are not easily observed, due to the overwhelming effects of classical noise sources of thermal origin with respect to the weak quantum fluctuations of the radiation pressure. Therefore, a low thermal noise background is required, together with a weak interaction between the micro-mirror and this background (i.e. high mechanical quality factors). The device should also be capable to manage a relatively large amount of dissipated power at cryogenic temperatures, as the use of a laser with power up to a ten of mW can be useful to enhance radiation pressure effects. In the development of our opto-mechanical devices, we are exploring an approach focused on relatively thick silicon oscillators with high reflectivity coating. The relatively high mass is compensated by the capability to manage high power at low temperatures, owing to a favourable geometric factor (thicker connectors) and the excellent thermal conductivity of silicon crystals at cryogenic temperature. We have measured at cryogenic temperatures mechanical quality factors up to 10⁵ in a micro-oscillator designed to reduce as much as possible the strain in the coating layer and the consequent energy dissipation. This design improves an approach applied in micro-mirror and micro-cantilevers, where the coated surface is reduced as much as possible to improve the quality factor. The deposition of the highly reflective coating layer has been carefully integrated in the micromachining process to preserve its low optical losses: an optical finesse of F = 6×10⁴ has been measured in a Fabry-Perot cavity with the micro-resonator used as end mirror.