Highly Sensitive Charge Sensor Based on Atom-Assisted High-Order Sideband Generation in a Hybrid Optomechanical System.

Zeng-Xing Liu,Hao Xiong

doi:10.3390/s18113833

Zeng-Xing Liu, Hao Xiong

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/s18113833

Copy DOI

Abstract

Realizing highly sensitive charge sensors is of fundamental importance in physics, and may find applications in metrology, electronic tunnel imaging, and engineering technology. With the development of nanophotonics, cavity optomechanics with Coulomb interaction provides a powerful platform to explore new options for the precision measurement of charges. In this work, a method of realizing a highly sensitive charge sensor based on atom-assisted high-order sideband generation in a hybrid optomechanical system is proposed. The advantage of this scheme is that the sideband cutoff order and the charge number satisfy a monotonically increasing relationship, which is more sensitive than the atom-free case discussed previously. Calculations show that the sensitivity of the charge sensor in our scheme is improved by about 25 times. In particular, our proposed charge sensor can operate in low power conditions and extremely weak charge measurement environments. Furthermore, phase-dependent effects between the sideband generation and Coulomb interaction are also discussed in detail. Beyond their fundamental scientific significance, our work is an important step toward measuring individual charge.

Highlights

Cavity optomechanics exploring the radiation pressure force between the mechanical and optical modes have attracted considerable attention and progressed enormously over the past decades [1,2,3,4,5].A typical optomechanical system consists of a high-Q Fabry–Perot cavity with one movable mirror that is treated as a mechanical oscillator
In Ref. [31] the high-order sideband generation shows a strong dependence on Coulomb interaction, and a proposal of detecting charge based on a Coulomb-interaction-dependent effect is proposed
We propose a novel scheme for the precision measurement of charge number based on atom-assisted high-order sideband generation in a hybrid optomechanical system, which allows us to measure the charge number with an unprecedented sensitivity

Summary

Introduction

Cavity optomechanics exploring the radiation pressure force between the mechanical and optical modes have attracted considerable attention and progressed enormously over the past decades [1,2,3,4,5]. A typical optomechanical system consists of a high-Q Fabry–Perot cavity with one movable mirror that is treated as a mechanical oscillator This novel subject has created a new perspective to investigate light–matter interaction via radiation–pressure coupling between the mechanical degrees of freedom and the optical cavity mode [3]. [31] the high-order sideband generation shows a strong dependence on Coulomb interaction, and a proposal of detecting charge based on a Coulomb-interaction-dependent effect is proposed This Coulomb-interaction-dependent effect is non-monotonic and can only been observed when the charge number is large enough, which severely limits the measurement accuracy of the charge sensor. We reveal that the high-order sideband generation can be dramatically strengthened by atomic assistance, and reveals a strong dependence on charge number. Based on the current experimental conditions, we believe that the proposed scheme of a highly sensitive charge sensor will be highly accessible in experiments

Charge Sensor Model

Results and Discussion

Conclusions