Abstract
Correlated phases of matter provide long-term stability for systems as diverse as solids, magnets and potential exotic quantum materials. Mechanical systems, such as buckling transition spring switches, can have engineered, stable configurations whose dependence on a control variable is reminiscent of non-equilibrium phase transitions. In hybrid optomechanical systems, light and matter are strongly coupled, allowing engineering of rapid changes in the force landscape, storing and processing information, and ultimately probing and controlling behaviour at the quantum level. Here we report the observation of first- and second-order buckling transitions between stable mechanical states in an optomechanical system, in which full control of the nature of the transition is obtained by means of the laser power and detuning. The underlying multiwell confining potential we create is highly tunable, with a sub-nanometre distance between potential wells. Our results enable new applications in photonics and information technology, and may enable explorations of quantum phase transitions and macroscopic quantum tunnelling in mechanical systems.
Highlights
Correlated phases of matter provide long-term stability for systems as diverse as solids, magnets and potential exotic quantum materials
We show the experimental buckling of the optically sprung membrane for D 1⁄4 2p  0.4 MHz 1⁄4 0.22k, where we expect that the dynamics will correspond to a secondorder buckling transition
Our results, which can be generalized to other optomechanical systems, suggest a variety of applications
Summary
Correlated phases of matter provide long-term stability for systems as diverse as solids, magnets and potential exotic quantum materials. It has a fundamental mechanical frequency of om 1⁄4 2p  80.3 kHz, designed to allow for substantial optical spring effects at low laser power.
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