Optomechanical Interface Research Articles

Hetero-bonding strength investigation into opto-mechanical interface

Glass-metal hetero-bonding through optical epoxy adhesive is frequently used in opto-mechanics and requires high stability. However, the bonding stability is difficult to achieve and predict in massive use cases, where dozens to thousands of metal pads are bonded to mount large optics. Here a universal adhesive bonding technology was proposed and evaluated through reliability analyses based on a limited number of sample tests. Specimens were prepared and tested via standard procedures and equipment; afterward, the lower strength limits were calculated with high reliability. Nominal tensile (6.7 MPa) and shear (4.3 MPa) strength limits at 99.95% reliability were expected for ongoing 30 m aperture telescopes. This study may improve the quality of opto-mechanical interfaces and reduce the risk on constructing extremely large telescopes.

Simultaneous cooling coupled nano-mechanical resonators in cavity optomechanics

Coupled mechanical resonators have recently attracted great attention for both practical applications and fundamental studies. As a preparation step, it is needed to cool the coupled mechanical resonators to their ground states. Here we propose a theoretical scheme to cool two coupled mechanical resonators by introducing an optomechanical interface. The final mean phonon numbers of the two mechanical resonators are calculated exactly and the results show that the ground-state cooling is achievable in the resolved-sideband regime and under the optimal driving. Moreover, we derived analytical expressions of the cooling limits by adiabatically eliminating the cavity field under the large-decay limit.

Phase-Controlled Entanglement in a Four-Mode Optomechanical System

We present a scheme for realizing phase-controlled entanglement in a microwave optomechanical system comprising two microwave cavities and two mechanical oscillators. Under specific driving conditions, we show that this optomechanical interface can be exploited to generate simultaneously the stationary cavity–cavity entanglement, mechanical–mechanical entanglement, and cavity–mechanical entanglement. Due to the closed loop interaction, we find that the entanglement can be controlled flexibly by tuning the phase difference between the optomechanical coupling strengths. The dependence of the entanglement on the amplitudes of the optomechanical coupling strengths is also explored in detail. Moreover, the bipartite entanglements are robust against temperature, and it is shown that the mechanical oscillators are cooled to the ground state in the parameter regimes for observing entanglement.

Transmission and generation of arbitrary W states via an optomechanical interface

We propose a universal and nontrivial scheme to transmit and generate an arbitrary W state for multiple cavities via an optomechanical interface. In transmission and generation processes, high fidelity can be obtained by optimizing the time-dependent coupling strengths between the cavities and the mechanical resonator. With a group of optimal couplings, an arbitrary entangled W state in the multipartite system can be mapped to the pulse shape of a single photon and transmitted out of the system. In the time reversal process, an arbitrary W state can be generated with an incident single photon with a certain pulse shape. The functions of the optimal couplings, which are used for both transmission and generation processes, only depend on the parameters of the system, which does not change with the arbitrary entangled W states and the pulse shape of the single photons.

Optomechanical interface between telecom photons and spin quantum memory

Quantum networks enable a broad range of practical and fundamental applications spanning distributed quantum computing to sensing and metrology. A cornerstone of such networks is an interface between telecom photons and quantum memories. Here we demonstrate a novel approach based on cavity optomechanics that utilizes the susceptibility of spin qubits to strain. We use it to control electron spins of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond with photons in the 1550 nm telecommunications wavelength band. This method does not involve qubit optical transitions and is insensitive to spectral diffusion. Furthermore, our approach can be applied to solid-state qubits in a wide variety of materials, expanding the toolbox for quantum information processing.

Inducing micromechanical motion by optical excitation of a single quantum dot.

Hybrid quantum optomechanical systems1 interface a macroscopic mechanical degree of freedom with a single two-level system such as a single spin2-4, a superconducting qubit5-7 or a single optical emitter8-12. Recently, hybrid systems operating in the microwave domain have witnessed impressive progress13,14. Concurrently, only a few experimental approaches have successfully addressed hybrid systems in the optical domain, demonstrating that macroscopic motion can modulate the two-level system transition energy9,10,15. However, the reciprocal effect, corresponding to the backaction of a single quantum system on a macroscopic mechanical resonator, has remained elusive. In contrast to an optical cavity, a two-level system operates with no more than a single energy quantum. Hence, it requires a much stronger hybrid coupling rate compared to cavity optomechanical systems1,16. Here, we build on the large strain coupling between an oscillating microwire and a single embedded quantum dot9. We resonantly drive the quantum dot's exciton using a laser modulated at the mechanical frequency. State-dependent strain then results in a time-dependent mechanical force that actuates microwire motion. This force is almost three orders of magnitude larger than the radiation pressure produced by the photon flux interacting with the quantum dot. In principle, the state-dependent force could constitute a strategy to coherently encode the quantum dot quantum state onto a mechanical degree of freedom1.

Squeezing transfer of light in a two-mode optomechanical system.

The squeezing transfer from a squeezed vacuum injected in one cavity to the output spectrum of the other cavity in an optomechanical system is investigated. By calculating the noise spectrum of the output field, it is found that two squeezing dips appear symmetrically located about the resonant point. Besides the contribution from the destructive interference between the noise fluctuation of the input field and its optomechanically modified one, the major part of the squeezing is transferred from the squeezed vacuum injected in the cavity. Additionally, it is shown that the adverse effects of the environment temperature on the output spectrum can be strongly suppressed by the injected squeezed field. This study can be useful in quantum communications via the optomechanical interface.

Simultaneous cooling of coupled mechanical resonators in cavity optomechanics

Quantum manipulation of coupled mechanical resonators has become an important research topic in optomechanics because these systems can be used to study the quantum coherence effects involving multiple mechanical modes. A prerequisite for observing macroscopic mechanical coherence is to cool the mechanical resonators to their ground state. Here we propose a theoretical scheme to cool two coupled mechanical resonators by introducing an optomechanical interface. The final mean phonon numbers in the two mechanical resonators are calculated exactly and the results show that the ground-state cooling is achievable in the resolved-sideband regime and under the optimal driving. By adiabatically eliminating the cavity field in the large-decay regime, we obtain analytical results of the cooling limits, which show the smallest achievable phonon numbers and the parameter conditions under which the optimal cooling is achieved. Finally, the scheme is extended to the cooling of a chain of coupled mechanical resonators.

Quantum state transfer via a hybrid solid–optomechanical interface**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11305021) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Grants Nos. 3132017072 and 3132015149).

We propose a scheme to implement quantum state transfer between two distant quantum nodes via a hybrid solid–optomechanical interface. The quantum state is encoded on the native superconducting qubit, and transferred to the microwave photon, then the optical photon successively, which afterwards is transmitted to the remote node by cavity leaking, and finally the quantum state is transferred to the remote superconducting qubit. The high efficiency of the state transfer is achieved by controllable Gaussian pulses sequence and numerically demonstrated with theoretically feasible parameters. Our scheme has the potential to implement unified quantum computing–communication–computing, and high fidelity of the microwave–optics–microwave transfer process of the quantum state.

Nonreciprocal quantum-state conversion between microwave and optical photons

Optomechanical quantum interfaces can be utilized to connect systems with distinctively different frequencies in hybrid quantum networks. Here we present a scheme of nonreciprocal quantum state conversion between microwave and optical photons via an optomechanical interface. By introducing an auxiliary cavity and manipulating the phase differences between the linearized optomechanical couplings, uni-directional state transmission can be achieved. The interface can function as an isolator, a circulator, and a two-way switch that routes the input states to a selected output channel. We show that under a generalized impedance matching condition, the state conversion can reach high fidelity and is robust against the thermal fluctuations in the mechanical mode.

Squeezer-based pulsed optomechanical interface

We prove feasibility of high-fidelity pulsed optomechanical interface based on all-optical presqueezing of non-Gaussian quantum states of light before they enter the optomechanical system. We demonstrate that feasible presqueezing of optical states effectively increases the low noise transfer of them to mechanical oscillator. It allows one to surpass the limit necessary to transfer highly nonclassical states with negative Wigner function. In particular, we verify that with this help single photon states of light can be efficiently turned to single phonon states of mechanical oscillator, keeping the negativity of the Wigner function. It opens the possibility to merge quantum optomechanics with the recent methods of quantum optics.

Quantum network of superconducting qubits through an optomechanical interface

We propose a scheme to realize quantum networking of superconducting qubits based on the opto-mechanical interface. The superconducting qubits interact with the microwave photons, which then couple to the optical photons through the opto-mechanical interface. The interface generates a quantum link between superconducting qubits and optical flying qubits with tunable pulse shapes and carrier frequencies, enabling transmission of quantum information to other superconducting or atomic qubits. We show that the scheme works under realistic experimental conditions and it also provides a way for fast initialization of the superconducting qubits under 1 K instead of 20 mK operation temperature.

Robustness of continuous-variable entanglement via geometrical nonlinearity

We propose a scheme to generate robust stationary continuous-variable entanglement in optomechanical systems, based on geometrical nonlinearity that occurs for large mechanical displacements. Such nonlinearity is often used to correct the dynamics of the systems in the strong coupling regime. It appears that geometrical nonlinearity enhances the entanglement and shifts its maximum towards high detuning values. Using the experimental parameters, we find that such a scheme generates a very robust entanglement against thermal decoherence even at room temperature. Our results show that geometrical nonlinearity affects entanglement as the optomechanical quantum interface.

Optomechanical interface for probing matter-wave coherence

We combine matter-wave interferometry and cavity optomechanics to propose a coherent matter–light interface based on mechanical motion at the quantum level. We demonstrate a mechanism that is able to transfer non-classical features imprinted on the state of a matter-wave system to an optomechanical device, transducing them into distinctive interference fringes. This provides a reliable tool for the inference of quantum coherence in the particle beam. Moreover, we discuss how our system allows for intriguing perspectives, paving the way to the construction of a device for the encoding of quantum information in matter-wave systems. Our proposal, which highlights previously unforeseen possibilities for the synergistic exploitation of these two experimental platforms, is explicitly based on existing technology, available and widely used in current cutting-edge experiments.

Photon-photon interactions in a largely detuned optomechanical cavity

We propose to realize effective beam-splitter-like and two-mode-squeezing photon-photon interactions in a strong coupling optomechanical interface by exploiting detuned driving lasers. In this interface, the transitions between the optical system and the mechanical oscillator are suppressed by the large energy offsets, therefore protecting the photon-photon interactions from mechanical dissipations. Moreover, the destructive quantum interference between the eigenmodes of the interface is capable of further reducing the effects of initial mechanical thermal occupations. The interface can serve as a universal block for photon state engineering and hybrid quantum networks in high-temperature thermal bath and without the requirement of cooling the mechanical oscillator to the ground state.

Realization of an Optomechanical Interface Between Ultracold Atoms and a Membrane

We have realized a hybrid optomechanical system by coupling ultracold atoms to a micromechanical membrane. The atoms are trapped in an optical lattice, which is formed by retroreflection of a laser beam from the membrane surface. In this setup, the lattice laser light mediates an optomechanical coupling between membrane vibrations and atomic center-of-mass motion. We observe both the effect of the membrane vibrations onto the atoms as well as the backaction of the atomic motion onto the membrane. By coupling the membrane to laser-cooled atoms, we engineer the dissipation rate of the membrane. Our observations agree quantitatively with a simple model.

Optical wavelength conversion of quantum states with optomechanics

An optomechanical interface that converts quantum states between optical fields with distinct wavelengths is proposed. A mechanical mode couples to two optical modes via radiation pressure and mediates the quantum state mapping between the two optical modes. A sequence of optomechanical $\pi/2$ pulses enables state-swapping between optical and mechanical states as well as the cooling of the mechanical mode. Theoretical analysis shows that high fidelity conversion can be realized for states with small photon numbers in systems with experimentally achievable parameters. The pulsed conversion process also makes it possible to maintain high conversion fidelity at elevated bath temperatures.