Optomechanical Transducer Research Articles

Simultaneous Brillouin and piezoelectric coupling to a high-frequency bulk acoustic resonator

Bulk acoustic resonators support robust, long-lived mechanical modes, capable of coupling to various quantum systems. In separate works, such devices have achieved strong coupling to both superconducting qubits, via piezoelectricity, and optical cavities, via Brillouin interactions. In this work, we present a hybrid microwave–optical platform capable of coupling to bulk acoustic waves through cavity-enhanced piezoelectric and photoelastic interactions. The modular, tunable system achieves fully resonant and well-mode-matched interactions among a 3D microwave cavity, a high-frequency bulk acoustic resonator, and a Fabry–Perot cavity. We realize this piezo–Brillouin interaction in x-cut quartz, demonstrating the potential for strong optomechanical interactions and high cooperativity using optical cavity enhancement. We further show how this device functions as a bidirectional electro–opto–mechanical transducer, with transduction efficiency exceeding 10 − 8 , and a feasible path towards unity conversion efficiency. The high optical sensitivity and ability to apply a large resonant microwave field in this system also offers a tool for probing anomalous electromechanical couplings, which we demonstrate by investigating (nominally centrosymmetric) C a F 2 and revealing a parasitic piezoelectricity of 83 am/V. Such studies are an important topic for emerging quantum technologies, and highlight the versatility of this hybrid platform.

Prototype superfluid gravitational wave detector

We study a cross-shaped cavity filled with superfluid $^4$He as a prototype resonant-mass gravitational wave detector. Using a membrane and a re-entrant microwave cavity as a sensitive optomechanical transducer, we were able to observe the thermally excited high-$Q$ acoustic modes of the helium at 20 mK temperature and achieved a strain sensitivity of $8 \times 10^{-19}$ Hz$^{-1/2}$ to gravitational waves. To facilitate the broadband detection of continuous gravitational waves, we tune the kilohertz-scale mechanical resonance frequencies up to 173 Hz/bar by pressurizing the helium. With reasonable improvements, this architecture will enable the search for GWs in the 1-30 kHz range, relevant for a number of astrophysical sources both within and beyond the Standard Model.

Broadband dichromatic variational measurement

Standard Quantum Limit (SQL) of a classical mechanical force detection results from quantum back action impinged by the meter on a probe mechanical transducer perturbed by the force of interest. In this paper we introduce a technique of continuous \vy{broadband} back action avoiding measurements for the case of a resonant signal force acting on a linear mechanical oscillator supporting one of mirrors of an optical Michelson-Sagnac Interferometer (MSI). The interferometer with the movable mirror is an opto-mechanical transducer able to support polychromatic probe field. The method involves a dichromatic optical probe resonant with the MSI modes and having frequency separation equal to the mechanical frequency. We show that analyzing each of the harmonics of the probe reflected from the mechanical system separately and postprocessing the measurement results allows excluding the back action in a broad frequency band and measuring the force with sensitivity better than SQL.

Recording of Hydroacoustic Signals Using a Fiber-Optic Accelerometer

A prototype of a mobile fiber-optic accelerometer in which a multiturn optomechanical transducer placed in a fiber-optic Mach–Zehnder interferometer interferometer arm is used as a sensitive element is developed and studied. Passive phase demodulation using a fiber-optic splitter 3 × 3 maintains stable accelerometer operation in the case of a temperature drift of an operating point. The detectability of weak hydroacoustic signals using a fiber-optic interferometric accelerometer is shown.

Ground-State Cooling and High-Fidelity Quantum Transduction via Parametrically Driven Bad-Cavity Optomechanics.

Optomechanical couplings involve both beam splitter and two-mode-squeezing types of interactions. While the former underlies the utility of many applications, the latter creates unwanted excitations and is usually detrimental. In this Letter, we propose a simple but powerful method based on cavity parametric driving to suppress the unwanted excitation that does not require working with a deeply sideband-resolved cavity. Our approach is based on a simple observation: as both the optomechanical two-mode-squeezing interaction and the cavity parametric drive induce squeezing transformations of the relevant photonic bath modes, they can be made to cancel one another. We illustrate how our method can cool a mechanical oscillator below the quantum backaction limit, and significantly suppress the output noise of a sideband-unresolved optomechanical transducer.

Measurement-based quantum control of mechanical motion.

Controlling a quantum system by using observations of its dynamics is complicated by the backaction of the measurement process-that is, the unavoidable quantum disturbance caused by coupling the system to a measurementapparatus. An efficient measurement is one that maximizes the amount of information gained per disturbance incurred. Real-time feedback canthen be used to cancel the backaction of the measurement and to control the evolution of the quantum state. Such measurement-based quantum control has been demonstrated in the clean settings of cavity and circuit quantum electrodynamics, but its application to motional degrees of freedomhas remained elusive. Here we demonstrate measurement-based quantum control of the motion of a millimetre-sized membrane resonator. An optomechanical transducer resolves the zero-point motion of the resonator in a fraction of its millisecond-scale coherence time, with an overall measurement efficiency close to unity. An electronic feedback loop converts this position record to a force that cools the resonator mode to its quantum ground state (residual thermal occupation of about 0.29). This occupation is nine decibels below the quantum-backaction limit of sideband cooling and six orders of magnitude below the equilibrium occupation of the thermal environment. We thus realize a long-standing goal in the field, adding position and momentum to the degrees of freedom that are amenable to measurement-based quantum control, with potential applications in quantum information processing and gravitational-wave detectors.

Quantum optomechanical transducer with ultrashort pulses

We propose an optomechanical setup allowing quantum mechanical correlation, entanglement and steering of two ultrashort optical pulses. The protocol exploits an indirect interaction between the pulses mediated optomechanically by letting both interact twice with a highly noisy mechanical system. We prove that significant entanglement can be reached in the bad cavity limit, where the optical decay rate exceeds all other damping rates of the optomechanical system. Moreover, we demonstrate that the protocol generates a quantum non-demolition interaction between the ultrashort pulses which is the basic gate for further applications.

Electronic and mechanical response of graphene on BaTiO3 at martensitic phase transitions

Graphene is extremely sensitive to optical, electrical and mechanical stimuli, which cause a significant variation of the band structure, thus the physiochemical properties. In our work, we report on changes of strain and doping in graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition on copper and transferred onto a BaTiO3(1 0 0) (BTO) single-crystal. The BTO is known as a ferroelectric material, which undergoes several thermoelastic martensitic phase transitions when it is cooled from 300 K to 10 K. In order to enhance the very weak Raman signal of the graphene monolayer (ML) on the BTO, a 15 nm thin gold layer was deposited on top of the graphene ML to benefit from the surface enhanced Raman scattering. Using temperature dependent Raman spectral mapping, the principal Raman modes (D, G and 2D) of the graphene ML were followed in situ. From a careful analysis of these Raman modes, we conclude that the induced strain and doping of the graphene ML follows the martensitic phase transitions of the BTO crystal. Our study suggests potential exploitation of the graphene as a highly sensitive opto-mechanical sensor or transducer.

Fabrication Process for an Optomechanical Transducer Platform with Integrated Actuation.

This article reports a process for batch fabrication of a fiber pigtailed optomechanical transducer platform with overhanging. The platform enables a new class of high bandwidth, high sensitivity, and highly integrated sensors that are, compact, robust, and small, with the potential potential for low cost batch fabrication inherent in Micro-Opto-Electro-Mechanical-Systems technology. This article provides a guide to the whole fabrication process and explains critical steps and process choices in detail. Possible alternative fabrication techniques and problems are discussed. The fabrication process consists of electron beam lithography, i-line stepper lithography, and back- and frontside mask aligner lithography. The goal of this article is to provide a comprehensive description of the fabrication process, presenting context and details which are highly relevant to the rational implementation and reliable repetition of the process. Moreover, this process makes use of equipment commonly found in nanofabrication facilities and research laboratories, facilitating the broad adaptation and application of the process. Therefore, while this article specifically informs users of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), we anticipate that this information will be generally useful for the nano- and microfabrication research communities at large.

Impact of a Non-linear Transfer Characteristic on the Evaluation of Static Displacements with a MOEMS Transducer

This contribution describes an opto-mechanical transducer with a non-linear transfer behaviour and its impact on the quantification of static and dynamic displacements in a vibrating measurement mode. The device's output signal is proportional to a lightflux that is modulated by two overlapping gratings. One of the gratings is deposited on a fixed glass cover while the other one is etched into a moveable seismic mass of a Si MEMS chip. The non-linear transfer characteristic is achieved by paring a triangular grating with a rectangular one. The mass is actuated by a mechanical shaker unit and the resulting 1st and 2nd harmonic of the output signal are recorded with Lock-In amplifiers. These harmonics contain information about the static displacement and the vibration amplitude of the mass. The presented method allows for a precise measerement of the static displacement with an error of ±0.017% compared to DC measurements exhibiting an error of ±0.066%.

Integrated tuning fork nanocavity optomechanical transducers with high fMQM product and stress-engineered frequency tuning

Cavity optomechanical systems are being widely developed for precision force and displacement measurements. For nanomechanical transducers, there is usually a trade-off between the frequency (fM) and quality factor (QM), which limits temporal resolution and sensitivity. Here, we present a monolithic cavity optomechanical transducer supporting both high fM and high QM. By replacing the common doubly clamped, Si3N4 nanobeam with a tuning fork geometry, we demonstrate devices with the fundamental fM≈29 MHz and QM≈2.2×105, corresponding to an fMQM product of 6.35×1012 Hz, comparable to the highest values previously demonstrated for room temperature operation. This high fMQM product is partly achieved by engineering the stress of the tuning fork to be 3 times the residual film stress through clamp design, which results in an increase of fM up to 1.5 times. Simulations reveal that the tuning fork design simultaneously reduces the clamping, thermoelastic dissipation, and intrinsic material damping contributions to mechanical loss. This work may find application when both high temporal and force resolution are important, such as in compact sensors for atomic force microscopy.

Proposal for an optomechanical microwave sensor at the subphoton level.

Because of their low energy content, microwave signals at the single-photon level are extremely challenging to measure. Guided by recent progress in single-photon optomechanics and hybrid optomechanical systems, we propose a multimode optomechanical transducer that can detect intensities significantly below the single-photon level via adiabatic transfer of the microwave signal to the optical frequency domain where the measurement is then performed. The influence of intrinsic quantum and thermal fluctuations is also discussed.

Quantum measurement with cavity optomechanical systems

Cavity optomechanics originated from the research of interferometric detection of gravitational waves, and later became a fast-growing area of techniques and approaches ranging from the fields of atomic, molecular, and optical physics to nano-science and condensed matter physics as well. Recently, it focused on the exploration of operating mechanical oscillators deep in the quantum regime, with an interest ranging from quantum-classical interface tests to high-precision quantum metrology. In this paper, recent theoretical work of our group in the field of quantum measurement with cavity optomechanical systems is reviewed. We explore the quantum measurement theory and its applications with several unconventional cavity optomechanical schemes working in the quantum regime. This review covers the basics of quantum noises in the cavity optomechanical setups and the resulting standard quantum limit of precision displacement and force measurement. Three novel quantum measurement proposals based on the hybrid optomechanical system are introduced. First, we describe a quantum back-action insulated weak force sensor. It is realized by forming a quantum-mechanics-free subsystem with two optomechanical oscillators of reversed effective mass. Then we introduce a role-reversed atomic optomechanical system which enables the preparation and the quantum tomography of a variety of non-classical states of atoms. In this system, the cavity field acts as a mechanical oscillator driven by the radiation pressure force from an ultracold atomic field. In the end, we recommend a multimode optomechanical transducer that can detect intensities significantly below the single-photon level via adiabatic transfer of the microwave signal to the optical frequency domain. These proposals demonstrate the possible applications of optomechanical devices in understanding of quantum-classical crossover and in achieving quantum measurement limit.

An Optomechanical Transducer Platform for Evanescent Field Displacement Sensing

We demonstrate an integrated waveguide platform and optomechanical transduction circuit for chip-scale displacement sensing. The waveguide consists of a thin silicon nitride core layer, a thick silicon oxide bottom cladding, and a top air cladding with a large evanescent field at the waveguide surface. Although the structures feature subwavelength (<;λ/4n <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">core</sub> ) vertical confinement, they are fabrication tolerant with micrometer-scale lateral features. We demonstrate via simulations and measurements that the waveguides exhibit a low confinement with a maximized evanescent field as well as an effective index only slightly larger than the SiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> bottom cladding index. Despite the low confinement, the waveguide platform enables complex photonic circuits. As a demonstration of this technology, we fabricate and characterize an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer for chip-scale displacement sensing. A micrometer-scale fiber taper interacts with the waveguide's evanescent field and induces a phase shift proportional to displacement, thereby acting as an optomechanical transducer. We analyze the responsivity, displacement limit of detection, and strength of optomechanical coupling for high-resolution sensing. An outlook toward other applications is also given.

Quantum networking of microwave photons using optical fibers

We describe an adiabatic state transfer mechanism that allows for high-fidelity transfer of a microwave quantum state from one cavity to another through an optical fiber. The conversion from microwave frequency to optical frequency is enabled by an optomechanical transducer. The transfer process utilizes a combined dark state of the mechanical oscillator and fiber modes, making it robust against both mechanical and fiber loss. We anticipate this scheme being an enabling component of a hybrid quantum computing architecture consisting of superconducting qubits with optical interconnects.

Optically mediated spatial localization of collective modes of two coupled cantilevers for high sensitivity optomechanical transducer

We demonstrate an optomechanical transducer based on two coupled cantilevers, where the spatially delocalized collective modes are optically optimized for highly sensitive detection. We show that the local densities of the collective modes on the cantilevers can be mediated effectively by optically tuning the intrinsic resonance of one cantilever. Taking the advantage of adiabatically mediating the spatial localization of collective mode, the environmental fluctuation proof measurement can be achieved by transferring the phononic information of one cantilever's motion to another free-standing low-loss cantilever. Further, theoretical analysis reveals that the transduction efficiency can also be enhanced by this optomechancial strategy.

A hybrid on-chip optomechanical transducer for ultrasensitive force measurements

Nanoscale mechanical oscillators are used as ultrasensitive detectors of force, mass and charge. Nanomechanical oscillators have also been coupled with optical and electronic resonators to explore the quantum properties of mechanical systems. Here, we report an optomechanical transducer in which a Si(3)N(4) nanomechanical beam is coupled to a disk-shaped optical resonator made of silica on a single chip. We demonstrate a force sensitivity of 74 aN Hz(-1/2) at room temperature with a readout stability better than 1% at the minute scale. Our system is particularly suited for the detection of very weak incoherent forces, which is difficult with existing approaches because the force resolution scales with the fourth root of the averaging time. By applying dissipative feedback based on radiation pressure, we significantly relax this constraint and are able to detect an incoherent force with a force spectral density of just 15 aN Hz(-1/2) (which is 25 times less than the thermal noise) within 35 s of averaging time (which is 30 times less than the averaging time that would be needed in the absence of feedback). It is envisaged that our hybrid on-chip transducer could improve the performance of various forms of force microscopy.

High-sensitivity three-mode optomechanical transducer

Three-mode optomechanical interactions have been predicted to allow the creation of very high sensitivity transducers in which very strong optical self-cooling and strong optomechanical quantum entanglement are predicted. Strong coupling is achieved by engineering a transducer in which both the pump laser and a single signal sideband frequency are resonantly enhanced. Here we demonstrate that very high sensitivity can be achieved in a very simple system consisting of a Fabry-Perot cavity with CO${}_{2}$ laser thermal tuning. We demonstrate a displacement sensitivity of $\ensuremath{\sim}$$1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}17}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\text{m}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$, which is sufficient to observe a thermally excited acoustic mode in a 5.6 kg sapphire mirror with a signal-to-noise ratio of more than 20 dB. It is shown that a measurement sensitivity of $\ensuremath{\sim}$$2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}20}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ limited by the quantum shot noise is achievable with optimization of the cavity parameters.

Theoretical Analysis of Mechanical Displacement Measurement Using a Multiple Cavity Mode Transducer

We present an optomechanical displacement transducer that relies on three cavity modes parametrically coupled to a mechanical oscillator and whose frequency spacing matches the mechanical resonance frequency. The additional resonances allow reaching the standard quantum limit at a substantially lower input power (compared to the case of a single cavity mode), as both sensitivity and quantum backaction are enhanced. Furthermore, it is shown that in the case of multiple cavity modes, coupling between the modes is induced via reservoir interaction, e.g., enabling quantum backaction noise cancellation. Experimental implementation of the schemes is discussed in both the optical and microwave domain.

Continuously rotating chiral liquid crystal droplets in a linearly polarized laser trap

The transfer of optical angular momentum to birefringent particles via circularly polarized light is common. We report here on the unexpected, continuous rotation of chiral nematic liquid crystal droplets in a linearly polarized optical trap. The rotation is non-uniform, occurs over a timescale of seconds, and is observed only for very specific droplet sizes. Synchronized vertical motion of the droplet occurs during the rotation. The motion is the result of photo-induced molecular reorganization, providing a micron sized opto-mechanical transducer that twists and translates.