Resolved Sideband Limit Research Articles

Optomechanics Driven by Noisy and Narrowband Fields

AbstractWe report a study of a cavity optomechanical system driven by narrowband electromagnetic fields, which are applied either in the form of uncorrelated noise, or as a more structured spectrum. The bandwidth of the driving spectra is smaller than the mechanical resonant frequency, and thus we can describe the resulting physics using concepts familiar from regular cavity optomechanics in the resolved-sideband limit. With a blue-detuned noise driving, the noise-induced interaction leads to anti-damping of the mechanical oscillator, and a self-oscillation threshold at an average noise power that is comparable to that of a coherent driving tone. This process can be seen as noise-induced dynamical amplification of mechanical motion. However, when the noise bandwidth is reduced down to the order of the mechanical damping, we discover a large shift of the power threshold of self-oscillation. This is due to the oscillator adiabatically following the instantaneous noise profile. In addition to blue-detuned noise driving, we investigate narrowband driving consisting of two coherent drive tones nearby in frequency. Also in these cases, we observe deviations from a naive optomechanical description relying only on the tones’ frequencies and powers.

Double-passage mechanical cooling in a coupled optomechanical system**Project supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. 2018MS056) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11605055 and 11574082).

We consider a three-mode optomechanical system where two cavity modes are coupled to a common mechanical oscillator. We focus on the resolved sideband limit and illustrate the relation between the significant parameters of the system and the instantaneous-state mean phonon number of the oscillator cooled to the ground state, particularly at the early stage of the evolution. It is worth noting that the optical coupling sets up a correlation between the two cavity modes, which has significant effect on the cooling process. Using numerical solutions, we find that the inter-cavity coupling will decrease the cooling effect when both cavities have the same effective optomechanical coupling. However, when the effective optomechanical couplings are different, the cooling effect will be strongly improved by selecting appropriate range of inter-cavity coupling.

Ground-state cooling of mechanical oscillator via quadratic optomechanical coupling with two coupled optical cavities.

We present a scheme for the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like nonlinear ground-state cooling in a double-cavity optomechanical system in which an optical cavity mode is coupled parametrically to the square of the position of a mechanical oscillator, an additional auxiliary cavity is coupled to the optomechanical cavity. The optimum cooling conditions is derived, based on which the heating process can be well suppressed and the mechanical resonator can be cooled with an optimal effect to near its ground state through EIT-like cooling mechanism even in unresolved sideband regime. It is demonstrated by numerical simulations that not only the average phonon number of steady state is lower than that of single-cavity optomechanical system, but also the cooling rate is greatly faster than that of the linear optomechanical coupling due to the two-phonon cooling process in the quadratic coupling. Also, the ground-state cooling is achievable even with a relatively weak quadratic coupling strengthby tunning the coupling between two cavities to reach the optimum cooling conditions, thus provides an solution for overcoming the limitations of weak quadratic coupling rate in experiments. The proposed approach provides a platform for quantum manipulation of macroscopic mechanical devices beyond the resolved sideband limit and linear coupling regime.

Squeezed cooling of mechanical motion beyond the resolved-sideband limit

Cavity optomechanics provides a unique platform for controlling micromechanical systems by means of optical fields that cross the classical-quantum boundary to achieve solid foundations for quantum technologies. Currently, optomechanical resonators have become promising candidates for the development of precisely controlled nano-motors, ultrasensitive sensors and robust quantum information processors. For all these applications, a crucial requirement is to cool the mechanical resonators down to their quantum ground states. In this paper, we present a novel cooling scheme to further cool a micromechanical resonator via the noise squeezing effect. One quadrature in such a resonator can be squeezed to induce enhanced fluctuations in the other, “heated” quadrature, which can then be used to cool the mechanical motion via conventional optomechanical coupling. Our theoretical analysis and numerical calculations demonstrate that this squeeze-and-cool mechanism offers a quick technique for deeply cooling a macroscopic mechanical resonator to an unprecedented temperature region below the zero-point fluctuations.

Hybrid confinement of optical and mechanical modes in a bullseye optomechanical resonator.

Optomechanical cavities have proven to be an exceptional tool to explore fundamental and applied aspects of the interaction between mechanical and optical waves. Here we demonstrate a novel optomechanical cavity based on a disk with a radial mechanical bandgap. This design confines light and mechanical waves through distinct physical mechanisms which allows for independent control of the mechanical and optical properties. Simulations foresee an optomechanical coupling rate g0 reaching 2π × 100 kHz for mechanical frequencies around 5 GHz as well as anchor loss suppression of 60 dB. Our device design is not limited by unique material properties and could be easily adapted to allow for large optomechanical coupling and high mechanical quality factors with other promising materials. Finally, our devices were fabricated in a commercial silicon photonics facility, demonstrating g0/2π = 23 kHz for mechanical modes with frequencies around 2 GHz and mechanical Q-factors as high as 2300 at room temperature, also showing that our approach can be easily scalable and useful as a new platform for multimode optomechanics.

Squeezing of the mechanical motion and beating 3 dB limit using dispersive optomechanical interactions

We study an optomechanical system consisting of an optical cavity and movable mirror coupled through dispersive linear optomechanical coupling (LOC) and quadratic optomechanical coupling (QOC). We work in the resolved side band limit with a high quality factor mechanical oscillator in a strong coupling regime. We show that the presence of QOC in the conventional optomechanical system (with LOC alone) modifies the mechanical oscillator’s frequency and reduces the back-action effects on mechanical oscillator. As a result of this the fluctuations in mechanical oscillator can be suppressed below standard quantum limit thereby squeeze the mechanical motion of resonator. We also show that either of the quadratures can be squeezed depending on the sign of the QOC. With detailed numerical calculations and analytical approximation we show that in such systems, the 3 dB limit can be beaten.

Steady-state mechanical squeezing in a double-cavity optomechanical system.

We study the physical properties of double-cavity optomechanical system in which the mechanical resonator interacts with one of the coupled cavities and another cavity is used as an auxiliary cavity. The model can be expected to achieve the strong optomechanical coupling strength and overcome the optomechanical cavity decay, simultaneously. Through the coherent auxiliary cavity interferences, the steady-state squeezing of mechanical resonator can be generated in highly unresolved sideband regime. The validity of the scheme is assessed by numerical simulation and theoretical analysis of the steady-state variance of the mechanical displacement quadrature. The scheme provides a platform for the mechanical squeezing beyond the resolved sideband limit and solves the restricted experimental bounds at present.

A quantum optomechanical interface beyond the resolved sideband limit

Mechanical oscillators which respond to radiation pressure are a promising means of transferring quantum information between light and matter. Optical–mechanical state swaps are a key operation in this setting. Existing proposals for optomechanical state swap interfaces are only effective in the resolved sideband limit. Here, we show that it is possible to fully and deterministically exchange mechanical and optical states outside of this limit, in the common case that the cavity linewidth is larger than the mechanical resonance frequency. This high-bandwidth interface opens up a significantly larger region of optomechanical parameter space, allowing generation of non-classical motional states of high-quality, low-frequency mechanical oscillators.

Ultralow-Noise SiN Trampoline Resonators for Sensing and Optomechanics

In force sensing, optomechanics, and quantum motion experiments, it is typically advantageous to create lightweight, compliant mechanical elements with the lowest possible force noise. Here we report wafer-scale batch fabrication and characterization of high-aspect-ratio, nanogram-scale Si$_3$N$_4$ "trampolines" having quality factors above $4 \times 10^7$ and ringdown times exceeding five minutes (1 mHz linewidth). We measure a thermally limited force noise sensitivity of 16.2$\pm$0.8 aN/Hz$^{1/2}$ at room temperature, with a spring constant ($\sim$1 N/m) 2-5 orders of magnitude larger than those of competing technologies. We also characterize the suitability of these devices for high-finesse cavity readout and optomechanics applications, finding no evidence of surface or bulk optical losses from the processed nitride in a cavity achieving finesse 40,000. These parameters provide access to a single-photon cooperativity $C_0 \sim 8$ in the resolved-sideband limit, wherein a variety of outstanding optomechanics goals become feasible.

Squeezed light and correlated photons from dissipatively coupled optomechanical systems

We study theoretically the squeezing spectrum and second-order correlation function of the output light for an optomechanical system in which a mechanical oscillator modulates the cavity linewidth (dissipative coupling). We find strong squeezing coinciding with the normal-mode frequencies of the linearized system. In contrast to dispersive coupling, squeezing is possible in the resolved-sideband limit simultaneously with sideband cooling. The second-order correlation function shows damped oscillations, whose properties are given by the mechanical-like, the optical-like normal mode, or both, and can be below shot-noise level at finite times,

Cooling of macroscopic mechanical resonators in hybrid atom-optomechanical systems

Cooling macroscopic objects is of importance for both fundamental and applied physics. Here we study the optomechanical cooling in a hybrid system which consists of a cloud of atoms coupled to a cavity optomechanical system. On one hand, the asymmetric Fano or electromagnetically induced transparency resonance is explored and the steady-state cooling limits of resonators with frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\mathrm{m}}$ are analytically obtained, permitting ground-state cooling of massive low-frequency resonators beyond the resolved sideband limit. On the other hand, due to the excitation-saturation effect, the validity of cooling requires the number of atoms to be much larger than the number of steady-state excitations, which is proportional to ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. Thus, this limitation plays a minor role in cooling higher-frequency resonators, but becomes important for macroscopic lower-frequency resonators. Under such limitation on the number of atoms, the optimal parameters are quantified. Our study can be a guideline for both theoretical and experimental study of cooling macroscopic objects in atom-optomechanical hybrid systems.

Effects of linear and quadratic dispersive couplings on optical squeezing in an optomechanical system

A conventional optomechanical system is composed of a mechanical mode and an optical mode interacting through a linear optomechanical coupling (LOC). We study how the presence of quadratic optomechanical coupling (QOC) in the conventional optomechanical system affects the system's stability and optical quadrature squeezing. We work in the resolved side-band limit with a high quality factor mechanical oscillator. In contrast to the conventional optomechanical systems, we find that strong squeezing of the cavity field can be achieved in presence of QOC along with LOC at lower pump powers and at higher bath temperatures. Using detailed numerical calculations we also find that there exists an optimal QOC where one can achieve maximum squeezing.

Coupled cavities for motional ground-state cooling and strong optomechanical coupling

Motional ground-state cooling and quantum-coherent manipulation of mesoscopic mechanical systems are crucial goals in both fundamental physics and applied science. We demonstrate that the motional ground state can be achieved in the highly unresolved sideband regime, through coherent auxiliary cavity interferences. We further illustrate coherent strong Rabi coupling between indirectly coupled and individually optimized mechanical resonators and optical cavities through effective dark-mode interaction. The proposed approach provides a platform for quantum manipulation of mesoscopic mechanical devices beyond the resolved sideband limit.

Cold atoms as a coolant for levitated optomechanical systems

Optically trapped dielectric objects are well suited for reaching the quantum regime of their center of mass motion in an ultra-high vacuum environment. We show that ground state cooling of an optically trapped nanosphere is achievable when starting at room temperature, by sympathetic cooling of a cold atomic gas optically coupled to the nanoparticle. Unlike cavity cooling in the resolved sideband limit, this system requires only a modest cavity finesse and it allows the cooling to be turned off, permitting subsequent observation of strongly-coupled dynamics between the atoms and sphere. Nanospheres cooled to their quantum ground state could have applications in quantum information science or in precision sensing.

Dark states of a moving mirror in the single-photon strong-coupling regime

We investigate theoretically an optomechanical system in which a cavity with a moving mirror is driven by two external fields of different frequencies. Under a resonance condition in the resolved-sideband limit, we show that there are motional states of the mirror such that the system is decoupled from the external fields if the single-photon optomechanical coupling strength is sufficiently strong. The decoupling is a quantum interference effect associated with the coherence in the mirror's mechanical degrees of freedom. We discuss the properties of such dark states and indicate how they can be generated by optical pumping due to amplitude damping of the cavity field.

Cryogenic optomechanics with a Si3N4 membrane and classical laser noise

We demonstrate a cryogenic optomechanical system comprising a flexible Si3N4 membrane placed at the center of a free-space optical cavity in a 400 mK cryogenic environment. We observe a mechanical quality factor Q > 4 × 106 for the 261 kHz fundamental drum-head mode of the membrane, and a cavity resonance halfwidth of 60 kHz. The optomechanical system therefore operates in the resolved sideband limit. We monitor the membrane's thermal motion using a heterodyne optical circuit capable of simultaneously measuring both of the mechanical sidebands, and find that the observed optical spring and damping quantitatively agree with theory. The mechanical sidebands exhibit a Fano lineshape, and to explain this we develop a theory describing heterodyne measurements in the presence of correlated classical laser noise. Finally, we discuss the use of a passive filter cavity to remove classical laser noise, and consider the future requirements for laser cooling this relatively large and low-frequency mechanical element to very near its quantum mechanical ground state.

Cooling in the single-photon strong-coupling regime of cavity optomechanics

In this Rapid Communication we discuss how red-sideband cooling is modified in the single-photon strong-coupling regime of cavity optomechanics where the radiation pressure of a single photon displaces the mechanical oscillator by more than its zero-point uncertainty. Using Fermi's golden rule we calculate the transition rates induced by the optical drive without linearizing the optomechanical interaction. In the resolved-sideband limit we find multiple-phonon cooling resonances for strong single-photon coupling that lead to nonthermal steady states including the possibility of phonon antibunching. Our study generalizes the standard linear cooling theory.

Spectrum of single-photon emission and scattering in cavity optomechanics

We present an analytic solution describing the quantum state of a single photon after interacting with a moving mirror in a cavity. This includes situations when the photon is initially stored in a cavity mode as well as when the photon is injected into the cavity. In addition, we obtain the spectrum of the output photon in the resolved-sideband limit, which reveals spectral features of the single-photon strong-coupling regime in this system. We also clarify the conditions under which the phonon sidebands are visible and the photon-state frequency shift can be resolved.

Single-Photon Optomechanics

Optomechanics experiments are rapidly approaching the regime where the radiation pressure of a single photon displaces the mechanical oscillator by more than its zero-point uncertainty. We show that in this limit the power spectrum has multiple sidebands and that the cavity response has several resonances in the resolved-sideband limit. Using master-equation simulations, we also study the crossover from the weak-coupling many-photon to the single-photon strong-coupling regime. Finally, we find non-Gaussian steady states of the mechanical oscillator when multiphoton transitions are resonant. Our study provides the tools to detect and take advantage of this novel regime of optomechanics.

Achieving ground state and enhancing optomechanical entanglement by recovering information

For cavity-assisted optomechanical cooling experiments, in order to achieve the quantum ground state of the mechanical oscillator, the cavity bandwidth needs to be smaller than the mechanical frequency. In the literature, this is the so-called resolved-sideband or good-cavity limit, and this is based on an understanding of optomechanical dynamics. We provide a different but physically equivalent explanation of such a limit: that is, information loss due to finite cavity bandwidth. With an optimal feedback control to recover the information in the cavity output, we can surpass the resolved-sideband limit and achieve the quantum ground state. In addition, recovering this information can also significantly enhance the entanglement between the cavity mode and the mechanical oscillator. Especially when the environmental temperature is high, such optomechanical entanglement will either exist or vanish critically depending on whether information is recovered or not. This provides a vivid example of a quantum eraser in the optomechanical system.