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ID: 944 9592 2575

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In this talk, I will describe a range of optomechanical phenomena that we observed using high Q optical
microresonators. Radiation pressure back-action of photons is shown to lead to effective cooling(1, 2, 3,
4) of the mechanical oscillator mode using dynamical backaction. Sideband resolved cooling, combined
with cryogenic precooling enables cooling the oscillators such that it resides in the quantum ground state
more than 1/3 of its time(5). Increasing the mutual coupling further, it is possible to observe quantum
coherent coupling(5) in which the mechanical and optical mode hybridize and the coupling rate exceeds
the mechanical and optical decoherence rate (6). This regime enables a range of quantum optical
experiments, including state transfer from light to mechanics using the phenomenon of optomechanically
induced transparency(7). Moreover, the optomechanical coupling can be exploited for measuring the
position of a nanomechanical oscillator in the timescale of its thermal decoherence(8), a basic requirement
for preparing its ground-state using feedback as well as (Markovian) quantum feedback. This regime
moreover enables to explore quantum effects due to the radiation pressure interaction, notably quantum
correlations in the light field that give rise to optical squeezing or sideband asymmetry(9).

 

References:
1. V. B. Braginsky, S. P. Vyatchanin, Low quantum noise tranquilizer for Fabry-Perot interferometer. Physics Letters A 293, 228 (Feb 4, 2002).

2. V. B. Braginsky, Measurement of Weak Forces in Physics Experiments. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1977).

3. A. Schliesser, P. Del'Haye, N. Nooshi, K. J. Vahala, T. J. Kippenberg, Radiation pressure cooling of a micromechanical oscillator using dynamical backaction. Physical Review Letters 97, 243905 (Dec 15, 2006).

4. A. Schliesser, R. Rivière, G. Anetsberger, O. Arcizet, T. J. Kippenberg, Resolved-sideband cooling of a micromechanical oscillator. Nature Physics 4, 415
(2008).

5. E. Verhagen, S. Deleglise, S. Weis, A. Schliesser, T. J. Kippenberg, Quantum-coherent coupling of a mechanical oscillator to an optical cavity mode. Nature 482, 63 (Feb 2, 2012).

6. V. Brasch et al., Photonic chip–based optical frequency comb using soliton Cherenkov radiation. Science 351, 357 (2016).

7. S. Weis et al., Optomechanically induced transparency. Science 330, 1520 (Dec 10, 2010).

8. D. J. Wilson et al., Measurement and control of a mechanical oscillator at its thermal decoherence rate. Nature doi:10.1038/nature14672, (2015, 2014).

9. V. Sudhir, D. Wilson, A. Ghadimi, T. J. Kippenberg, Appearance and disappearance of quantum correlations in measurement-based feedback control of a mechanical oscillator. quant-ph > arXiv:1602.05942, (2016).