Nonlinear cavity optomechanics with photonic crystal resonators
Taofiq Paraiso
(Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany)
When |
Feb 12, 2016
from 10:45 to 12:00 |
---|---|
Where | Centre Blaise Pascal |
Attendees |
Taofiq Paraiso |
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In the realm of light-matter interactions, cavity optomechanics plays a unique role. It couples light excitations not to microscopic excitations of matter but rather to a macroscopic degree of freedom: the motion amplitude of a mechanical resonator. Recently, demonstrations such as back-action cooling of a mechanical resonator to the quantum ground state of motion or non-classical light generation have shown the potential of cavity optomechanical systems for the realization of macroscopic quantum states of matter. Interestingly, these milestones have all been established in the lowest order of the interaction, where the cavity couples linearly to the position observable of the mechanical resonator [1]. A future notable research direction is the control of higher order interactions, in particular the quadratic coupling regime, where the cavity frequency is coupled to the square of the mechanical displacement. This regime has been proposed for the realization of quantum-non-demolition (QND) measurements, phonon/photon shot noise measurements, cooling and squeezing of a mechanical resonator. However, achieving sufficiently large enough coupling strengths remains technologically challenging.
In this talk, I will review the concepts and challenges of cavity optomechanics as well as the implementation of cavity optomechanics with photonic crystals. I will describe our realization of quadratic coupling in a fully tunable, multimode electro-opto-mechanical resonator that combines advanced silicon photonic crystal nanofabrication techniques and MEMS actuation. We are able to tune dynamically the interaction strengths in our devices, which allows us to enhance the quadratic coupling up to five orders of magnitude larger than previously achieved in other systems [2]. This new class of devices is a promising candidate for both the measurement of quantum signatures in mesoscopic systems and the development of integrated optical information processing devices.
[1] M. Aspelmeyer et al. Rev. Mod. Phys. 86, 1391–1452 (2014).
[2] T.K. Paraïso et al. Phys. Rev. X 5, 041024 (2015).