Quantum optics with a mechanical microresonator

C. Molinelli; O. Arcizet; T. Briant; P.-F. Cohadon; M. Pinard; A. Heidmann

doi:10.1117/12.724647

13 June 2007 Quantum optics with a mechanical microresonator

C. Molinelli, O. Arcizet, T. Briant, P.-F. Cohadon, M. Pinard, A. Heidmann

Proceedings Volume 6603, Noise and Fluctuations in Photonics, Quantum Optics, and Communications; 66032D (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.724647
Event: SPIE Fourth International Symposium on Fluctuations and Noise, 2007, Florence, Italy

Abstract

We present an experiment where the motion of a silicon micro-mechanical resonator is optically monitored with a very high-finesse optical cavity, down to a quantum-limited sensitivity at the 10-¹⁹m/√Hz level. We have observed the thermal noise of the resonator at room temperature over a wide frequency range, and fully characterized its optomechanical behaviour, in good agreement with theoretical models. We have also demonstrated a direct effect of intracavity radiation pressure upon the dynamics of the micro-resonator in a detuned high-finesse optical cavity: depending on the sign of the detuning, we have obtained both cooling and heating, with an effective temperature ranging from 10 to 2000 K. We have also observed a related radiation-pressure induced instability of the resonator. This experiment opens the way to radiation pressure-driven quantum optics effects, with silicon resonators offering high resonance frequencies, low effective masses, and a high displacement sensitivity. Possible experiments include QND measurement of light intensity or optomechanical squeezing of the optical field, as well as the optical observation of the quantum ground state of a macroscopic oscillator.

Citation Download Citation

C. Molinelli, O. Arcizet, T. Briant, P.-F. Cohadon, M. Pinard, and A. Heidmann "Quantum optics with a mechanical microresonator", Proc. SPIE 6603, Noise and Fluctuations in Photonics, Quantum Optics, and Communications, 66032D (13 June 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.724647

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