Pulsed Quantum Optomechanics

Author(s)
Michael Vanner, Igor Pikovski, Garrett Cole, Myungshik Kim, Caslav Brukner, Klemens Hammerer, Gerard Milburn, Markus Aspelmeyer
Abstract

Studying mechanical resonators via radiation pressure offers a rich avenue for the exploration of quantum mechanical behavior in a macroscopic regime. However, quantum state preparation and especially quantum state reconstruction of mechanical oscillators remains a significant challenge. Here we propose a scheme to realize quantum state tomography, squeezing, and state purification of a mechanical resonator using short optical pulses. The scheme presented allows observation of mechanical quantum features despite preparation from a thermal state and is shown to be experimentally feasible using optical microcavities. Our framework thus provides a promising means to explore the quantum nature of massive mechanical oscillators and can be applied to other systems such as trapped ions.

Organisation(s)
Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information
External organisation(s)
Imperial College London, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), University of Queensland
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)
Volume
108
Pages
16182-16187
No. of pages
6
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1105098108
Publication date
2011
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103026 Quantum optics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/612d95e7-bd68-4561-ba43-ed9b92c980e2