Feasible setup for pulsed quantum nondemolition interaction between two distant mechanical oscillators through an optical or microwave mediator is proposed. The proposal uses homodyne measurement of the mediator and feedforward control of the mechanical oscillators to reach the interaction. To verify the quantum nature of the interaction, we investigate the Gaussian entanglement generated in the mechanical modes. We evaluate it under influence of mechanical bath and propagation loss for the mediator and propose ways to optimize the interaction. Finally, both currently available optomechanical and electromechanical platforms are numerically analyzed. The analysis shows that implementation is already feasible with current technology.
Feasible setup for pulsed quantum nondemolition interaction between two distant mechanical oscillators through an optical or microwave mediator is proposed. The proposal uses homodyne measurement of the mediator and feedforward control of the mechanical oscillators to reach the interaction. To verify the quantum nature of the interaction, we investigate the Gaussian entanglement generated in the mechanical modes. We evaluate it under influence of mechanical bath and propagation loss for the mediator and propose ways to optimize the interaction. Finally, both currently available optomechanical and electromechanical platforms are numerically analyzed. The analysis shows that implementation is already feasible with current technology.
We propose a setup allowing to entangle two directly non-interacting radiation modes applying four sequential pulsed quantum resonant interactions with a noisy vibrational mode of a mechanical oscillator which plays the role of the mediator. We analyze Gaussian entanglement of the radiation modes generated by the transducer and confirm that the noisy mechanical mode can mediate generation of entanglement. The entanglement, however, is limited if the interaction gains are not individually optimized. We prove the robustness of the transducer to optical losses and the influence of the mechanical bath and propose the ways to achieve maximal performance through the individual optimization.
Abstract Entanglement generation at a macroscopic scale offers an exciting avenue to develop new quantum technologies and study fundamental physics on a tabletop. Cavity quantum optomechanics provides an ideal platform to generate and exploit such phenomena owing to the precision of quantum optics combined with recent experimental advances in optomechanical devices. In this work, we propose schemes operating outside the resolved-sideband regime, to prepare and verify both optical–mechanical and mechanical–mechanical entanglement. Our schemes employ pulsed interactions with a duration much less than the mechanical period and, together with homodyne measurements, can both generate and characterize these types of entanglement. To improve the performance of our schemes, a precooling stage comprising prior pulses can be utilized to increase the amount of entanglement prepared, and local optical squeezers may be used to provide resilience against open-system dynamics. The entanglement generated by our schemes is quantified using the logarithmic negativity and is analysed with respect to the strength of the pulsed optomechanical interactions for realistic experimental scenarios including mechanical decoherence and optical loss. Two separate schemes for mechanical entanglement generation are introduced and compared: one scheme based on an optical interferometric design, and the other comprising sequential optomechanical interactions. The pulsed nature of our protocols provides more direct access to these quantum correlations in the time domain, with applications including quantum metrology and tests of quantum decoherence. By considering a parameter set based on recent experiments, the feasibility to generate significant entanglement with our schemes, even with large optical losses, is demonstrated.
Abstract Hybridization of quantum science and technology crucially depends on quantum gates between various physical systems. The different platforms have different fundamental physics and, therefore, diverse advantages in various applications. Many applications require nearly ideal quantum gates with variable large interaction gain and sufficient entangling power. Moreover, pulsed gates are advantageous for fast quantum circuits. For quantum systems with continuous variables, the quantum non-demolition (QND) gate is the most basic. It is an entangling gate that simultaneously keeps a variable of the interacting system unchanged. This feature is useful for quantum circuits from quantum sensing to continuous variable quantum computing. Currently, atomic ensembles storing quantum states of radiation and mechanical oscillators transducing them are two major but very different continuous-variable matter platforms. We propose a high-quality continuous-variable QND gate between an atomic ensemble and a mechanical oscillator in the separated optical cavities connected by propagating optical pulses. We demonstrate that squeezing of light pulses, homodyne measurement, and optimized feedforward control used to build the gate are sufficient to reach an interaction gain up to 50 with nearly ideal entangling power.
Abstract Cavity quantum optomechanics has emerged as a new platform for quantum science and technology with applications ranging from quantum-information processing to tests of the foundations of physics. Of crucial importance for optomechanics is the generation and verification of non-Gaussian states of motion and a key outstanding challenge is the observation of a canonical two-mode Schrödinger-cat state in the displacement of two mechanical oscillators. In this work, we introduce a pulsed approach that utilizes the nonlinearity of the radiation–pressure interaction combined with photon-counting measurements to generate this entangled non-Gaussian mechanical state, and, importantly, describe a protocol using subsequent pulsed interactions to verify the non-Gaussian entanglement generated. Our pulsed verification protocol allows quadrature moments of the two mechanical oscillators to be measured up to any finite order providing a toolset for experimental characterisation of bipartite mechanical quantum states and allowing a broad range of inseparability criteria to be evaluated. Key experimental factors, such as optical loss and open-system dynamics, are carefully analyzed and we show that the scheme is feasible with only minor improvements to current experiments that operate outside the resolved-sideband regime. Our scheme provides a new avenue for quantum experiments with entangled mechanical oscillators and offers significant potential for further research and development that utilizes such non-Gaussian states for quantum-information and sensing applications, and for studying the quantum-to-classical transition.
Entanglement between distant massive mechanical oscillators is of particular interest in quantum-enabled devices due to its potential applications in distributed quantum information processing. Here we propose how to achieve nonreciprocal remote entanglement between two spatially separated mechanical oscillators within a cascaded optomechanical configuration, where the two optomechanical resonators are indirectly coupled through a telecommunication fiber. We show that by selectively spinning the optomechanical resonators, one can break the time-reversal symmetry of this compound system via the Sagnac effect, and more excitingly, enhance the indirect couplings between the mechanical oscillators via the individual optimizations of light-motion interaction in each optomechanical resonator. This ability allows us to generate and manipulate nonreciprocal entanglement between distant mechanical oscillators, that is, entanglement can be achieved only through driving the system from one specific input direction but not the other. Moreover, in the case of two frequency-mismatched mechanical oscillators, it is also found that the degree of the generated nonreciprocal entanglement is counterintuitively enhanced in comparison with its reciprocal counterparts, which are otherwise unattainable in static cascaded systems with a single-tone driving laser. Our work, which is well within the feasibility of current experimental capabilities, provides an enticing opportunity to explore the nonclassical correlations between distant massive objects and facilitates a variety of emerging quantum technologies ranging from quantum information processing to quantum sensing.
Hybrid systems hold promise to provide an advantage in future quantum technology. Operating such systems outside the classical regime is crucially important to fully realize their potential. We investigate a pulsed quantum nondemolition gate between a cloud of atoms and a mechanical oscillator in distant cavities and demonstrate that this gate is capable of producing nonclassical coincidences of excitations in the disparate subsystems interacting by light. The nonclassicality is justified by evaluation of excitations created simultaneously in both modes beyond any joint classical states of such subsystems. To test the result, we use a nonclassicality witness based on available homodyne tomography of the atomic and mechanical states. Using feasible parameters, we show that it is possible to turn the pulsed dynamics of the state-of-the-art systems into nonclassical coincidences, and illustrate it for the cases of the atom-light, optomechanical, and atom-mechanical hybrid interactions. These tests are necessary to open full investigation of quantum correlations in hybrid systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2024