Calibrated quantum thermometry in cavity optomechanics
Avishek Chowdhury, Paolo Vezio, M. Bonaldi, A. Borrielli, Francesco Marino, Bruno Morana, G. Pandraud, A. Pontin, Giovanni Andrea Prodi, Pasqualina Maria Sarro, Enrico Serra, Francesco Marin
Abstract Cavity optomechanics has achieved the major breakthrough of the preparation and observation of macroscopic mechanical oscillators in non-classical states. The development of reliable indicators of the oscillator properties in these conditions is important also for applications to quantum technologies. We compare two procedures to infer the oscillator occupation number, minimizing the necessity of system calibrations. The former starts from homodyne spectra, the latter is based on the measurement of the motional sideband asymmetry in heterodyne spectra. Moreover, we describe and discuss a method to control the cavity detuning, that is a crucial parameter for the accuracy of the latter, intrinsically superior procedure.
Abstract Cavity optomechanics has achieved the major breakthrough of the preparation and observation of macroscopic mechanical oscillators in non-classical states. The development of reliable indicators of the oscillator properties in these conditions is important also for applications to quantum technologies. We compare two procedures to infer the oscillator occupation number, minimizing the necessity of system calibrations. The former starts from homodyne spectra, the latter is based on the measurement of the motional sideband asymmetry in heterodyne spectra. Moreover, we describe and discuss a method to control the cavity detuning, that is a crucial parameter for the accuracy of the latter, intrinsically superior procedure.
We consider a system where an optical cavity mode is parametrically coupled to a mechanical oscillator. A laser beam driving the cavity at its resonance frequency will acquire red- and blue-shifted sidebands due to noise in the position of the mechanical oscillator. In a classical theory without noise in the electromagnetic field, the powers of these sidebands are of equal magnitude. In a quantum theory, however, an asymmetry between the sidebands can be resolved when the oscillator's average number of vibrational excitations (phonons) becomes small, i.e., comparable to 1. We discuss the interpretation of this sideband asymmetry in a heterodyne photodetection measurement scheme and show that it depends on the choice of detector model. In the optical regime, standard photodetection theory leads to a photocurrent noise spectrum given by normal- and time-ordered expectation values. The sideband asymmetry is in that case a direct reflection of the quantum asymmetry of the position noise spectrum of the mechanical oscillator. Conversely, for a detector that measures symmetric, nonordered expectation values, we show that the sideband asymmetry can be traced back to quantum optomechanical interference terms. This ambiguity in interpretation applies not only to mechanical oscillators, but to any degree of freedom that couples linearly to noise in the electromagnetic field. Finally, we also compare the quantum theory to a fully classical model, where sideband asymmetry can arise from classical optomechanical interference terms. We show that, due to the oscillator's lack of zero-point motion in a classical theory, the sidebands in the photocurrent spectrum differ qualitatively from those of a quantum theory at sufficiently low temperatures. We discuss the observable consequences of this deviation between classical and quantum theories.
Optomechanical systems are promising platforms for controlled light-matter interactions.They are capable of providing several fundamental and practical novel features when the mechanical oscillator is cooled down to nearly reach its ground state.In this framework, measuring the effective temperature of the oscillator is perhaps the most relevant step in the characterization of those systems.In conventional schemes, the cavity is driven strongly, and the overall system is well-described by a linear (Gaussian preserving) Hamiltonian.Here, we depart from this regime by considering an undriven optomechanical system via non-Gaussian radiation-pressure interaction.To measure the temperature of the mechanical oscillator, initially in a thermal state, we use light as a probe to coherently interact with it and create an entangled state.We show that the optical probe gets a nonlinear phase, resulting from the non-Gaussian interaction, and undergoes an incoherent phase diffusion process.To efficiently infer the temperature from the entangled light-matter state, we propose using a nonlinear Kerr medium before a homodyne detector.Remarkably, placing the Kerr medium enhances the precision to nearly saturate the ultimate quantum bound given by the quantum Fisher information.Furthermore, it also simplifies the thermometry procedure as it makes the choice of the homodyne local phase independent of the temperature.
This thesis concentrates on generating and measuring non-classical states of mechanical oscillators by coupling them to atomic and molecular quantum systems. We start with a discussion of what novel physics can be explored by mechanical systems operating in the quantum regime. We then discuss one technique making it a possibility- cavity optomechanics, particularly optomechanical cooling. We investigate the limits of optomechanical cooling and review how the coupling of mechanical oscillators to external heat baths limits the minimum attainable phonon occupation number. As a possible alternative for circumventing clamping losses, we consider an all-optical approach where the mechanical element (in this case, a Bragg mirror) is suspended via optical forces, and discuss some limitations of this approach. We explore several schemes aimed at the generation of quantum states in mechanical oscillators. We consider specifically two examples: one in which the mechanical oscillator is coupled to polar molecules via dipole-dipole interaction, and another where it is magnetically coupled to a Bose condensate. The first example emphasizes that such an interaction can generate parametric squeezing and entanglement. The second scheme demonstrates that the back action of BEC spin measurements can be used to generate quantum states of motion of a mechanical oscillator. We then discuss possible methods for measuring the entire density matrix of a mechanical oscillator. The first method achieves the tomographic reconstruction of the mechanical Wigner function by coupling it simultaneously to a classical optical oscillator and a qubit. The second approach involves a state transfer scheme between momentum excitations of a bose-condensate in a cavity and a moving mirror of the cavity that is entirely mediated by the light field. We conclude with a discussion of the broader implications of this work, and some future research directions.
Homodyne and heterodyne detection represent "twin-pillars" of quantum displacement sensing using optical cavities, having permitted major breakthroughs including detection of gravitational waves and of the motion of quantum ground-state cooled mechanical oscillators. Both can suffer disadvantages as diagnostics in quantum optomechanics, either through symmetrisation (homodyne), or loss of correlations (heterodyne). We show that, for modest heterodyne beat frequencies (Ω∼ωM/10≫Γ), judicious construction of the autocorrelation of the measured current can either recover (i) a spectrum with strong sidebands but without an imprecision noise floor (ii) a spectrum which is a hybrid, combining both homodyne and heterodyne sideband features. We simulate an experimental realisation with stochastic numerics and find excellent agreement with analytical quantum noise spectra. We term such retrospective recovery of lost heterodyne correlations "r-heterodyning": as the method simply involves post-processing of a normal heterodyne time signal, there is no additional experimental constraint other than on the magnitude of Ω.
Recent optomechanical experiments have observed nonclassical properties in macroscopic mechanical oscillators. A key indicator of such properties is the asymmetry in the strength of the motional sidebands produced in the probe electromagnetic field, which is originated by the noncommutativity between the oscillator ladder operators. Here we extend the analysis to a squeezed state of an oscillator embedded in an optical cavity, produced by the parametric effect originated by a suitable combination of optical fields. The motional sidebands assume a peculiar shape, related to the modified system dynamics, with asymmetric features revealing and quantifying the quantum component of the squeezed oscillator motion.
Accurate simultaneous estimation of temperature and effective detuning is crucial for understanding, controlling, and optimizing optomechanical systems. Temperature characterizes the thermal state and mechanical properties, while detuning governs the light-motion interaction, influencing stability and enabling diverse quantum applications. Precise estimates of these parameters are therefore essential to exploit the full potential of such systems in high-precision metrology and the exploration of macroscopic quantum phenomena. In this work we investigate the simultaneous estimation of the effective detuning Δ and the mirror temperature T in a Fabry-Pérot cavity system, with a particular focus on the performance of heterodyne detection. Using analytical expressions for the quantum Fisher information matrices (QFIM) derived from the symmetric logarithmic derivative (SLD) and the right logarithmic derivative (RLD), we demonstrate that the quantum Cramér-Rao bound associated with the RLD is consistently lower than that based on the SLD, highlighting superior estimation precision. This gap between the SLD- and RLD-based bounds becomes especially pronounced in certain physical regimes, emphasizing the relevance of choosing the appropriate formalism in noncommutative estimation scenarios. From a physical perspective, the improved estimation performance stems from the fact that temperature directly influences thermal fluctuations in the mechanical mode, while the effective detuning modulates the strength of the optomechanical interaction, shaping the information exchange between optical and mechanical subsystems. We showed that using higher optical power, greater cavity decay rate, increased photon and phonon numbers, and reduced coupling strength improves the precision of both parameter estimates. These physical mechanisms affect the available quantum resources in the system—such as squeezing, entanglement, and state purity—which in turn determine the ultimate sensitivity achievable. Furthermore, our analysis shows that heterodyne detection can, under certain conditions, approach the ultimate precision set by the QFIM. Thus, a measurement strategy based on heterodyne detection could enable the efficient estimation of temperature, achieving performance close to that of ideal quantum-limited strategies.