We study the stationary and nonstationary measurement of a classical force driving a mechanical oscillator coupled to an electromagnetic cavity under two-tone driving. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework based on the signal-to-noise ratio to quantify the sensitivity of linear spectral measurements. Then we consider stationary force sensing and study the necessary conditions to minimize the added force noise. We find that imprecision noise and back-action noise can be arbitrarily suppressed by manipulating the amplitudes of the input coherent fields; however, the force noise power spectral density cannot be reduced below the level of thermal fluctuations. Therefore, we consider a nonstationary protocol that involves nonthermal dissipative state preparation followed by a finite time measurement, which allows one to perform measurements with a signal-to-noise ratio much greater than the maximum possible in a stationary measurement scenario. We analyze two different measurement schemes in the nonstationary transient regime: a back-action-evading measurement, which implies modifying the drive asymmetry configuration upon arrival of the force, and a nonstationary measurement that leaves the drive asymmetry configuration unchanged. Conditions for optimal force noise sensitivity are determined, and the corresponding force noise power spectral densities are calculated.
We study the stationary and nonstationary measurement of a classical force driving a mechanical oscillator coupled to an electromagnetic cavity under two-tone driving. For this purpose, we develop a theoretical framework based on the signal-to-noise ratio to quantify the sensitivity of linear spectral measurements. Then we consider stationary force sensing and study the necessary conditions to minimize the added force noise. We find that imprecision noise and back-action noise can be arbitrarily suppressed by manipulating the amplitudes of the input coherent fields; however, the force noise power spectral density cannot be reduced below the level of thermal fluctuations. Therefore, we consider a nonstationary protocol that involves nonthermal dissipative state preparation followed by a finite time measurement, which allows one to perform measurements with a signal-to-noise ratio much greater than the maximum possible in a stationary measurement scenario. We analyze two different measurement schemes in the nonstationary transient regime: a back-action-evading measurement, which implies modifying the drive asymmetry configuration upon arrival of the force, and a nonstationary measurement that leaves the drive asymmetry configuration unchanged. Conditions for optimal force noise sensitivity are determined, and the corresponding force noise power spectral densities are calculated.
Abstract A theoretical scheme is proposed to enhance the sensitivity of force sensors with quantum non-demolition measurement (QND) in an optomechanical setup assisted by four-tone optical driving and an optical parametric amplifier (OPA). With the help of special drive, the system can be simplified as the typical type of QND for force sensing, so that the backaction noise can be evaded to surpass the standard quantum limit. Besides, the added noise can be suppressed owing to the modified optical susceptibility resulting from the OPA. By introducing two oscillators coupling with two charged bodies respectively, the signal can be enhanced with the nonlinearity caused by Coulomb interaction, while the noise presents an exponential decrease. Moreover, considering the homodyne detection effect, the range of system parameters and frequency bands will be broadened. The present investigation may provide a route toward simultaneously evading backaction noise, reducing the mechanical thermal noise, and enhancing the external signal, which can be an alternative design for sensitive devices.
State-of-the-art linear sensors of force, motion, and magnetic fields have reached the sensitivity where the quantum noise of the meter is significant or even dominant. In particular, the sensitivity of the best optomechanical devices has reached the standard quantum limit (SQL), which directly follows from the Heisenberg uncertainty relation and corresponds to balancing the measurement imprecision and the perturbation of the probe by the quantum back-action of the meter. The SQL is not truly fundamental and several methods for its overcoming have been proposed and demonstrated. At the same time, two quantum sensitivity constraints which are more fundamental are known. The first limit arises from the finiteness of the probing strength (in the case of optical interferometers---of the circulating optical power) and is known as the energetic quantum limit or, in a more general context, as the quantum Cram\'er-Rao bound (QCRB). The second limit arises from the dissipative dynamics of the probe, which prevents full efficacy of the quantum back-action evasion techniques developed for overcoming the SQL. No particular name has been assigned to this limit; we propose the term dissipative quantum limit (DQL) for it. Here we develop a unified theory of these two fundamental limits by deriving the general sensitivity constraint for stationary, linear systems from which they follow as particular cases. Our analysis reveals a phase transition occurring at the boundary between the QCRB-dominated and the DQL regimes, manifested by the discontinuous derivatives of the optimal spectral densities of the meter quantum noise. This leads to the counterintuitive (but favorable) finding that quantum-limited sensitivity can be achieved with meter noise cross-correlations having a nonzero imaginary component, a feature arising in lossy meter systems. Finally, we show that the DQL originates from the nonautocommutativity of the internal thermal noise of the probe and that it can be overcome in nonstationary measurements.
We investigate the reduction of measurement-added noise in force sensing by analyzing its power spectral density (PSD) within a hybrid optomechanical system. The setup is comprised of an optomechanical cavity equipped with a movable mirror which acts as the mechanical oscillator, a stationary semi-transparent mirror, a superconducting qubit, and an optical parametric amplifier (OPA). By utilizing the concept of coherent quantum noise cancellation (CQNC), we derive the conditions necessary for complete cancellation of back-action force, thereby enhancing force sensitivity. Furthermore, with the gradual increase in the OPA pump gains, we suppress the sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL) at a lower value of laser power. The removal of back-action noise, along with the reduction of shot noise, improves force detection capabilities, thereby surpassing the standard quantum limit associated with weak force detection.
We investigate the reduction of measurement-added noise in force sensing by analyzing its power spectral density (PSD) within a hybrid optomechanical system. The setup comprises of an optomechanical cavity equipped with a movable mirror which acts as the mechanical oscillator, a stationary semi-transparent mirror, a superconducting qubit, and an optical parametric amplifier (OPA). By utilizing the concept of coherent quantum noise cancellation (CQNC), we derive the conditions necessary for complete cancellation of back-action force, thereby enhancing force sensitivity. Furthermore, with the gradual increase in the OPA pump gains, we suppress the sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL) at a lower value of laser power. The removal of back-action noise, along with the reduction of shot noise, improves force detection capabilities, thereby surpassing the standard quantum limit associated with weak force detection.
We theoretically investigate quantum measurement noise in a hybrid optomechanical system, focusing on radiation pressure back action and its impact on force sensing. The setup consists of an optomechanical cavity with a movable mirror, a fixed semi transparent mirror, an ensemble of quantum dots (QD) coupled to the cavity mode, and an intracavity optical parametric amplifier (OPA). We show how the QD induced response, together with the system nonlinearity, modifies the noise spectral density and thereby improves the force measurement sensitivity. In this setup, coherent quantum noise cancellation (CQNC) can completely remove the back action noise. In addition, increasing the OPA pump gain enables sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL) at reduced laser power. These combined effects allow weak force sensing beyond the SQL.
In the field of mechanics, it is a long standing goal to measure quantum behavior in ever larger and more massive objects. It may now seem like an obvious conclusion, but until recently it was not clear whether a macroscopic mechanical resonator -- built up from nearly 1013 atoms -- could be fully described as an ideal quantum harmonic oscillator. With recent advances in the fields of opto- and electro-mechanics, such systems offer a unique advantage in probing the quantum noise properties of macroscopic electrical and mechanical devices, properties that ultimately stem from Heisenberg's uncertainty relations. Given the rapid progress in device capabilities, landmark results of quantum optics are now being extended into the regime of macroscopic mechanics. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe three experiments -- motional sideband asymmetry, back-action evasion (BAE) detection, and mechanical squeezing -- that are directly related to the topic of measuring quantum noise with mechanical detection. These measurements all share three pertinent features: they explore quantum noise properties in a macroscopic electromechanical device driven by a minimum of two microwave drive tones, hence the title of this work: "Quantum electromechanics with two tone drive". In the following, we will first introduce a quantum input-output framework that we use to model the electromechanical interaction and capture subtleties related to interpreting different microwave noise detection techniques. Next, we will discuss the fabrication and measurement details that we use to cool and probe these devices with coherent and incoherent microwave drive signals. Having developed our tools for signal modeling and detection, we explore the three-wave mixing interaction between the microwave and mechanical modes, whereby mechanical motion generates motional sidebands corresponding to up-down frequency conversions of microwave photons. Because of quantum vacuum noise, the rates of these processes are expected to be unequal. We will discuss the measurement and interpretation of this asymmetric motional noise in a electromechanical device cooled near the ground state of motion. Next, we consider an overlapped two tone pump configuration that produces a time-modulated electromechanical interaction. By careful control of this drive field, we report a quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement of a single motional quadrature. Incorporating a second pair of drive tones, we directly measure the measurement back-action associated with both classical and quantum noise of the microwave cavity. Lastly, we slightly modify our drive scheme to generate quantum squeezing in a macroscopic mechanical resonator. Here, we will focus on data analysis techniques that we use to estimate the quadrature occupations. We incorporate Bayesian spectrum fitting and parameter estimation that serve as powerful tools for incorporating many known sources of measurement and fit error that are unavoidable in such work.