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arXiv:2410.09208

Conditional Motional Squeezing of an Optomechanical Oscillator Approaching the Quantum Regime

Benjamin B. Lane, Junxin Chen, Ronald Pagano, Scott Aronson, Garrett D. Cole, Xinghui Yin, Vivishek Sudhir, T. R. Corbitt, N. Mavalvala

Published Oct 11, 2024• 0 citations
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Abstract

Squeezed mechanical states are a highly coveted resource for quantum-enhanced sensing and serve as a compelling platform for probing the interplay between gravity and quantum mechanics. It has been predicted that a mechanical oscillator can be prepared into a quantum squeezed state if the applied measurement rate is fast relative to its mechanical resonance frequency. However, the experimental feasibility of this protocol has remained uncertain because of the difficulty in achieving low-frequency oscillators with sufficiently strong read-out. Here, we demonstrate that a careful selection of parameters in an optomechanical system, combined with optimal filtering techniques, enables the preparation of a 50 ng GaAs cantilever in a conditional classical squeezed state, achieving a minimum uncertainty of just 1.07 plus/minus 0.04 times the zero-point fluctuation level. This minimum variance is 3 orders of magnitude smaller than what has been achieved in previous experiments using the same protocol. Although we do not fully achieve the quantum squeezed regime, our demonstration provides definitive evidence that a measurement-based protocol is a practical and effective approach for the real-time preparation of macroscopic oscillators in quantum squeezed states.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2410.09208

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Squeezed mechanical states are a highly coveted resource for quantum-enhanced sensing and serve as a compelling platform for probing the interplay between gravity and quantum mechanics. It has been predicted that a mechanical oscillator can be prepared into a quantum squeezed state if the applied measurement rate is fast relative to its mechanical resonance frequency. However, the experimental feasibility of this protocol has remained uncertain because of the difficulty in achieving low-frequency oscillators with sufficiently strong read-out. Here, we demonstrate that a careful selection of parameters in an optomechanical system, combined with optimal filtering techniques, enables the preparation of a 50 ng GaAs cantilever in a conditional classical squeezed state, achieving a minimum uncertainty of just 1.07 plus/minus 0.04 times the zero-point fluctuation level. This minimum variance is 3 orders of magnitude smaller than what has been achieved in previous experiments using the same protocol. Although we do not fully achieve the quantum squeezed regime, our demonstration provides definitive evidence that a measurement-based protocol is a practical and effective approach for the real-time preparation of macroscopic oscillators in quantum squeezed states.
We analyze the conditional quantum state of a mechanical mirror in an optomechanical system subject to continuous measurement, feedback control, and quantum filtering. We identify a parameter regime in which the mirror exhibits momentum squeezing beyond the standard quantum limit, achieved through an appropriate choice of the homodyne detection angle. In this regime, we show that optimal filtering effectively realizes a free-particle-like conditional state. When this mechanism is applied to a configuration consisting of two optomechanical systems, the resulting momentum squeezing significantly enhances the signal of gravity-induced entanglement. This enhancement arises because the momentum squeezing not only amplifies the distinction between the common and differential modes, but also, in the high-purity regime, increases the position uncertainty in accordance with the uncertainty principle, thereby enlarging the spatial extent of the quantum superposition. Our results provide insights into experimental strategies for probing the quantum nature of gravity using optomechanical platforms.
We present the mechanical squeezing of a mg-scale suspended mirror (i.e. a pendulum) near quantum regimes through continuous linear position measurement. The experiment involved the pendulum interacting with photon coherent fields in a detuned optical cavity. The position uncertainty in the measured data is reduced and squeezed to 470470470 times the zero-point amplitude xzpfx_{\rm zpf}xzpf​ with a purity of about 0.0004, by means of optimal state estimation through causal Wiener filtering. The purity of the squeezed state is clearly maximized by the Wiener filter, based on precisely identified optomechanical parameters. This is the first step for measurement-based quantum control of macroscopic pendulums, e.g. generation of an entanglement state between macroscopic pendulums. Such quantum control will provide a direct insight into the quantum to classical transition and will pave the way to test semiclassical gravity and gravity sourced by macroscopic quantum oscillators.
In quantum mechanics, measurement can be used to prepare a quantum state. This principle is applicable even for macroscopic objects, which may enable us to see classical-quantum transition. Here, we demonstrate conditional mechanical squeezing of a mg-scale suspended mirror (i.e. the center-of-mass mode of a pendulum) near quantum regimes, through continuous linear position measurement and quantum state prediction. The experiment involved the pendulum interacting with photon coherent fields in a detuned optical cavity, which creates an optical spring. Futhermore, the detuned cavity allows us to perform linear position measurement by direct photo-detection of the reflected light. We experimentally verify the conditional squeezing using the theory combining prediction and retrodiction based on the causal and anti-causal filters. As a result, the standard deviation of position and momentum are respectively given by 36 times the zero-point amplitude of position qzpfq_{\rm zpf}qzpf​ and 89 times the zero-point amplitude of momentum pzpfp_{\rm zpf}pzpf​. The squeezing level achieved is about 5 times closer to the zero-point motion, despite that the mass of the mechanical oscillator is approximately 7 orders of magnitude greater, compared to the previous study. Thus, our demonstration is the first step towards quantum control for massive objects whose mass-scale is high enough to measure gravitational interactions. Such quantum control will pave the way to test quantum mechanics using the center-of-mass mode of massive objects.
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We present the mechanical squeezing of a mg-scale suspended mirror (i.e. a pendulum) near quantum regimes through continuous linear position measurement. The experiment involved the pendulum interacting with photon coherent fields in a detuned optical cavity. The position uncertainty in the measured data is reduced and squeezed to 470470470 times the zero-point amplitude xzpfx_{\rm zpf}xzpf​ with a purity of about 0.0004, by means of optimal state estimation through causal Wiener filtering. The purity of the squeezed state is clearly maximized by the Wiener filter, based on precisely identified optomechanical parameters. This is the first step for measurement-based quantum control of macroscopic pendulums, e.g. generation of an entanglement state between macroscopic pendulums. Such quantum control will provide a direct insight into the quantum to classical transition and will pave the way to test semiclassical gravity and gravity sourced by macroscopic quantum oscillators.
Sensing weak forces through observing a mechanical motion near or below its quantum zero-point fluctuation has been desired in diverse areas. While mechanical oscillators have played a crucial role in such studies, their application to free-fall-type sensing has been elusive, in particular in the quantum regime. Here, we demonstrate sensing a static force of the order of 10 zeptonewtons with a levitated nanomechanical oscillator below the zero-point fluctuation through the rapid modulation of its confining potential. We prepare a squeezed state with a reduced velocity uncertainty by abruptly decreasing the potential. Subsequently, we detect the exerted static force through time-of-flight measurements, where we release the nanoparticle from the potential and measure the displacement during a free fall. Furthermore, time-of-flight measurements allow us to perform quantum state tomography of the squeezed state, from which we reconstruct its Wigner quasiprobability distribution and evaluate the Fisher information for the position measurement to quantify the achievable force sensitivity of our protocol. Our results demonstrate that modulating the trap stiffness serves as a crucial technique for quantum-limited force sensing and paves the way to utilize a levitated nanoparticle as a promising sensing platform beyond the quantum limit with a capability of quantum state tomography.