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arXiv:2602.03456 · Science

Stationary entanglement of a levitated oscillator with an optical field

Q. Deplano, A. Pontin, F. Marino, F. Marin

quant-phSubmitted Feb 3, 2026• Announced Feb 4, 2026• 0 citations• Revised Mar 19, 2026 (v2)
v1 · Feb 3, 2026v2 · Mar 19, 2026
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Abstract

Stationary entanglement between the motion of macroscopic objects and light is a long-standing goal of quantum optomechanics, with implications for both fundamental tests of quantum physics and emerging quantum technologies. We report the generation of quantum entanglement between the center-of-mass motion of a nanosphere levitated in an optical tweezer inside an optical cavity and the electromagnetic field. By heterodyne detection, we reconstruct the full set of optomechanical correlations and observe a violation of separability bounds between the mechanical motion and the quadratures of a propagating optical mode. This demonstrates the distribution of nonclassical correlations beyond the interaction region. The entanglement is generated at room temperature and remains robust over a broad range of parameters. Our results establish levitated optomechanical systems as a promising platform for continuous-variable quantum communication and for tests of macroscopic quantum physics.

Journal reference
Science 394 (Issue 6819), 113 (2026)
DOI
10.1126/science.aeh1375

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Stationary entanglement between the motion of macroscopic objects and light is a long-standing goal of quantum optomechanics, with implications for both fundamental tests of quantum physics and emerging quantum technologies. We report the generation of quantum entanglement between the center-of-mass motion of a nanosphere levitated in an optical tweezer inside an optical cavity and the electromagnetic field. By heterodyne detection, we reconstruct the full set of optomechanical correlations and observe a violation of separability bounds between the mechanical motion and the quadratures of a propagating optical mode. This demonstrates the distribution of nonclassical correlations beyond the interaction region. The entanglement is generated at room temperature and remains robust over a broad range of parameters. Our results establish levitated optomechanical systems as a promising platform for continuous-variable quantum communication and for tests of macroscopic quantum physics.
We demonstrate optical squeezing below the shot-noise level generated through the interaction of an optical cavity field with two center-of-mass modes of a levitated nanoparticle, simultaneously cooled to occupation numbers well below unity. By analyzing the quadrature fluctuations of the cavity output through heterodyne detection, we resolve the full spectral covariance matrix of the optical field and map regions of sub-shot-noise squeezing as a function of detection phase and frequency. Operating in the resolved sideband and strong coupling regime where mechanical modes hybridize with the optical mode, we observe consistent squeezing in the band 70-95 kHz with a lowest variance of 0.98 (2%\%% below vacuum fluctuations). We thus demonstrate optical squeezing mediated by multiple mechanical oscillators in their quantum ground state, bridging mechanical quantum control with non-classical light and establishing levitated optomechanics as a platform for multimode quantum interactions.
Quantum measurements of mechanical systems can generate optical squeezing via ponderomotive forces. Its observation requires high environmental isolation and efficient detection, typically achieved by using cryogenic cooling and optical cavities. Here, we realize these conditions by measuring the position of an optically levitated nanoparticle at room temperature and without the overhead of an optical cavity. We use a fast heterodyne detection to reconstruct simultaneously orthogonal optical quadratures, and observe a noise reduction of 9%±0.5% below shot noise. Our experiment offers a novel, cavityless platform for squeezed-light enhanced sensing. At the same time it delineates a clear and simple strategy toward observation of stationary optomechanical entanglement.
We show how entanglement between two optically levitated nanoparticles can be generated and detected by coherent scattering of tweezer photons into a single cavity mode. Triggered by the detection of a Stokes photon, the tweezer detuning is switched from the blue to the red; entanglement is then verified by the conditioned anti-Stokes photon flux, which oscillates with the mechanical beat frequency. The proposed setup is realizable with near-future technology and opens the door to experimental observation of nonclassical center-of-mass correlations between two or more levitated nanoscale objects.
Abstract Coherent scattering of photons is a novel mechanism of optomechanical coupling for optically levitated nanoparticles promising strong, versatile interactions with light and between nanoparticles. We show that it allows efficient deterministic generation of Gaussian entanglement between two particles in separate tweezers. A combination of red- and blue-detuned tweezers brings a mechanical Bogoliubov mode to its ground state. An additional, dispersively coupled cavity mode can reduce noise in the orthogonal mode, resulting in strong entanglement as quantified by the logarithmic negativity and verifiable with the Duan criterion for realistic experimental parameters. Such an important resource for quantum sensing and quantum simulations is pivotal for current experiments and presents an important step towards optomechanics with multiple particles in the quantum regime.
Abstract We explore entanglement generation between multiple optically levitated nanospheres interacting with a common optical cavity via the coherent scattering optomechanical interaction. We derive the many-particle Hamiltonian governing the unitary evolution of the system and show that it gives rise to quantum correlations among the various partitions of the setup, following a non-Markovian dynamics of entanglement birth, death and revivals. We also consider the effects of coupling the system to external environments and show that under reasonable experimental conditions entanglement between the mechanical modes can survive even at room temperature. Its dependence upon the number of nanoparticles, their initial temperature and coupling strength is studied. A numerical toolbox to simulate the closed and open dynamics of Gaussian optomechanical states and their informational measures is developed.
Quantum entanglement in macroscopic systems is not only essential for practical quantum information processing, but also valuable for the study of the boundary between quantum and the classical world. However, it is very challenging to achieve the steady remote entanglement between distant macroscopic systems. We consider two distant nanoparticles, both of which are optically trapped in two cavities. Based on the coherent scattering mechanism, we find that the ultrastrong optomechanical coupling between the cavity modes and the motion of the levitated nanoparticles could be achieved. The large and steady entanglement between the filtered output cavity modes and the motion of nanoparticles can be generated if the trapping laser is under the red sideband. Then through entanglement swapping, the steady motional entanglement between the distant nanoparticles can be realized. We numerically simulate and find that the two nanoparticles with 10 km distance can be entangled for the experimentally feasible parameters, even in room temperature environments. The generated continuous variable multipartite entanglement is the key to realizing the quantum enhanced sensor network and the sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit.