Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2604.26790 · Physical Review A

Optical squeezing mediated by levitated oscillators at their quantum ground state

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

quant-phSubmitted Apr 29, 2026• Announced Apr 30, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

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.

Related papers

Squeezed Light from a Levitated Nanoparticle at Room Temperature

Lorenzo Magrini, V. A. Camarena-Chávez, Constanze Bach +2 more

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.

arXiv:2202.09322•Physical Review Letters•Jul 25, 2022•37 citations

Stationary entanglement of a levitated oscillator with an optical field

Q. Deplano, A. Pontin, F. Marino +1 more

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.

quant-pharXiv:2602.03456•Science•Feb 4, 2026•0 citations

Fast quantum squeezing of a nanomechanical oscillator with an inverted potential

Oscar Schmitt Kremer, Lorenzo Dania, Lukas Novotny +1 more

Nonclassical states of nano- and micro-mechanical motion enable measurements beyond the standard quantum limit and constitute a key resource for quantum sensing and metrology. The most strongly squeezed mechanical states to date have been generated with electromechanical platforms under cryogenic refrigeration and using reservoir engineering. To push mechanical systems deeper into the quantum-squeezed regime requires protocols that increase the rate at which squeezing is generated to more strongly overcome the decoherence rate at which state purity is lost. Here, we squeeze the 800 kHz libration mode of a silica nanoparticle optically levitated in vacuum at room temperature. We expose our mechanical oscillator to an optically generated inverted potential, where the squeezing operation proceeds at an exponentially accelerated rate. We reach a squeezed quadrature variance 11 dB below the vacuum fluctuations within 250 ns. Our protocol establishes a new paradigm for generating quantum squeezing of mechanical motion and offers a platform for quantum-enhanced sensing with massive oscillators.

quant-pharXiv:2609.12833•Sep 14, 2026•0 citations

Suppressing Recoil Heating in Levitated Optomechanics Using Squeezed Light

Carlos Gonzalez-Ballestero, Joanna A. Zielińska, Massimiliano Rossi +5 more

We theoretically show that laser recoil heating in free-space levitated optomechanics can be arbitrarily suppressed by shining squeezed light onto an optically trapped nanoparticle. The presence of squeezing modifies the quantum electrodynamical light-matter interaction in a way that enables us to control the amount of information that the scattered light carries about a given mechanical degree of freedom. Moreover, we analyze the trade-off between measurement imprecision and back-action noise and show that optical detection beyond the standard quantum limit can be achieved. We predict that, with state-of-the-art squeezed light sources, laser recoil heating can be reduced by at least 60% by squeezing a single Gaussian mode with an appropriate incidence direction, and by 98% by squeezing a properly mode-matched mode. Our results, which are valid both for motional and librational degrees of freedom, will lead to improved feedback cooling schemes as well as boost the coherence time of optically levitated nanoparticles in the quantum regime.

arXiv:2209.05858•Sep 13, 2022•1 citation

Simultaneous ponderomotive squeezing of light by two mechanical modes in an optomechanical system

Peyman Malekzadeh, Emil Zeuthen, Eric Langman +2 more

We experimentally demonstrate a source of squeezed light featuring simultaneous ponderomotive squeezing from two mechanical modes of an optomechanical system. We use ultra-coherent vibrational modes (Q factors on the order of 108) of a soft-clamped membrane placed in a Fabry–Pérot optical cavity at cryogenic conditions (T=11K) to create correlations between amplitude and phase quadratures of the light field. As a result of the interaction between the membrane position and the light, we generated ponderomotive squeezing of 4.8dB for the first localized mechanical mode at 1.32MHz and 4.2dB for the second localized mode at 2.43MHz, as observed in direct detection when correcting for the detection inefficiency. Thus, we have demonstrated that by leveraging more than one quantum-limited mechanical mode, optomechanical squeezed light generation can be extended to dual-band operation with an ample band separation of about an octave. Utilizing homodyne detection to detect squeezing in an optimal quadrature would lead to squeezing levels at the output of the cavity of 7.3 dB and 6.8 dB, in the two modes, respectively. Squeezing of light demonstrated here for near-infrared light can be achieved in a broad range of wavelengths due to the relative insensitivity of optomechanical interaction with SiN membranes to the wavelength. The demonstrated dual-band squeezing can be linked to the generation of two photon–phonon entangled mode pairs, suggesting that our system, viewed as an entanglement source, is more resource-efficient than single-mode optomechanics.

arXiv:2412.03303•Optica Quantum•Sep 12, 2025•2 citations

Estimation of squeezing in a nonlinear quadrature of a mechanical oscillator

Darren W. Moore, Andrey A. Rakhubovsky, Radim Filip

Abstract Processing quantum information on continuous variables requires a highly nonlinear element in order to attain universality. Noise reduction in processing such quantum information involves the use of a nonlinear phase state as a non-Gaussian ancilla. A necessary condition for a nonlinear phase state to implement a nonlinear phase gate is that noise in a selected nonlinear quadrature should decrease below the level of classical states. A reduction of the variance in this nonlinear quadrature below the ground state of the ancilla, a type of nonlinear squeezing, is the resource embedded in these non-Gaussian states and a figure of merit for nonlinear quantum processes. Quantum optomechanics with levitating nanoparticles trapped in nonlinear optical potentials is a promising candidate to achieve such resources in a flexible way. We provide a scheme for reconstructing this figure of merit, which we call nonlinear squeezing, in standard linear quantum optomechanics, analysing the effects of mechanical decoherence processes on the reconstruction and show that all mechanical states which exhibit reduced noise in this nonlinear quadrature are nonclassical.

arXiv:1904.00772•New Journal of Physics•Nov 1, 2019•12 citations
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.
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.
Nonclassical states of nano- and micro-mechanical motion enable measurements beyond the standard quantum limit and constitute a key resource for quantum sensing and metrology. The most strongly squeezed mechanical states to date have been generated with electromechanical platforms under cryogenic refrigeration and using reservoir engineering. To push mechanical systems deeper into the quantum-squeezed regime requires protocols that increase the rate at which squeezing is generated to more strongly overcome the decoherence rate at which state purity is lost. Here, we squeeze the 800 kHz libration mode of a silica nanoparticle optically levitated in vacuum at room temperature. We expose our mechanical oscillator to an optically generated inverted potential, where the squeezing operation proceeds at an exponentially accelerated rate. We reach a squeezed quadrature variance 11 dB below the vacuum fluctuations within 250 ns. Our protocol establishes a new paradigm for generating quantum squeezing of mechanical motion and offers a platform for quantum-enhanced sensing with massive oscillators.
We theoretically show that laser recoil heating in free-space levitated optomechanics can be arbitrarily suppressed by shining squeezed light onto an optically trapped nanoparticle. The presence of squeezing modifies the quantum electrodynamical light-matter interaction in a way that enables us to control the amount of information that the scattered light carries about a given mechanical degree of freedom. Moreover, we analyze the trade-off between measurement imprecision and back-action noise and show that optical detection beyond the standard quantum limit can be achieved. We predict that, with state-of-the-art squeezed light sources, laser recoil heating can be reduced by at least 60% by squeezing a single Gaussian mode with an appropriate incidence direction, and by 98% by squeezing a properly mode-matched mode. Our results, which are valid both for motional and librational degrees of freedom, will lead to improved feedback cooling schemes as well as boost the coherence time of optically levitated nanoparticles in the quantum regime.
We experimentally demonstrate a source of squeezed light featuring simultaneous ponderomotive squeezing from two mechanical modes of an optomechanical system. We use ultra-coherent vibrational modes (Q factors on the order of 108) of a soft-clamped membrane placed in a Fabry–Pérot optical cavity at cryogenic conditions (T=11K) to create correlations between amplitude and phase quadratures of the light field. As a result of the interaction between the membrane position and the light, we generated ponderomotive squeezing of 4.8dB for the first localized mechanical mode at 1.32MHz and 4.2dB for the second localized mode at 2.43MHz, as observed in direct detection when correcting for the detection inefficiency. Thus, we have demonstrated that by leveraging more than one quantum-limited mechanical mode, optomechanical squeezed light generation can be extended to dual-band operation with an ample band separation of about an octave. Utilizing homodyne detection to detect squeezing in an optimal quadrature would lead to squeezing levels at the output of the cavity of 7.3 dB and 6.8 dB, in the two modes, respectively. Squeezing of light demonstrated here for near-infrared light can be achieved in a broad range of wavelengths due to the relative insensitivity of optomechanical interaction with SiN membranes to the wavelength. The demonstrated dual-band squeezing can be linked to the generation of two photon–phonon entangled mode pairs, suggesting that our system, viewed as an entanglement source, is more resource-efficient than single-mode optomechanics.
Abstract Processing quantum information on continuous variables requires a highly nonlinear element in order to attain universality. Noise reduction in processing such quantum information involves the use of a nonlinear phase state as a non-Gaussian ancilla. A necessary condition for a nonlinear phase state to implement a nonlinear phase gate is that noise in a selected nonlinear quadrature should decrease below the level of classical states. A reduction of the variance in this nonlinear quadrature below the ground state of the ancilla, a type of nonlinear squeezing, is the resource embedded in these non-Gaussian states and a figure of merit for nonlinear quantum processes. Quantum optomechanics with levitating nanoparticles trapped in nonlinear optical potentials is a promising candidate to achieve such resources in a flexible way. We provide a scheme for reconstructing this figure of merit, which we call nonlinear squeezing, in standard linear quantum optomechanics, analysing the effects of mechanical decoherence processes on the reconstruction and show that all mechanical states which exhibit reduced noise in this nonlinear quadrature are nonclassical.