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

Focus

Schrödinger’s Drum

M. V. D’Agostino

Published Nov 1, 2008• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

A pair of vibrating membranes could be cooled to their quantum mechanical ground state using current technology, and they could show a variety of quantum behaviors, according to calculations.
DOI
10.1103/physrevfocus.22.16

Related papers

Focus: Schrödinger’s Drum

M. V. D’Agostino

A pair of vibrating membranes could be cooled to their quantum mechanical ground state using current technology, and they could show a variety of quantum behaviors, according to calculations.

•Nov 11, 2008•0 citations

Efficient cooling of quantized vibrations using a four-level configuration

L.-L. Yan, Jian‐Qi Zhang, Shuo Zhang +1 more

Cooling vibrational degrees of freedom down to ground states is essential to observation of quantum properties of systems with mechanical vibration. We propose two cooling schemes employing four internal levels of the systems, which achieve the ground-state cooling in an efficient fashion by completely deleting the carrier and first-order blue-sideband transitions. The schemes, based on quantum interference and Stark-shift gates, are robust to fluctuations of laser intensity and frequency. The feasibility of the schemes is justified using current laboratory technology. In practice, our proposal readily applies to a nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy center levitated in an optical trap or attached to a cantilever.

arXiv:1605.07772•Physical Review A•Dec 23, 2016•9 citations

Watching an Object Go Quantum

Katie McAlpine

In the near future, a vibrating bar could be made small enough and cold enough to violate Newton’s laws and behave quantum mechanically, according to calculations.

Focus•Aug 1, 2007•0 citations

Phonons and solid-state qubits for quantum technology

Öney O. Soykal, Rusko Ruskov, Charles Tahan

Bulletin of the American Physical Society•Mar 24, 2011•0 citations

Coherent Feedback Cooling of an Ultracoherent Phononic-Crystal Membrane at Room Temperature

Luiz Couto Correa Pinto Filho, Yingxuan Chen, Frederik Werner Isaksen +6 more

Optomechanical systems provide a versatile platform for precision measurements and investigations of fundamental physics, where bringing macroscopic resonators into the quantum regime is a widely pursued goal. Achieving such quantum behavior of solid-state mechanical resonators at room temperature would greatly broaden their applications by removing the need for cryogenic environments. Reaching this goal requires efficient cooling of mechanical motion, among various laser cooling methods, dynamical backaction cooling (DBC) is widely utilized in experiments but fundamentally limited when operating in the sideband-unresolved regime. Coherent feedback cooling (CFC) can overcome this limitation, while avoiding state collapse and the electronic restrictions inherent to measurement-based feedback. Here, we experimentally demonstrate CFC using an ultracoherent density phononic crystal membrane. By combining CFC with strong DBC in a relatively narrow cavity, we achieve a phonon occupation reduction from $5.5\times10^{6}$ to $166\pm7$, corresponding to a cooling factor of $3.3\times10^{4}$ at room temperature, even with current experimental limitations. Our results show the potential of CFC for approaching the ground state of high-$Q$ membranes at room temperature.

quant-pharXiv:2605.20902•May 21, 2026

Sympathetic cooling and self-oscillations in a hybrid atom-membrane system

Aline Faber

Hybrid systems combining mechanical oscillators and ultracold atoms provide novel \nopportunities for cooling, detection and quantum control of mechanical motion with \napplications in precision sensing, quantum-level signal transduction and for fundamental \ntests of quantum mechanics. \nIn this thesis I present experiments performed with a hybrid atom-membrane \nsystem, in which the vibrations of a Si_3N_4 membrane in an optical cavity are coupled \nto the motion of laser-cooled atoms in an optical lattice. The interactions are \nmediated by the lattice light over a macroscopic distance and enhanced by the cavity. \nVia the coupling to the cold atoms, the fundamental vibrational mode of the \nmembrane at 2π x 276 kHz is cooled sympathetically from room temperature to \n0.4(2) K, even though the mass of the mechanical oscillator exceeds that of the \natomic ensemble by a factor of 4 x 10^10. In other systems, sympathetic cooling \nof molecules with cold atoms or ions has been limited to mass ratios of up to 90. \nPrevious theoretical work has shown that our coupling mechanism is able to cool the \nmembrane vibration into the ground state and to perform coherent state transfers \nbetween atomic and membrane motion. \nUnder certain experimental conditions, the atom-membrane system shows self-oscillations, \nwhich arise from an effective delay in the backaction of the atoms onto \nthe light. This retardation drives the system into limit-cycle oscillations if the coupling \nis large. I study the dependence of this instability on several system parameters \nand find that a larger atom number and a smaller atom-light detuning make the system \nless stable. Further, the stability of the coupled system in presence of a delay is \ninvestigated theoretically and a modified expression for the sympathetic cooling rate \nis derived. This model allows to fit the measured atom number dependence with a \ndelay of τ = 88(1) ns. Moreover, direct measurements of the atomic backaction onto \nthe lattice light are presented. These show phase lags exceeding 180° in parameter \nregimes where the instability is observed, proving that the retardation arises within \nthe atomic ensemble. Finally, I present the results of numerical simulations, which \nshow that collective atomic effects within the atomic ensemble in an asymmetric \nlattice are able to induce the observed phase lag in the atomic backaction.

•Jan 1, 2016•0 citations
Cooling vibrational degrees of freedom down to ground states is essential to observation of quantum properties of systems with mechanical vibration. We propose two cooling schemes employing four internal levels of the systems, which achieve the ground-state cooling in an efficient fashion by completely deleting the carrier and first-order blue-sideband transitions. The schemes, based on quantum interference and Stark-shift gates, are robust to fluctuations of laser intensity and frequency. The feasibility of the schemes is justified using current laboratory technology. In practice, our proposal readily applies to a nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy center levitated in an optical trap or attached to a cantilever.
Optomechanical systems provide a versatile platform for precision measurements and investigations of fundamental physics, where bringing macroscopic resonators into the quantum regime is a widely pursued goal. Achieving such quantum behavior of solid-state mechanical resonators at room temperature would greatly broaden their applications by removing the need for cryogenic environments. Reaching this goal requires efficient cooling of mechanical motion, among various laser cooling methods, dynamical backaction cooling (DBC) is widely utilized in experiments but fundamentally limited when operating in the sideband-unresolved regime. Coherent feedback cooling (CFC) can overcome this limitation, while avoiding state collapse and the electronic restrictions inherent to measurement-based feedback. Here, we experimentally demonstrate CFC using an ultracoherent density phononic crystal membrane. By combining CFC with strong DBC in a relatively narrow cavity, we achieve a phonon occupation reduction from 5.5×1065.5\times10^{6}5.5×106 to 166±7166\pm7166±7, corresponding to a cooling factor of 3.3×1043.3\times10^{4}3.3×104 at room temperature, even with current experimental limitations. Our results show the potential of CFC for approaching the ground state of high-QQQ membranes at room temperature.
Hybrid systems combining mechanical oscillators and ultracold atoms provide novel \nopportunities for cooling, detection and quantum control of mechanical motion with \napplications in precision sensing, quantum-level signal transduction and for fundamental \ntests of quantum mechanics. \nIn this thesis I present experiments performed with a hybrid atom-membrane \nsystem, in which the vibrations of a Si_3N_4 membrane in an optical cavity are coupled \nto the motion of laser-cooled atoms in an optical lattice. The interactions are \nmediated by the lattice light over a macroscopic distance and enhanced by the cavity. \nVia the coupling to the cold atoms, the fundamental vibrational mode of the \nmembrane at 2π x 276 kHz is cooled sympathetically from room temperature to \n0.4(2) K, even though the mass of the mechanical oscillator exceeds that of the \natomic ensemble by a factor of 4 x 10^10. In other systems, sympathetic cooling \nof molecules with cold atoms or ions has been limited to mass ratios of up to 90. \nPrevious theoretical work has shown that our coupling mechanism is able to cool the \nmembrane vibration into the ground state and to perform coherent state transfers \nbetween atomic and membrane motion. \nUnder certain experimental conditions, the atom-membrane system shows self-oscillations, \nwhich arise from an effective delay in the backaction of the atoms onto \nthe light. This retardation drives the system into limit-cycle oscillations if the coupling \nis large. I study the dependence of this instability on several system parameters \nand find that a larger atom number and a smaller atom-light detuning make the system \nless stable. Further, the stability of the coupled system in presence of a delay is \ninvestigated theoretically and a modified expression for the sympathetic cooling rate \nis derived. This model allows to fit the measured atom number dependence with a \ndelay of τ = 88(1) ns. Moreover, direct measurements of the atomic backaction onto \nthe lattice light are presented. These show phase lags exceeding 180° in parameter \nregimes where the instability is observed, proving that the retardation arises within \nthe atomic ensemble. Finally, I present the results of numerical simulations, which \nshow that collective atomic effects within the atomic ensemble in an asymmetric \nlattice are able to induce the observed phase lag in the atomic backaction.