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Physics

Quantum Squeezing of Micromechanical Motion

Warwick P. Bowen

Published Dec 7, 2015• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

A pair of conjugate observables, such as the quadrature amplitudes of harmonic motion, have fundamental fluctuations that are bound by the Heisenberg uncertainty relation.However, in a squeezed quantum state, fluctuations of a quantity can be reduced below the standard quantum limit, at the cost of increased fluctuations of the conjugate variable.Here we prepare a nearly macroscopic moving body, realized as a micromechanical resonator, in a squeezed quantum state.We obtain squeezing of one quadrature amplitude 1.1 Æ 0.4 dB below the standard quantum limit, thus achieving a long-standing goal of obtaining motional squeezing in a macroscopic object.

DOI
10.1103/physics.8.119

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A pair of conjugate observables, such as the quadrature amplitudes of harmonic motion, have fundamental fluctuations that are bound by the Heisenberg uncertainty relation.However, in a squeezed quantum state, fluctuations of a quantity can be reduced below the standard quantum limit, at the cost of increased fluctuations of the conjugate variable.Here we prepare a nearly macroscopic moving body, realized as a micromechanical resonator, in a squeezed quantum state.We obtain squeezing of one quadrature amplitude 1.1 Æ 0.4 dB below the standard quantum limit, thus achieving a long-standing goal of obtaining motional squeezing in a macroscopic object.
A pair of conjugate observables, such as the quadrature amplitudes of harmonic motion, have fundamental fluctuations that are bound by the Heisenberg uncertainty relation. However, in a squeezed quantum state, fluctuations of a quantity can be reduced below the standard quantum limit, at the cost of increased fluctuations of the conjugate variable. Here we prepare a nearly macroscopic moving body, realized as a micromechanical resonator, in a squeezed quantum state. We obtain squeezing of one quadrature amplitude 1.1±0.4 dB below the standard quantum limit, thus achieving a long-standing goal of obtaining motional squeezing in a macroscopic object.
Experimental chapter devoted to quantum observables endowed with continuously varying quantum fluctuations, such as position and momentum, quadrature operators, or phase and amplitude of electromagnetic fields . It shows that one can manipulate this quantum noise by generating squeezed states of light, always within the limits imposed by the Heisenberg inequality, and create strong correlations between these observables to conditionally generate quantum states having intensity quantum fluctuations below the "shot noise" limit imposed by the existence of vacuum fluctuations. Describes an experiment dealing with macroscopic mechanical oscillators displaying motional squeezing below the zero point fluctuations, and another one dealing with macroscopic superconducting exhibiting a whole spectrum of strongly nonclassical states, generated by using the strong anharmonicity of the Josephson potential.
Quantum Mechanics The uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics dictates that even when a system is cooled to its ground state, there are still fluctuations. This zero-point motion is unavoidable but can be manipulated. Wollman et al. demonstrate such manipulation with the motion of a micrometer-sized mechanical system. By driving up the fluctuations in one of the variables of the system, they are able to squeeze the other related variable below the expected zero-point limit. Quantum squeezing will be important for realizing ultrasensitive sensors and detectors. Science , this issue p. [952][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aac5138
Manipulating the motion of macroscopic objects near their quantum mechanical uncertainties has been desired in diverse fields, including fundamental physics, sensing, and transducers. Despite progress in ground-state cooling of a levitated solid particle, realizing its nonclassical states has been elusive. Here, we demonstrate quantum squeezing of the motion of a single nanoparticle by rapidly varying its oscillation frequency. We reveal appreciable narrowing of the velocity variance to -4.9 ± 0.1 decibels of that of the ground state using free-expansion measurements. Our work shows that a levitated nanoparticle offers an ideal platform for studying nonclassical states of its motion and provides a route to developing applications in quantum sensing and exploring quantum mechanics at a macroscopic scale.
According to quantum mechanics, a harmonic oscillator can never be completely at rest. Even in the ground state, its position will always have fluctuations, called the zero-point motion. Although the zero-point fluctuations are unavoidable, they can be manipulated. Using microwave frequency radiation pressure, we have manipulated the thermal fluctuations of a micrometer-scale mechanical resonator to produce a stationary quadrature-squeezed state with a minimum variance of 0.80 times that of the ground state. We also performed phase-sensitive, back-action evading measurements of a thermal state squeezed to 1.09 times the zero-point level. Our results are relevant to the quantum engineering of states of matter at large length scales, the study of decoherence of large quantum systems, and for the realization of ultrasensitive sensing of force and motion.