Abstract Recently, the photon—magnon coherent interaction based on the collective spins excitation in ferromagnetic materials has been achieved experimentally. Under the prospect, the magnons are proposed to store and process quantum information. Meanwhile, cavity-optomagnonics which describes the interaction between photons and magnons has been developing rapidly as an interesting topic of the cavity quantum electrodynamics. Here in this short review, we mainly introduce the recent theoretical and experimental progress in the field of optomagnetic coupling and optical manipulation based on cavity-optomagnonics. According to the frequency range of the electromagnetic field, cavity optomagnonics can be divided into microwave cavity optomagnonics and optical cavity optomagnonics, due to the different dynamics of the photon—magnon interaction. As the interaction between the electromagnetic field and the magnetic materials is enhanced in the cavity-optomagnonic system, it provides great significance to explore the nonlinear characteristics and quantum properties for different magnetic systems. More importantly, the electromagnetic response of optomagnonics covers the frequency range from gigahertz to terahertz which provides a broad frequency platform for the multi-mode controlling in quantum systems.
Abstract Recently, the photon—magnon coherent interaction based on the collective spins excitation in ferromagnetic materials has been achieved experimentally. Under the prospect, the magnons are proposed to store and process quantum information. Meanwhile, cavity-optomagnonics which describes the interaction between photons and magnons has been developing rapidly as an interesting topic of the cavity quantum electrodynamics. Here in this short review, we mainly introduce the recent theoretical and experimental progress in the field of optomagnetic coupling and optical manipulation based on cavity-optomagnonics. According to the frequency range of the electromagnetic field, cavity optomagnonics can be divided into microwave cavity optomagnonics and optical cavity optomagnonics, due to the different dynamics of the photon—magnon interaction. As the interaction between the electromagnetic field and the magnetic materials is enhanced in the cavity-optomagnonic system, it provides great significance to explore the nonlinear characteristics and quantum properties for different magnetic systems. More importantly, the electromagnetic response of optomagnonics covers the frequency range from gigahertz to terahertz which provides a broad frequency platform for the multi-mode controlling in quantum systems.
Currently there is a growing interest in studying the coherent interaction between magnetic systems and electromagnetic radiation in a cavity, prompted partly by possible applications in hybrid quantum systems. We propose a multimode cavity optomagnonic system based on antiferromagnetic insulators, where optical photons couple coherently to the two homogeneous magnon modes of the antiferromagnet. These have frequencies typically in the THz range, a regime so far mostly unexplored in the realm of coherent interactions, and which makes antiferromagnets attractive for quantum transduction from THz to optical frequencies. We derive the theoretical model for the coupled system, and show that it presents unique characteristics. In particular, if the antiferromagnet presents hard-axis magnetic anisotropy, the optomagnonic coupling can be tuned by a magnetic field applied along the easy axis. This allows us to bring a selected magnon mode into and out of a dark mode, providing an alternative for a quantum memory protocol. The dynamical features of the driven system present unusual behavior due to optically induced magnon-magnon interactions, including regions of magnon heating for a red-detuned driving laser. The multimode character of the system is evident in a substructure of the optomagnonically induced transparency window.
Abstract Hybrid quantum systems based on magnons in magnetic materials have made significant progress in the past decade. They are built based on the couplings of magnons with microwave photons, optical photons, vibration phonons, and superconducting qubits. In particular, the interactions among magnons, microwave cavity photons, and vibration phonons form the system of cavity magnomechanics (CMM), which lies in the interdisciplinary field of cavity QED, magnonics, quantum optics, and quantum information. Here, we review the experimental and theoretical progress of this emerging field. We first introduce the underlying theories of the magnomechanical coupling, and then some representative classical phenomena that have been experimentally observed, including magnomechanically induced transparency, magnomechanical dynamical backaction, magnon-phonon cross-Kerr nonlinearity, etc. We also discuss a number of theoretical proposals, which show the potential of the CMM system for preparing different kinds of quantum states of magnons, phonons, and photons, and hybrid systems combining magnomechanics and optomechanics and relevant quantum protocols based on them. Finally, we summarize this review and provide an outlook for the future research directions in this field.
Magnons, as quasiparticles arising from spin wave excitations in magnetic materials, have demonstrated significant application potential in quantum information technology, spintronics, and microwave engineering in recent years. The cavity magnon optomechanical system, serving as a key platform for investigating magneto-optical interactions, has advanced the exploration of nonlinear dynamical behaviors and the innovative design of quantum devices through strong coupling between magnons, photons, and phonons. However, traditional single-cavity systems face limitations in terms of tunability, long-range interactions, and nonlinear enhancement, making them insufficient for complex quantum control requirements. In recent years, dual-cavity systems have become a research hotspot due to their multidimensional control capabilities achieved through inter-cavity coupling, such as photon mode splitting and enhanced nonlinear Kerr effects. Meanwhile, semiconductor quantum dots, provide a novel pathway for regulating magnon dynamics due to their tunable nonlinear response characteristics. In this work, we construct a novel coupled quantum system by integrating quantum dots and a dual-cavity architecture, and investigate the bistable phenomena under both forward and backward driving field inputs. By comparing the third-order nonlinear equations governing magnon populations in the two scenarios, we derive the impedance matching condition. When this condition is satisfied, the magnon responses induced by forward driving field and backward driving field are identical. Conversely, under impedance mismatch, the magnon responses exhibit different behaviors. Specifically, when the impedance matching condition is violated, the dual-cavity magnon optomechanical system incorporating three-level quantum dot molecules exhibits a lower bistability threshold than its counterpart without quantum dots. This allows for a transition from low steady state to high steady state while reducing the driving field strength, thereby achieving switching functionality at lower input power. Furthermore, we establish a multiparameter cooperative control model, revealing a three-dimensional parameter space formed by tunneling coupling, cavity-quantum dot coupling, and inter-cavity coupling. By adjusting these coupling strengths, the bistability threshold and hysteresis loop width can be effectively controlled, thereby modulating the driving field intensity required for bistability. This system is expected to experimentally observe the magnonic bistability through the vector network analyzer-based detection of abrupt changes in transmission or absorption windows in reflection spectra. Such capabilities can advance data signal transmission, switching devices, and memory technologies, and has the potential to serve as components of large-scale quantum information processing units. Additionally, this research may find important applications in the field of magnetic spintronics.
Hybrid systems based on magnons in ferromagnetic materials, such as yttrium iron garnet, have achieved remarkable development in the last decade. These include the coupling of magnons to microwave and optical photons, superconducting qubits, phonons, spins, the center-of-mass motion of a ferromagnet, etc. Here, we review both the experimental and theoretical progress in this field, focusing on the generation of magnonic quantum states and their applications in a broad range of fields. Since the strong coupling is a prerequisite for achieving coherent quantum control of magnons and preparing magnonic quantum states, we start by introducing representative strong-coupling experiments in cavity magnonics, then review a series of protocols for creating various magnonic quantum states, such as Fock, cat, squeezed, and entangled states, and discuss their potential applications in macroscopic quantum studies, quantum information science, quantum sensing, magnonic quantum devices, dark matter detection, and so on. Finally, we summarize the review and give an outlook for the future study of quantum magnonics.
Abstract We show how to prepare a steady-state entangled state between magnons and optical photons in an opto-magnomechanical configuration, where a mechanical vibration mode couples to a magnon mode in a ferrimagnet by the dispersive magnetostrictive interaction, and to an optical cavity by the radiation pressure. We find that, by appropriately driving the magnon mode and the cavity to simultaneously activate the magnomechanical Stokes and the optomechanical anti-Stokes scattering, a stationary optomagnonic entangled state can be created. We further show that, by activating the magnomechanical state–swap interaction and subsequently sending a weak red-detuned optical pulse to drive the cavity, the magnonic state can be read out in the cavity output field of the pulse via the mechanical transduction. The demonstrated entanglement and state-readout protocols in such a novel opto-magnomechanical configuration allow us to optically control, prepare, and read out quantum states of collective spin excitations in solids, and provide promising opportunities for the study of quantum magnonics, macroscopic quantum states, and magnonic quantum information processing.
Optomicrowave entanglement and optomagnonic entanglement have significant applications in constructing hybrid quantum network and optical controlling magnons. In this paper, a theoretical scheme of enhancing optomicrowave and optomagnonic entanglements is proposed, based on a coherent-feedback-assisted optomagnomechanical (OMM) system. By inserting a thin membrane between the input-output mirror and the high-reflective-mirror-attached YIG bridge, the system consists of four kinds of modes: optical mode, microwave mode, mechanical mode, and magnon mode. In this system, optical mode and microwave mode interact with each other through the mechanical mode, while the magnon mode couples with the microwave mode through magnetic-dipole interaction. The entanglement is originally generated between optical mode and phonon mode under the two-mode squeezing mechanism (blue-detuned driven), then the generated entanglement is transferred to the optical mode and microwave mode through the state transfer mechanism (red-detuned driven) between the microwave mode and phonon mode and is further transferred to the optical mode and magnon mode by the magnetic-dipole interaction between the microwave mode and magnon mode. Adopting the negative logarithm criterion, the variations of the optomicrowave and optomagnonic entanglements with detuning, coupling strength, and decay rate are thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, the optimal coherent feedback parameters and the physical mechanisms of generating and transferring entanglement are analyzed, and the entanglement enhancements by adding the feedback loop are discussed. The results show that after adding coherent feedback, optomicrowave entanglement and optomagnonic entanglement can be enhanced effectively within a wide range of parameters and the enhancement can also be well maintained. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for connecting different nodes (different physical systems) to construct hybrid quantum networks, flexibly controlling the quantum properties of magnons, and preparing macroscopic quantum states.