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Optical and Quantum Sensing and Precision Metrology II

Quantum sensing with optomechanical systems

David Vitali, Najmeh Eshaqi-Sani, Stefano Zippilli

Published Mar 19, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We discuss a hybrid optoelectromechanical setup that is able to sense weak variations of any parameter that affects the effective capacitance of an LC resonator, representing the radiofrequency (rf) electrical component of the device. In the setup, either one or two mechanical modes mediate the interaction between an optical cavity and the rf-resonator. This system can be operated in a regime of impedance matching where thermal fluctuations are redistributed among the system elements, and, in particular, rf output noise can be reduced to the quantum vacuum noise level. We show that this effect can boost the sensitivity in detecting parameter variations also in regimes of high thermal noise.

DOI
10.1117/12.3053191

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We discuss a hybrid optoelectromechanical setup that is able to sense weak variations of any parameter that affects the effective capacitance of an LC resonator, representing the radiofrequency (rf) electrical component of the device. In the setup, either one or two mechanical modes mediate the interaction between an optical cavity and the rf-resonator. This system can be operated in a regime of impedance matching where thermal fluctuations are redistributed among the system elements, and, in particular, rf output noise can be reduced to the quantum vacuum noise level. We show that this effect can boost the sensitivity in detecting parameter variations also in regimes of high thermal noise.
We present a complete theory for laser cooling of a macroscopic radio-frequency LC electrical circuit by means of an optoelectromechanical system, consisting of an optical cavity dispersively coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator, which is in turn capacitively coupled to the LC circuit of interest. We determine the optimal parameter regime where the LC resonator can be cooled down to its quantum ground state, which requires a large optomechanical cooperativity, and a larger electromechanical cooperativity. Moreover, comparable optomechanical and electromechanical coupling rates are preferable for reaching the quantum ground state.
In this paper we propose an experimentally viable scheme to enhance the sensitivity of force detection in a hybrid optomechanical setup assisted by squeezed vacuum injection, beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL). The scheme is based on a combination of the coherent quantum noise cancellation (CQNC) strategy with a variational homodyne detection of the cavity output spectrum in which the phase of the local oscillator is optimized. In CQNC, realizing a negative-mass oscillator in the system leads to exact cancellation of the backaction noise from the mechanics due to destructive quantum interference. Squeezed vacuum injection enhances this cancellation and allows sub-SQL sensitivity to be reached in a wide frequency band and at much lower input laser powers. We show here that the adoption of variational homodyne readout enables us to enhance this noise cancellation up to 40dB40\phantom{\rule{3.33333pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{dB}40dB compared to the standard case of detection of the optical output phase quadrature, leading to a remarkable force sensitivity of the order of ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}19}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{N}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$, about 7070%70 enhancement compared to the standard case. Moreover, we show that at nonzero cavity detuning, the signal response can be amplified at a level three to five times larger than that in the standard case without variational homodyne readout, improving the signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, the variational readout CQNC developed in this paper may be applied to other optomechanical-like platforms such as levitated systems and multimode optomechanical arrays or crystals as well as Josephson-based optomechanical systems.
We theoretically investigate quantum measurement noise in a hybrid optomechanical system, focusing on radiation-pressure back-action and its impact on force sensing. The setup consists of an optomechanical cavity with a movable mirror, a fixed semitransparent mirror, an ensemble of quantum dots (QDs) coupled to the cavity mode, and an intracavity optical parametric amplifier (OPA). We show how the QD-induced response, together with the system nonlinearity, modifies the noise spectral density and thereby improves the force measurement sensitivity. In this setup, coherent quantum noise cancellation (CQNC) can completely remove the back-action noise. In addition, increasing the OPA pump gain enables sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL) at reduced laser power. These combined effects allow weak-force sensing beyond the SQL.
We theoretically investigate quantum measurement noise in a hybrid optomechanical system, focusing on radiation pressure back action and its impact on force sensing. The setup consists of an optomechanical cavity with a movable mirror, a fixed semi transparent mirror, an ensemble of quantum dots (QD) coupled to the cavity mode, and an intracavity optical parametric amplifier (OPA). We show how the QD induced response, together with the system nonlinearity, modifies the noise spectral density and thereby improves the force measurement sensitivity. In this setup, coherent quantum noise cancellation (CQNC) can completely remove the back action noise. In addition, increasing the OPA pump gain enables sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit (SQL) at reduced laser power. These combined effects allow weak force sensing beyond the SQL.
Why are classical theories often sufficient to describe the physics of our world even though everything around us is entirely composed of microscopic quantum systems? The boundary between these two fundamentally dissimilar theories remains an unsolved problem in modern physics. Position measurements of small objects allow us to probe the area where the classical approximation breaks down. In quantum mechanics, Heisenbergâ s uncertainty principle dictates that any measurement of the position must be accompanied by measurement induced back-action---in this case manifested as an uncertainty in the momentum. In recent years, cavity optomechanics has become a powerful tool to perform precise position measurements and investigate their fundamental limitations. The utilization of optical micro-cavities greatly enhances the interaction between light and state-of-the-art nanomechanical oscillators. Therefore, quantum mechanical phenomena have been successfully observed in systems far beyond the microscopic world. In such a cavity optomechanical system, the fluctuations in the position of the oscillator are transduced onto the phase of the light, while fluctuations in the amplitude of the light disturb the momentum of the oscillator during the measurement. As a consequence, correlations are established between the amplitude and phase quadrature of the probe light. However, so far, observation of quantum effects has been limited exclusively to cryogenic experiments, and access to the quantum regime at room temperature has remained an elusive goal because the overwhelming amount of thermal motion masks the weak quantum effects. This thesis describes the engineering of a high-performance cavity optomechanical device and presents experimental results showing, for the first time, the broadband effects of quantum back-action at room temperature. The device strongly couples mechanical and optical modes of exceptionally high quality factors to provide a measurement sensitivity ∼ ⁣104\sim\!10^4∼104 times below the requirement to resolve the zero-point fluctuations of the mechanical oscillator. The quantum back-action is then observed through the correlations created between the probe light and the motion of the nanomechanical oscillator. A so-called â variational measurementâ , which detects the transmitted light in a homodyne detector tuned close to the amplitude quadrature, resolves the quantum noise due to these correlations at the level of 10\% of the thermal noise over more than an octave of Fourier frequencies around mechanical resonance. Moreover, building on this result, an additional experiment demonstrates the ability to achieve quantum enhanced metrology. In this case, the generated quantum correlations are used to cancel quantum noise in the measurement record, which then leads to an improved relative signal-to-noise ratio in measurements of an external force. In conclusion, the successful observation of broadband quantum behavior on a macroscopic object at room temperature is an important milestone in the field of cavity optomechanics. Specifically, this result heralds the rise of optomechanical systems as a platform for quantum physics at room temperature and shows promise for generation of ponderomotive squeezing in room-temperature interferometers.
Optoelectromechanical quantum interfaces can be utilized to connect systems with distinctively different frequencies in hybrid quantum networks. Here we present a scheme of nonreciprocal quantum-state conversion between microwave and optical photons via an optoelectromechanical interface. By introducing an auxiliary cavity and manipulating the phase differences between the linearized light-matter couplings, unidirectional state transmission that is immune to mechanical noise can be achieved. This interface can function as an isolator, a circulator, and a two-way switch that routes the input state to a designated output channel. We show that under a generalized impedance matching condition the state conversion can prevent thermal fluctuations of the mechanical mode from propagating to the cavity outputs and reach high fidelity. The realization of this scheme is also discussed.