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Optics Express

Bi-tone-driven optomechanical photon blockade

Yuwei Jing, Jian Tang, Yunlan Zuo, Belinda Li, Keyu Xia

Published Aug 1, 2025• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optomechanical systems are capable of coupling to various engineered quantum systems. The ability of extending optomechanical systems to the quantum regime holds the potential for wide applications in quantum information processing and quantum sensing. Due to its importance in single-photon sources and hybrid quantum devices, optomechanical photon blockade (OMPB) has been theoretically predicted with various types of interactions. However, the realization of OMPB requires strict conditions, such as strong optomechanical coupling or precise control of system parameters. Here, we propose how to release such conditions and realize OMPB with experimentally accessible parameters. We find strong OMPB in a weak coupling regime by using bi-tone drive. Moreover, such OMPB can be flexibly controlled by tuning optical detuning. Our work provides a method for achieving strong antibunched photon-photon correlation in weak coupling optomechanics, enabling hybrid quantum devices for applications in quantum information processing.

DOI
10.1364/oe.568384

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Optomechanical systems are capable of coupling to various engineered quantum systems. The ability of extending optomechanical systems to the quantum regime holds the potential for wide applications in quantum information processing and quantum sensing. Due to its importance in single-photon sources and hybrid quantum devices, optomechanical photon blockade (OMPB) has been theoretically predicted with various types of interactions. However, the realization of OMPB requires strict conditions, such as strong optomechanical coupling or precise control of system parameters. Here, we propose how to release such conditions and realize OMPB with experimentally accessible parameters. We find strong OMPB in a weak coupling regime by using bi-tone drive. Moreover, such OMPB can be flexibly controlled by tuning optical detuning. Our work provides a method for achieving strong antibunched photon-photon correlation in weak coupling optomechanics, enabling hybrid quantum devices for applications in quantum information processing.
Abstract Photon statistics in a weakly driven optomechanical cavity, with Kerr-type nonlinearity, are analyzed both analytically and numerically. The single-photon blockade effect is demonstrated via calculations of the zero-time-delay second-order correlation function g (2) (0). The analytical results obtained by solving the Schrödinger equation are in complete conformity with the results obtained through numerical solution of the quantum master equation. A systematic study on the parameter regime for observing photon blockade in the weak coupling regime is reported. The parameter regime where the photon blockade is not realizable due to the combined effect of nonlinearities owing to the optomechanical coupling and the Kerr-effect is demonstrated. The experimental feasibility with state-of-the-art device parameters is discussed and it is observed that photon blockade could be generated at the telecommunication wavelength. An elaborate analysis of the thermal effects on photon antibunching is presented. The system is found to be robust against pure dephasing-induced decoherences and thermal phonon number fluctuations.
The research article studies the unconventional photon blockade effect in a hybrid optomechanical system with an embedded spin-triplet state. The interaction between the optomechanical system and the spin state generates new transition paths for the destructive quantum interference of the two-photon excitation state. By analytically solving the Schrodinger equation and numerically simulating the master equation, it can be found that the modulated mechanical dissipation is essential for achieving the strong photon blockade in our system. Unlike the conventional cavity optomechanical system, the second-order correlation function g(2)(0) =0 can be obtained with the weak single-photon optomechanical coupling. By adjusting the system parameters, the strong photon blockade and the single-photon resonance can coincide, which indicates the hybrid system has the potential to be a high-quality and efficient single-photon source. Finally, the influence of the thermal noise on photon blockade is investigated. The results show that the second-order correlation function is more robust for the weaker phonon-spin coupling.
We study the photon blockade effect in a mechanical engineered quadratic optomechanical system. It is shown that the energy level structure of the system and the statistical properties of the photons can both be influenced through the modulation of the motion of the mechanical components. Also, the second-order correlation function is analyzed for which the photon blockade can be enhanced under the strong pumping condition. Furthermore, the oscillation is present between the photon blockade and two-photon excitation when tuning the frequency of the probe photon. The study provides an achievable method to enhance the manipulation of photons, which will further support the various applications of photons in quantum information science.
Ultrastrong optomechanical interaction is a significant element for the study of the fundamentals and applications of optomechanical physics, but its realization remains a big challenge in the field of optomechanics. In this work, we propose a reliable scheme to realize a generalized ultrastrong optomechanical-like coupling in a cross-Kerr-type coupled two-bosonic-mode system, in which one of the two bosonic modes is strongly driven. The generalized optomechanical-like interaction takes the form of a product of the excitation number operator of one mode and the rotated quadrature operator of the other mode. Here, both the coupling strength and the phase angle of the rotated quadrature operator are tunable via the driving field. The optomechanical-like coupling can be strongly enhanced to enter the ultrastrong-coupling regime, where the few-photon optomechanical effects such as photon blockade and macroscopic quantum superposition become accessible. The controllability of the quadrature phase angle provides a new degree of freedom for the manipulation of optomechanical systems and enables the implementation of geometric quantum operations. We also present some discussions on the experimental implementation of this scheme. This study will pave the way to the study of quantum physics and quantum technology at the few-photon level in optomechanical systems.
The nonlinear quantum regime is crucial for implementing interesting quantum effects, which have wide applications in modern quantum science. Here we propose an effective method to reach the nonlinear quantum regime in a modulated optomechanical system (OMS), which is originally in the weak-coupling regime. The mechanical spring constant and optomechanical interaction are modulated periodically. This leads to the result that the resonant optomechanical interaction can be effectively enhanced into the single-photon strong-coupling regime by the modulation-induced mechanical parametric amplification. Moreover, the amplified phonon noise can be suppressed completely by introducing a squeezed vacuum reservoir, which ultimately leads to the realization of photon blockade in a weakly coupled OMS. The reached nonlinear quantum regime also allows us to engineer the nonclassical states (e.g., Schr\"odinger cat states) of the cavity field, which are robust against the phonon noise. This work offers an alternative approach to enhance the quantum nonlinearity of an OMS, which should expand the applications of cavity optomechanics in the quantum realm.
The quantum nonlinear regime of optomechanics is reached when nonlinear effects of the radiation pressure interaction are observed at the single-photon level. This requires couplings larger than the mechanical frequency and cavity-damping rate, and is difficult to achieve experimentally. Here we show how to exponentially enhance the single-photon optomechanical coupling strength using only additional linear resources. Our method is based on using a large-amplitude, strongly detuned mechanical parametric drive to amplify mechanical zero-point fluctuations and hence enhance the radiation pressure interaction. It has the further benefit of allowing time-dependent control, enabling pulsed schemes. For a two-cavity optomechanical set-up, we show that our scheme generates photon blockade for experimentally accessible parameters, and even makes the production of photonic states with negative Wigner functions possible. We discuss how our method is an example of a more general strategy for enhancing boson-mediated two-particle interactions and nonlinearities.