Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik
HL 32: Focused Session: Quantum optomechanics
HL 32.2: Topical Talk
Wednesday, March 25, 2009, 14:30–15:00, HSZ 01
Experimental quantum optical control of micromechanical resonators — •Markus Aspelmeyer — Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Experiments on massive mechanical resonators are now approaching the quantum regime. This opens up not only a spectrum of new applications but it also promises access to a previously inaccessible parameter range for macroscopic quantum experiments.
Quantum optics provides a rich toolbox to prepare and detect quantum states of mechanical systems, in particular by combining nano- and micromechanical resonators with high-finesse cavities. I will review our recent experiments in Vienna on laser cooling micromechanical systems towards the quantum ground state by using radiation pressure. I will also discuss the prospects and experimental challenges of generating optomechanical entanglement, which is at the heart of Schrödinger's cat paradox and which is also essential for future quantum hybrid architectures.