Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 1: Micro Mechanical Oscillator 1

Q 1.6: Talk

Monday, March 14, 2011, 11:45–12:00, HSZ 02

Cavity optomechanics with nonlinear mechanical resonators in the quantum regime — •Simon Rips, Martin Kiffner, Ignacio Wilson-Rae, and Michael Hartmann — Technische Universität München, Germany

The coupling of light and a mechanical resonator within an optomechanical setup can have significant effects on both the light field inside the cavity and the motion of the mechanical resonator. A prominent example is the cavity assisted side-band cooling of the mechanical motion, leading to low phonon occupation and thereby inducing the quantum regime.

Here, we consider the physics of a nonlinear mechanical resonator, coupled to different cavity modes that are each driven by a detuned laser. We show that the mechanical nonlinearity can be used to prepare a nonclassical steady state of mechanical motion. The nonclassicality criterion we use is the appearance of a negative Wigner function.

The open coupled quantum system is treated analytically with the projection operator technique. By tracing out the cavity modes, a master equation for the mechanical motion is derived. The structure of that master equation allows to understand the underlying physics and thereby to identify parameters (especially for detuning) that will produce the nonclassical steady state. The results are verified in a numerical treatment of the full coupled optomechanical system.