Bulletin of the American Physical Society
40th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Volume 54, Number 7
Tuesday–Saturday, May 19–23, 2009; Charlottesville, Virginia
Session W1: Nanoscale Optomechanics |
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Chair: Duncan O'Dell, McMaster University Room: Chemistry Building 402 |
Saturday, May 23, 2009 8:00AM - 8:30AM |
W1.00001: Coupling MEMS to photons: a new approach to macroscopic quantum phenomena Invited Speaker: Radiation pressure couples the electromagnetic field to the center-of-mass motion of macroscopic objects. This coupling offers a promising means for observing quantum phenomena on surprisingly large scales. Experimental progress on this topic has been extremely rapid and the field now stands at the edge of the quantum regime. I will describe a new type of opto-mechanical system that seems to resolve a number of the remaining technical and fundamental challenges. This system has demonstrated laser cooling from room temperature to 7 mK, and allows us to realize a ``position-squared'' measurement. Position-squared readout is a crucial ingredient for QND measurements of both photons and phonons, but in the past have been difficult to realize. I will describe how near-degeneracies in the spectrum of an optical cavity's higher-order transverse modes can be used to realize position-squared measurements strong enough to observe real-time quantum jumps in a micromechanical oscillator. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, May 23, 2009 8:30AM - 9:00AM |
W1.00002: Quantum-Opto-Mechanics: Towards quantum optical control of micromechanical resonators Invited Speaker: Current experiments aim to achieve coherent quantum control over massive mechanical resonators. Quantum optics provides a rich toolbox to prepare and detect mechanical quantum states, in particular by combining nano- and micromechanical resonators with high-finesse cavities. To realize the full potential of mechanical systems for quantum experiments eventually requires the conjunction of strongly coupled mechanical resonators with the preparation of quantum ground states. I will report our latest progress in Vienna towards these goals. I will also discuss the prospect of generating optomechanical quantum entanglement, which is at the heart of Schr\"odinger's cat paradox, and the possibility of mechanical quantum transducers as a new technology for quantum information processing. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:00AM - 9:30AM |
W1.00003: Ultracold atoms coupled to micro- and nanomechanical oscillators: towards hybrid quantum systems Invited Speaker: Micro- and nanomechanical oscillators are presently approaching the quantum regime, driven by the continuous improvement of techniques to read out and cool mechanical motion. For trapped ultracold atoms, a rich toolbox of quantum control techniques already exists. By coupling mechanical oscillators to ultracold atoms, hybrid quantum systems could be formed, in which the atoms are used to cool, read out, and coherently manipulate the oscillators' state. In our work, we investigate different coupling mechanisms between ultracold atoms and mechanical oscillators. In a first experiment, we use atom-surface forces to couple the vibrations of a mechanical cantilever to the motion of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a magnetic microtrap on a chip. The atoms are trapped at sub-micrometer distance from the cantilever surface. We make use of the coupling to read out the cantilever vibrations with the atoms. Coupling via surface forces could be employed to couple atoms to molecular-scale oscillators such as carbon nanotubes. In a second experiment, we investigate coupling via a 1D optical lattice that is formed by a laser beam retroreflected from the cantilever tip. The optical lattice serves as a transfer rod which couples vibrations of the cantilever to the atoms and vice versa. Finally, we investigate magnetic coupling between the spin of ultracold atoms and the vibrations of a nanoscale cantilever with a magnetic tip. Theoretical investigations show that at low temperatures, the backaction of the atoms onto the cantilever is significant and the system represents a mechanical analog of cavity quantum electrodynamics in the strong coupling regime. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, May 23, 2009 9:30AM - 10:00AM |
W1.00004: Cavity optomechanics and its applications Invited Speaker: Cavity optomechanics is an emerging field at the intersection of quantum optics, atomic physics, nanoscience and gravitational wave interferometry. It involves cavities (with one or more mechanical degrees of freedom) driven by laser radiation. The ensuing optical control of macroscopic mechanical motion may have implications for precision sensing, coherent control of atoms and molecules, and quantum information processing. Due to recent innovations optomechanical physics has been realized in a variety of experimental systems spanning many orders of magnitude in mass and time-scales. In this talk, I will first introduce the basic paradigm of a laser-driven two mirror cavity used for cooling a vibrational mode. A three-mirror configuration recently implemented using a partially transmissive dielectric membrane in a high finesse cavity will then be discussed, and shown to be superior to the two-mirror design in a number of ways. One implication of the three-mirror configuration is the possibility of scaling optomechanical techniques to multiple oscillators. This topic will be explored by analysing the case of two membranes in a cavity where it will be shown that the collective(center-of-mass and breathing) modes of vibration can be cooled independently, analogous to a chain of trapped ions. Finally, future directions for possible applications to the control of atoms and molecules will be indicated briefly. [Preview Abstract] |
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