Proposal for an Optomechanical Traveling Wave Phonon-Photon Translator

In this article we describe a general optomechanical system for converting photons to phonons in an efficient, and reversible manner. We analyze classically and quantum mechanically the conversion process and proceed to a more concrete description of a phonon-photon translator formed from coupled photonic and phononic crystal planar circuits. Applications of the phonon-photon translator to RF-microwave photonics and circuit QED, including proposals utilizing this system for optical wavelength conversion, long-lived quantum memory and state transfer from optical to superconducting qubits are considered.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figure

Optomechanics in an ultrahigh-Q two-dimensional photonic crystal cavity

We demonstrate an ultrahigh-Q slotted two-dimensional photonic crystal cavity capable of obtaining strong interaction between the internal light field and the mechanical motion of the slotted structure. The measured optical quality factor is Q = 1.2×10^6 for a cavity with an effective modal volume of V_(eff) = 0.04(λ)^3. Optical transduction of the thermal motion of the fundamental in-plane mechanical resonance of the structure (ν_m = 151 MHz) is performed, from which a zero-point motion optomechanical coupling rate of g∗/2π = 320 kHz is inferred. Dynamical back-action of the optical field on the mechanical motion, resulting in cooling and amplication of the mechanical motion, is also demonstrated