10 research outputs found
Actuation of Micro-Optomechanical Systems Via Cavity-Enhanced Optical Dipole Forces
We demonstrate a new type of optomechanical system employing a movable,
micron-scale waveguide evanescently-coupled to a high-Q optical microresonator.
Micron-scale displacements of the waveguide are observed for
milliwatt(mW)-level optical input powers. Measurement of the spatial variation
of the force on the waveguide indicates that it arises from a cavity-enhanced
optical dipole force due to the stored optical field of the resonator. This
force is used to realize an all-optical tunable filter operating with sub-mW
control power. A theoretical model of the system shows the maximum achievable
force to be independent of the intrinsic Q of the optical resonator and to
scale inversely with the cavity mode volume, suggesting that such forces may
become even more effective as devices approach the nanoscale.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. High resolution version available at
(http://copilot.caltech.edu/publications/CEODF_hires.pdf). For associated
movie, see (http://copilot.caltech.edu/research/optical_forces/index.htm
Dynamical Coupling between a Bose-Einstein Condensate and a Cavity Optical Lattice
A Bose-Einstein condensate is dispersively coupled to a single mode of an
ultra-high finesse optical cavity. The system is governed by strong
interactions between the atomic motion and the light field even at the level of
single quanta. While coherently pumping the cavity mode the condensate is
subject to the cavity optical lattice potential whose depth depends nonlinearly
on the atomic density distribution. We observe bistability already below the
single photon level and strong back-action dynamics which tunes the system
periodically out of resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Decoherence Suppression by Cavity Optomechanical Cooling
We consider a cavity optomechanical cooling configuration consisting of a
mechanical resonator (denoted as resonator b) and an electromagnetic resonator
(denoted as resonator a), which are coupled in such a way that the effective
resonance frequency of resonator a depends linearly on the displacement of
resonator b. We study whether back-reaction effects in such a configuration can
be efficiently employed for suppression of decoherence. To that end, we
consider the case where the mechanical resonator is prepared in a superposition
of two coherent states and evaluate the rate of decoherence. We find that no
significant suppression of decoherence is achievable when resonator a is
assumed to have a linear response. On the other hand, when resonator a exhibits
Kerr nonlinearity and/or nonlinear damping the decoherence rate can be made
much smaller than the equilibrium value provided that the parameters that
characterize these nonlinearities can be tuned close to some specified optimum
values
Coupling ultracold atoms to mechanical oscillators
In this article we discuss and compare different ways to engineer an
interface between ultracold atoms and micro- and nanomechanical oscillators. We
start by analyzing a direct mechanical coupling of a single atom or ion to a
mechanical oscillator and show that the very different masses of the two
systems place a limit on the achievable coupling constant in this scheme. We
then discuss several promising strategies for enhancing the coupling:
collective enhancement by using a large number of atoms in an optical lattice
in free space, coupling schemes based on high-finesse optical cavities, and
coupling to atomic internal states. Throughout the manuscript we discuss both
theoretical proposals and first experimental implementations.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
Mechanical systems in the quantum regime
Mechanical systems are ideal candidates for studying quantumbehavior of
macroscopic objects. To this end, a mechanical resonator has to be cooled to
its ground state and its position has to be measured with great accuracy.
Currently, various routes to reach these goals are being explored. In this
review, we discuss different techniques for sensitive position detection and we
give an overview of the cooling techniques that are being employed. The latter
include sideband cooling and active feedback cooling. The basic concepts that
are important when measuring on mechanical systems with high accuracy and/or at
very low temperatures, such as thermal and quantum noise, linear response
theory, and backaction, are explained. From this, the quantum limit on linear
position detection is obtained and the sensitivities that have been achieved in
recent opto and nanoelectromechanical experiments are compared to this limit.
The mechanical resonators that are used in the experiments range from
meter-sized gravitational wave detectors to nanomechanical systems that can
only be read out using mesoscopic devices such as single-electron transistors
or superconducting quantum interference devices. A special class of
nanomechanical systems are bottom-up fabricated carbon-based devices, which
have very high frequencies and yet a large zero-point motion, making them ideal
for reaching the quantum regime. The mechanics of some of the different
mechanical systems at the nanoscale is studied. We conclude this review with an
outlook of how state-of-the-art mechanical resonators can be improved to study
quantum {\it mechanics}.Comment: To appear in Phys. Re
A Strict occam Design Tool
This paper presents a graphical design tool for the construction of multi-process systems that are guaranteed free from deadlock, livelock and starvation. The tool is strictly targeted to implemen