50 research outputs found
Radiation-pressure cooling and optomechanical instability of a micro-mirror
Recent experimental progress in table-top experiments or gravitational-wave
interferometers has enlightened the unique displacement sensitivity offered by
optical interferometry. As the mirrors move in response to radiation pressure,
higher power operation, though crucial for further sensitivity enhancement,
will however increase quantum effects of radiation pressure, or even jeopardize
the stable operation of the detuned cavities proposed for next-generation
interferometers. The appearance of such optomechanical instabilities is the
result of the nonlinear interplay between the motion of the mirrors and the
optical field dynamics. In a detuned cavity indeed, the displacements of the
mirror are coupled to intensity fluctuations, which modifies the effective
dynamics of the mirror. Such "optical spring" effects have already been
demonstrated on the mechanical damping of an electromagnetic waveguide with a
moving wall, on the resonance frequency of a specially designed flexure
oscillator, and through the optomechanical instability of a silica
micro-toroidal resonator. We present here an experiment where a
micro-mechanical resonator is used as a mirror in a very high-finesse optical
cavity and its displacements monitored with an unprecedented sensitivity. By
detuning the cavity, we have observed a drastic cooling of the micro-resonator
by intracavity radiation pressure, down to an effective temperature of 10 K. We
have also obtained an efficient heating for an opposite detuning, up to the
observation of a radiation-pressure induced instability of the resonator.
Further experimental progress and cryogenic operation may lead to the
experimental observation of the quantum ground state of a mechanical resonator,
either by passive or active cooling techniques
Ultrasensitive force and displacement detection using trapped ions
The ability to detect extremely small forces is vital for a variety of
disciplines including precision spin-resonance imaging, microscopy, and tests
of fundamental physical phenomena. Current force-detection sensitivity limits
have surpassed 1 (atto ) through coupling of micro or
nanofabricated mechanical resonators to a variety of physical systems including
single-electron transistors, superconducting microwave cavities, and individual
spins. These experiments have allowed for probing studies of a variety of
phenomena, but sensitivity requirements are ever-increasing as new regimes of
physical interactions are considered. Here we show that trapped atomic ions are
exquisitely sensitive force detectors, with a measured sensitivity more than
three orders of magnitude better than existing reports. We demonstrate
detection of forces as small as 174 (yocto ), with a
sensitivity 390 using crystals of Be
ions in a Penning trap. Our technique is based on the excitation of normal
motional modes in an ion trap by externally applied electric fields, detection
via and phase-coherent Doppler velocimetry, which allows for the discrimination
of ion motion with amplitudes on the scale of nanometers. These experimental
results and extracted force-detection sensitivities in the single-ion limit
validate proposals suggesting that trapped atomic ions are capable of detecting
of forces with sensitivity approaching 1 . We anticipate that
this demonstration will be strongly motivational for the development of a new
class of deployable trapped-ion-based sensors, and will permit scientists to
access new regimes in materials science.Comment: Expanded introduction and analysis. Methods section added. Subject to
press embarg
An off-board quantum point contact as a sensitive detector of cantilever motion
Recent advances in the fabrication of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
and their evolution into nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have allowed
researchers to measure extremely small forces, masses, and displacements. In
particular, researchers have developed position transducers with resolution
approaching the uncertainty limit set by quantum mechanics. The achievement of
such resolution has implications not only for the detection of quantum behavior
in mechanical systems, but also for a variety of other precision experiments
including the bounding of deviations from Newtonian gravity at short distances
and the measurement of single spins. Here we demonstrate the use of a quantum
point contact (QPC) as a sensitive displacement detector capable of sensing the
low-temperature thermal motion of a nearby micromechanical cantilever.
Advantages of this approach include versatility due to its off-board design,
compatibility with nanoscale oscillators, and, with further development, the
potential to achieve quantum limited displacement detection.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Frequency stabilization in nonlinear micromechanical oscillators
Mechanical oscillators are present in almost every electronic device. They mainly consist of a resonating element providing an oscillating output with a specific frequency. Their ability to maintain a determined frequency in a specified period of time is the most important parameter limiting their implementation. Historically, quartz crystals have almost exclusively been used as the resonating element, but micromechanical resonators are increasingly being considered to replace them. These resonators are easier to miniaturize and allow for monolithic integration with electronics. However, as their dimensions shrink to the microscale, most mechanical resonators exhibit nonlinearities that considerably degrade the frequency stability of the oscillator. Here we demonstrate that, by coupling two different vibrational modes through an internal resonance, it is possible to stabilize the oscillation frequency of nonlinear self-sustaining micromechanical resonators. Our findings provide a new strategy for engineering low-frequency noise oscillators capitalizing on the intrinsic nonlinear phenomena of micromechanical resonators.Fil: Antonio, Dario. Argonne National Laboratory. Center for Nanoscale Materials; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Zanette, Damian Horacio. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Area de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia de Física (centro Atómico Bariloche); Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: López, Daniel . Argonne National Laboratory. Center for Nanoscale Materials; Estados Unido
Performance of Monolayer Graphene Nanomechanical Resonators with Electrical Readout
The enormous stiffness and low density of graphene make it an ideal material
for nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) applications. We demonstrate fabrication and
electrical readout of monolayer graphene resonators, and test their response to
changes in mass and temperature. The devices show resonances in the MHz range.
The strong dependence of the resonant frequency on applied gate voltage can be
fit to a membrane model, which yields the mass density and built-in strain.
Upon removal and addition of mass, we observe changes in both the density and
the strain, indicating that adsorbates impart tension to the graphene. Upon
cooling, the frequency increases; the shift rate can be used to measure the
unusual negative thermal expansion coefficient of graphene. The quality factor
increases with decreasing temperature, reaching ~10,000 at 5 K. By establishing
many of the basic attributes of monolayer graphene resonators, these studies
lay the groundwork for applications, including high-sensitivity mass detectors
Hybrid Mechanical Systems
We discuss hybrid systems in which a mechanical oscillator is coupled to
another (microscopic) quantum system, such as trapped atoms or ions,
solid-state spin qubits, or superconducting devices. We summarize and compare
different coupling schemes and describe first experimental implementations.
Hybrid mechanical systems enable new approaches to quantum control of
mechanical objects, precision sensing, and quantum information processing.Comment: To cite this review, please refer to the published book chapter (see
Journal-ref and DOI). This v2 corresponds to the published versio
A tunable carbon nanotube electromechanical oscillator
Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMs) hold promise for a number of scientific
and technological applications. In particular, NEMs oscillators have been
proposed for use in ultrasensitive mass detection, radio-frequency signal
processing, and as a model system for exploring quantum phenomena in
macroscopic systems. Perhaps the ultimate material for these applications is a
carbon nanotube. They are the stiffest material known, have low density,
ultrasmall cross-sections and can be defect-free. Equally important, a nanotube
can act as a transistor and thus may be able to sense its own motion. In spite
of this great promise, a room-temperature, self-detecting nanotube oscillator
has not been realized, although some progress has been made. Here we report the
electrical actuation and detection of the guitar-string-like oscillation modes
of doubly clamped nanotube oscillators. We show that the resonance frequency
can be widely tuned and that the devices can be used to transduce very small
forces.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
An Atomic-resolution nanomechanical mass sensor
Mechanical resonators are widely used as inertial balances to detect small
quantities of adsorbed mass through shifts in oscillation frequency[1].
Advances in lithography and materials synthesis have enabled the fabrication of
nanoscale mechanical resonators[2, 3, 4, 5, 6], which have been operated as
precision force[7], position[8, 9] and mass sensors[10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15].
Here we demonstrate a room-temperature, carbon-nanotube-based nanomechanical
resonator with atomic mass resolution. This device is essentially a mass
spectrometer with a mass sensitivity of 1.3 times 10^-25 kg Hz^-1/2 or,
equivalently, 0.40 gold atoms Hz^-1/2. Using this extreme mass sensitivity, we
observe atomic mass shot noise, which is analogous to the electronic shot
noise[16, 17] measured in many semiconductor experiments. Unlike traditional
mass spectrometers, nanomechanical mass spectrometers do not require the
potentially destructive ionization of the test sample, are more sensitive to
large molecules, and could eventually be incorporated on a chip