We propose a protocol how to generate and verify bipartite Gaussian entanglement between two mechanical modes coupled to a single optical cavity, by means of short optical pulses and measurement. Our protocol requires neither the resolved sideband regime, nor low thermal phonon occupancy, and allows the generation and verification of quantum entanglement in less than a mechanical period of motion. Entanglement is generated via effective two-mode mechanical squeezing through conditioning position measurements. We study the robustness of entanglement to experimental deviations in mechanical frequencies and optomechanical coupling rates.
We propose that a pulsed quantum optomechanical system can be applied for the problem of quantum parameter estimation, which targets to yield higher precision of parameter estimation utilizing quantum resource than that using classical methods. Mainly concentrating on the quantum Fisher information with respect to the mechanical frequency, we find that the corresponding precision of parameter estimation on the mechanical frequency can be enhanced by applying applicable optical resonant pulsed driving on the cavity of the optome- chanical system. Further investigation shows that the mechanical …
A pulsed cooling scheme for optomechanical systems is presented that is capable of cooling at much faster rates, shorter overall cooling times, and for a wider set of experimental scenarios than is possible by conventional methods. The proposed scheme can be implemented for both strongly and weakly coupled optomechanical systems in both weakly and highly dissipative cavities. We study analytically its underlying working mechanism, which is based on interferometric control of optomechanical interactions, and we demonstrate its efficiency with pulse sequences that are obtained by using methods f…
We prove feasibility of high-fidelity pulsed optomechanical interface based on all-optical presqueezing of non-Gaussian quantum states of light before they enter the optomechanical system. We demonstrate that feasible presqueezing of optical states effectively increases the low noise transfer of them to mechanical oscillator. It allows one to surpass the limit necessary to transfer highly nonclassical states with negative Wigner function. In particular, we verify that with this help single photon states of light can be efficiently turned to single phonon states of mechanical oscillator, keepin…
A strategy for generating entanglement in two separated optomechanical oscillators is analysed, using entangled radiation produced from downconversion and stored in an initiating cavity. We show that the use of pulsed entanglement with optimally shaped temporal modes can efficiently transfer quantum entanglement into a mechanical mode, then remove it after a fixed waiting time for measurement. This protocol could provide new avenues to test for bounds on decoherence in massive systems that are spatially separated, as originally suggested by Wendell Furry [1] not long after the discussion by Ei…
We demonstrate that a geometric phase, generated via a sequence of four optomechanical interactions, can be used to increase, or generate nonlinearities in the unitary evolution of a mechanical resonator. Interactions of this form lead to new mechanisms for preparing mechanical squeezed states, and preparation of non-classical states with significant Wigner negativity.
Using pulsed optical excitation and read-out along with single phonon counting techniques, we measure the transient back-action, heating, and damping dynamics of a nanoscale silicon optomechanical crystal cavity mounted in a dilution refrigerator at a base temperature of 11mK. In addition to observing a slow (~740ns) turn-on time for the optical-absorption-induced hot phonon bath, we measure for the 5.6GHz `breathing' acoustic mode of the cavity an initial phonon occupancy as low as 0.021 +- 0.007 (mode temperature = 70mK) and an intrinsic mechanical decay rate of 328 +- 14 Hz (mechanical Q-fa…
Mesoscopic mechanical oscillators can be prepared in quantum states and coherently manipulated using the optomechanical interaction. This has recently been used to prepare squeezed mechanical states. However, the scheme used in these experiments relies on slow, dissipative evolution that destroys the system's memory of its initial state. In this paper we propose a protocol based on a sequence of four pulsed optomechanical interactions. In addition to being coherent, our scheme executes in a time much shorter than a mechanical period. We analyse applications in impulsive force sensing and prese…
Entanglement had played a crucial role in developing frontier technologies as a critical resource, for instance, in quantum teleportation and quantum sensing schemes. Notably, thanks to the ability to cool down the vibrational modes of mechanical oscillators to its quantum regime, entanglement between mechanical modes and the production of nonclassical mechanical states have emerged as central resources for quantum technological applications. Thus, proposing deterministic schemes to achieve those tasks is of paramount importance. While the dominant scheme for bipartite mechanical entanglement …
We report a study of optomechanical entanglement under the drive of one or a series of laser pulses with arbitrary detuning and different pulse shapes. Because of the non-existence of system steady state under pulsed driving field, we adopt a different approach from the standard treatment to optomechanical entanglement. The situation of the entanglement evolution in high temperature is also discussed.
We report a novel Bell state preparation experiment. High-purity Bell states are prepared by using femtosecond pulse pumped \emph{nondegenerate} collinear spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The use of femtosecond pump pulse {\em does not} result in reduction of quantum interference visibility in our scheme in which post-selection of amplitudes and other traditional mechanisms, such as, using thin nonlinear crystals or narrow-band spectral filters are not used. Another distinct feature of this scheme is that the pump, the signal, and the idler wavelengths are all distinguishable, which is …
The macroscopic tunneling of an optomechanical membrane is considered. A cavity mode which couples quadratically to the membranes position can create highly tunable adiabatic double-well potentials, which together with the high Q-factors of such membranes render the observation of macroscopic tunneling possible. A suitable, pulsed measurement scheme using a linearly coupled mode of the cavity for the verification of the effect is studied.
Entanglement generation at a macroscopic scale offers an exciting avenue to develop new quantum technologies and study fundamental physics on a tabletop. Cavity quantum optomechanics provides an ideal platform to generate and exploit such phenomena owing to the precision of quantum optics combined with recent experimental advances in optomechanical devices. In this work, we propose schemes operating outside the resolved-sideband regime, to prepare and verify both optical-mechanical and mechanical-mechanical entanglement. Our schemes employ pulsed interactions with a duration much less than the…
In general, ground state cooling using optomechanical interaction is realized in the regime where optical dissipation is higher than mechanical dissipation. Here, we demonstrate that optomechanical ground state cooling in a continuous optomechanical system is possible by using backward Brillouin scattering while mechanical dissipation exceeds optical dissipation which is the common case in optical waveguides. The cooling is achieved in an anti-Stokes backward Brillouin process by modulating the intensity of the optomechanical coupling via a pulsed pump to suppress heating processes in the stro…
The transition from quantum to classical physics remains an intensely debated question even though it has been investigated for more than a century. Further clarifications could be obtained by preparing macroscopic objects in spatial quantum superpositions and proposals for generating such states for nano-mechanical devices either in a transient or a probabilistic fashion have been put forward. Here we introduce a method to deterministically obtain spatial superpositions of arbitrary lifetime via dissipative state preparation. In our approach, we engineer a double-well potential for the motion…
Qubits driven by resonant strong pulses are studied and a parameter regime is explored in which the dynamics can be solved in closed form. Instantaneous coherent destruction of tunneling can be seen for longer pulses, whereas shorter pulses allow a fast preparation of the qubit state. Results are compared with recent experiments of pulsed nitrogen-vacancy center spin qubits in diamond.
Quantum projection synthesis can be used for phase-probability-distribution measurement, optical-state truncation and preparation. The method relies on interfering optical lights, which is a major challenge in experiments performed by pulsed light sources. In the pulsed regime, the time frequency overlap of the interfering lights plays a crucial role on the efficiency of the method when they have different mode structures. In this paper, the pulsed mode projection synthesis is developed, the mode structure of interfering lights are characterized and the effect of this overlap (or mode match) o…
We present a scheme to prepare quantum correlated states of two mechanical systems based on the pouring of pre-available all-optical entanglement into the state of two micro-mirrors belonging to remote and non-interacting optomechanical cavities. We show that, under realistic experimental conditions, the protocol allows for the preparation of a genuine quantum state of a composite mesoscopic system whose non-classical features extend far beyond the occurrence of entanglement. We finally discuss a way to access such mechanical correlations.
Sørensen-Mølmer gate and Milburn gate are two geometric phase gates, generating nonlinear self-interaction of a target mode via its interaction with an auxiliary mechanical mode, in the continuous and pulsed interaction regime, respectively. In this paper, we aim at unifying the two gates by demonstrating that Sørensen-Mølmer gate is the continuous limit of Milburn gate, emphasising the geometrical interpretation in the mechanical phase space. We explicitly consider imperfect gate parameters, focusing on relative errors in time for Sørensen-Mølmer gate and in phase angle increment for Milburn …
We propose a realistic protocol for the preparation and readout of mechanical Bell states in an optomechanical system. The proposal relies on parameters characterizing a photonic crystal cavity mode, coupled to two localized flexural modes of the structure, but equally applies to other optomechanical systems in the same parameter range. The nonclassical states are heralded via optical postselection and revealed in specific interference patterns characterizing the emission at the cavity frequency.
We propose and analyze nonlinear optomechanical protocols that can be implemented by adding a single atom to an optomechanical cavity. In particular, we show how to engineer the environment in order to dissipatively prepare the mechanical oscillator in a superposition of Fock states with fidelity close to one. Furthermore, we discuss how a single atom in a cavity with several mechanical oscillators can be exploited to realize nonlinear many-body physics by stroboscopically driving the mechanical oscillators. We show how to prepare non-classical many-body states by either applying coherent prot…
Feasible setup for pulsed quantum non-demolition interaction between two distant mechanical oscillators through optical or microwave mediator is proposed. The proposal uses homodyne measurement of the mediator and feedforward control of the mechanical oscillators to reach the interaction. To verify quantum nature of the interaction, we investigate the Gaussian entanglement generated in the mechanical modes. We evaluate it under influence of mechanical bath and propagation loss for the mediator and propose ways to optimize the interaction. Finally, both currently available optomechanical and el…
The preparation of nonclassical states of mechanical motion conclusively proves that control over such motion has reached the quantum level. We investigate ways to achieve nonclassical states of macroscopic mechanical oscillators, particularly levitated nanoparticles. We analyze the possibility of the conditional squeezing of the levitated particle induced by the homodyne detection of light in a pulsed optomechanical setup within the resolved sideband regime. We focus on the regimes that are experimentally relevant for the levitated systems where the ground-state cooling is not achievable and …
Open-system dynamics play a key role in the experimental and theoretical study of cavity optomechanical systems. In many cases, the quantum Langevin equations have enabled excellent models for optical decoherence, yet a master-equation approach to the fully nonlinear optomechanical Hamiltonian has thus far proven more elusive. To address this outstanding question and broaden the mathematical tool set available, we derive a solution to the Lindblad master equation that models optical decoherence for a system evolving with the nonlinear optomechanical Hamiltonian. The method combines a Lie-algeb…
We present a generic quantum master equation whose dissipative dynamics autonomously stabilizes a harmonic oscillator in the n=1 Fock state. A multi-mode optomechanical system is analyzed and shown to be an example of a physical system obeying this model. We show that the optomechanical setup enables preparation of a mechanical oscillator in a nonclassical steady state, and that this state indeed approaches a single phonon Fock state in the ideal parameter regime. The generic model may be useful in other settings, such as cavity or circuit quantum electrodynamics or trapped ion physics.
Cavity optomechanical systems are one of the leading experimental platforms for controlling mechanical motion in the quantum regime. We exemplify that the control over cavity optomechanical systems greatly increases by coupling the cavity also to a two-level system, thereby creating a hybrid optomechanical system. If the two-level system can be driven largely independently of the cavity, we show that the non-linearity thus introduced enables us to steer the extended system to non-classical target states of the mechanical oscillator with Wigner functions exhibiting significant negative regions.…
We present a novel discrete-variable quantum teleportation scheme using pulsed optomechanics. In our proposal, we demonstrate how an unknown optical input state can be transferred onto the joint state of a pair of mechanical oscillators, without physically interacting with one another. We further analyze how experimental imperfections will affect the fidelity of the teleportation and highlight how our scheme can be realized in current state-of-the-art optomechanical systems.
We demonstrate the control of entanglement in a hybrid optomechanical system comprising an optical cavity with a mechanical end-mirror and an intracavity Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Pulsed laser light (tuned within realistic experimental conditions) is shown to induce an almost sixfold increase of the atom-mirror entanglement and to be responsible for interesting dynamics between such mesoscopic systems. In order to assess the advantages offered by the proposed control technique, we compare the time-dependent dynamics of the system under constant pumping with the evolution due to the modul…
An interferometric scheme for the creation of momentum superposition states of mechanical oscillators, using a quantum mirror kicked by free photons is analyzed. The scheme features ultra-fast preparation with immediate detection and should allow for the observation of signatures of momentum superpositions in a massive macroscopic system at non-zero temperatures. It is robust against thermalized initial states, displacement and movement, mirror imperfections, and the measurements' back-actions.
Cooling a mesoscopic mechanical oscillator to its quantum ground state is elementary for the preparation and control of low entropy quantum states of large scale objects. Here, we pre-cool a 70-MHz micromechanical silica oscillator to an occupancy below 200 quanta by thermalizing it with a 600-mK cold 3He gas. Two-level system induced damping via structural defect states is shown to be strongly reduced, and simultaneously serves as novel thermometry method to independently quantify excess heating due to the cooling laser. We demonstrate that dynamical backaction sideband cooling can reduce the…
We present a novel proposal for generating quantum superpositions of macroscopically distinct states of a bulk mechanical oscillator, compatible with existing optomechanical devices operating in the readily achievable bad-cavity limit. The scheme is based on a pulsed cavity optomechanical quantum non-demolition (QND) interaction, driven by displaced non-Gaussian states, and measurement-induced feedback, avoiding the need for strong single-photon optomechanical coupling. Furthermore, we show that single-quadrature cooling of the mechanical oscillator is sufficient for efficient state preparatio…
Quantum entanglement not only plays an important role in the study of the fundamentals of quantum theory, but also is considered as a crucial resource in quantum information science. The generation of macroscopic entanglement involving multiple optical and mechanical modes is a desired task in cavity optomechanics. However, the dark-mode effect is a critical obstacle against the generation of quantum entanglement in multimode optomechanical systems consisting of multiple degenerate or near-degenerate mechanical modes coupled to a common cavity mode. Here we propose an auxiliary-cavity-mode met…
A pulsed scheme for generating robust optical entanglement via the coupling of two optical modes to a mechanical oscillator is proposed. This scheme is inspired by the Sørensen-Mølmer approach for entangling trapped ions in a thermal environment and is based on the use of optical driving pulses that are slightly detuned from the respective sideband resonance. We show that for certain pulse durations, the optomechanical interaction can return the mechanical oscillator to its initial state. The corresponding entanglement generation is robust against thermal mechanical noise in the weak as well a…
Displaced single-photon entanglement is a simple form of optical entanglement, obtained by sending a photon on a beamsplitter and subsequently applying a displacement operation. We show that it can generate, through a momentum transfer in the pulsed regime, an optomechanical entangled state involving macroscopically distinct mechanical components, even if the optomechanical system operates in the single-photon weak coupling regime. We discuss the experimental feasibility of this approach and show that it might open up a way for testing unconventional decoherence models.
We present a way of measuring with high precision the anharmonicity of a quantum oscillator coupled to an optical field via radiation pressure. Our protocol uses a sequence of pulsed interactions to perform a loop in the phase space of the mechanical oscillator, which is prepared in a thermal state. We show how the optical field acquires a phase depending on the anharmonicity. Remarkably, one only needs small initial cooling of the mechanical motion to probe even small anharmonicities. Finally, by applying tools from quantum estimation theory, we calculate the ultimate bound on the estimation …
Interaction with a thermal environment decoheres the quantum state of a mechanical oscillator. When the interaction is sufficiently strong, such that more than one thermal phonon is introduced within a period of oscillation, quantum coherent oscillations are prevented. This is generally thought to preclude a wide range of quantum protocols. Here, we introduce a pulsed optomechanical protocol that allows ground state cooling, general linear quantum non-demolition measurements, optomechanical state swaps, and quantum state preparation and tomography without requiring quantum coherent oscillation…
Generation of mechanical squeezing has attracted a lot of interest for its nonclassical properties, applications in quantum information, and high-sensitivity measurement. Here we propose a detuning-switched method that can rapidly generate strong and stationary mechanical squeezing. The pulsed driving can dynamically transpose the optomechanical coupling into a linear optical force and maintain an effective mechanical frequency, which can introduce strong mechanical squeezing in a short time. Moreover, we show the obtained strong mechanical squeezing can be frozen by increasing the pulse inter…
The ability to engineer both linear and non-linear coupling with a mechanical resonator is an important goal for the preparation and investigation of macroscopic mechanical quantum behavior. In this work, a measurement based scheme is presented where linear or square mechanical displacement coupling can be achieved using the optomechanical interaction linearly proportional to the mechanical position. The resulting square displacement measurement strength is compared to that attainable in the dispersive case using the direct interaction to the mechanical displacement squared. An experimental pr…
We consider the two-step method [A. R. Kuzmak and V. M. Tkachuk, Phys. Lett. A 378 (2014) 1469] for preparation of an arbitrary quantum gate on two spins with anisotropic Heisenberg interaction. At the first step, the system evolves during some period of time. At the second step, we apply pulsed magnetic field individually to each spin. We obtain the conditions for realization of SWAP, iSWAP, $\sqrt{SWAP}$ and entangled gates. Finally, we consider the implementation of this method on the physical system of ultracold atoms in optical lattice.
We propose a scheme for the generation of a robust stationary squeezed state of a mechanical resonator in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system, driven by a pulsed laser. The intracavity photon number presents periodic intense peaks suddenly stiffening the effective harmonic potential felt by the mechanical resonator. These "optical spring kicks" tend to squeeze the resonator position, and due to the interplay with fluctuation-dissipation processes one can generate a stationary state with more than 13 dB of squeezing even starting from moderately "pre-cooled" initial thermal states.
Nonclassical optomechanical correlations enable optical control of mechanical motion beyond the limitations of classical driving. Here we investigate the feasibility of using pulsed cavity-optomechanics to create and verify nonclassical phase-sensitive correlations between light and the motion of a levitated nanoparticle in a realistic scenario. We show that optomechanical two-mode squeezing can persist even at the elevated temperatures of state-of-the-art experimental setups. We introduce a detection scheme based on optical homodyning that allows revealing nonclassical correlations without fu…
We analyze an optomechanical system that can be used to efficiently transfer a quantum state between an optical cavity and a distant mechanical oscillator coupled to a second optical cavity. We show that for a moderate mechanical Q-factor it is possible to achieve a transfer efficiency of $99.4\%$ by using adjustable cavity damping rates and destructive interference. We also show that the quantum mechanical oscillator can be used as a quantum memory device with an efficiency of $96\%$ employing a pulsed optomechanical coupling. Although the mechanical dissipation slightly decreases the efficie…
Pulsed optomechanical measurements enable squeezing, non-classical state creation and backaction-free sensing. We demonstrate pulsed measurement of a cryogenic nanomechanical resonator with record precision close to the quantum regime. We use these to prepare thermally squeezed and purified conditional mechanical states, and to perform full state tomography. These demonstrations exploit large photon-phonon coupling in a nanophotonic cavity to reach a single-pulse imprecision of 9 times the mechanical zero-point amplitude $x_\mathrm{zpf}$. We study the effect of other mechanical modes which lim…
Studying mechanical resonators via radiation pressure offers a rich avenue for the exploration of quantum mechanical behavior in a macroscopic regime. However, quantum state preparation and especially quantum state reconstruction of mechanical oscillators remains a significant challenge. Here we propose a scheme to realize quantum state tomography, squeezing and state purification of a mechanical resonator using short optical pulses. The scheme presented allows observation of mechanical quantum features despite preparation from a thermal state and is shown to be experimentally feasible using o…
Precision measurement of non-linear observables is an important goal in all facets of quantum optics. This allows measurement-based non-classical state preparation, which has been applied to great success in various physical systems, and provides a route for quantum information processing with otherwise linear interactions. In cavity optomechanics much progress has been made using linear interactions and measurement, but observation of non-linear mechanical degrees-of-freedom remains outstanding. Here we report the observation of displacement-squared thermal motion of a micro-mechanical resona…
