Quantum Signatures of the Optomechanical Instability

Jiang Qian, A. A. Clerk, K. Hammerer, and Florian Marquardt
Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 253601 – Published 18 December 2012
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Abstract

In the past few years, coupling strengths between light and mechanical motion in optomechanical setups have improved by orders of magnitude. Here we show that, in the standard setup under continuous laser illumination, the steady state of the mechanical oscillator can develop a nonclassical, strongly negative Wigner density if the optomechanical coupling is comparable to or larger than the optical decay rate and the mechanical frequency. Because of its robustness, such a Wigner density can be mapped using optical homodyne tomography. This feature is observed near the onset of the instability towards self-induced oscillations. We show that there are also distinct signatures in the photon-photon correlation function g(2)(t) in that regime, including oscillations decaying on a time scale not only much longer than the optical cavity decay time but even longer than the mechanical decay time.

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  • Received 30 January 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.253601

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Jiang Qian1, A. A. Clerk2, K. Hammerer3, and Florian Marquardt4,5

  • 1Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Center for NanoScience and Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität at München, Theresienstrasse 37, 80333 Munich, Germany
  • 2Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T8
  • 3Institute for Theoretical Physics, Institute for Gravitational Physics, Leibniz University Hanover, Callinstrasse 38, D-30167 Hanover, Germany
  • 4Institute for Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstrasse 7, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
  • 5Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Günter-Scharowsky-Straße 1/Bau 24, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 109, Iss. 25 — 21 December 2012

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