Abstract
Entangling a mechanical oscillator with an optical mode is an enticing and yet a very challenging goal in cavity optomechanics. Here we consider a pulsed scheme to create Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-type entanglement between a traveling-wave light pulse and a mechanical oscillator. The entanglement can be verified unambiguously by a pump-probe sequence of pulses. In contrast to schemes that work in a steady-state regime under a continuous-wave drive, this protocol is not subject to stability requirements that normally limit the strength of achievable entanglement. We investigate the protocol's performance under realistic conditions, including mechanical decoherence, in full detail. We discuss the relevance of a high mechanical product for entanglement creation and provide a quantitative statement on which magnitude of the product is necessary for a successful realization of the scheme. We determine the optimal parameter regime for its operation and show it to work in current state-of-the-art systems.
- Received 12 August 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.84.052327
©2011 American Physical Society