Abstract
We experimentally study an optomechanical cavity consisting of an oscillating mechanical resonator embedded in a superconducting microwave transmission line cavity. Tunable optomechanical coupling between the mechanical resonator and the microwave cavity is introduced by positioning a niobium-coated single-mode optical fiber above the mechanical resonator. The capacitance between the mechanical resonator and the coated fiber gives rise to optomechanical coupling, which can be controlled by varying the fiber-resonator distance. We study radiation-pressure-induced self-excited oscillation as a function of microwave driving parameters (frequency and power). Intermittency between limit-cycle and steady-state behaviors is observed with blue-detuned driving frequency. The experimental results are accounted for by a model that takes into account the Duffing-like nonlinearity of the microwave cavity. A stability analysis reveals a subcritical Hopf bifurcation near the region where intermittency is observed.
- Received 2 June 2014
- Revised 22 July 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.90.033818
©2014 American Physical Society