arXiv · 1312.4303
Heralded single phonon preparation, storage and readout in cavity optomechanics
Abstract
We analyze theoretically how to use the radiation pressure coupling between a mechanical oscillator and an optical cavity field to generate in a heralded way a single quantum of mechanical motion (a Fock state), and release on-demand the stored excitation as a single photon. Starting with the oscillator close to its ground state, a laser pumping the upper motional sideband leads to dynamical backaction amplification and to the creation of correlated photon-phonon pairs. The detection of one Stokes photon thus projects the macroscopic oscillator into a single-phonon Fock state. The non-classical nature of this mechanical state can be demonstrated by applying a readout laser on the lower sideband (i.e. optical cooling) to map the phononic state to a photonic mode, and by performing an autocorrelation measurement on the anti-Stokes photons. We discuss the relevance of our proposal for the future of cavity optomechanics as an enabling quantum technology.
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Christophe Galland, Nicolas Sangouard, Nicolas Piro, Nicolas Gisin, Tobias J. Kippenberg. 2014-03-26. Heralded single phonon preparation, storage and readout in cavity optomechanics. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.112.143602
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