arXiv · 1812.09417
Elimination of Thermomechanical Noise in Piezoelectric Optomechanical Crystals
Abstract
Mechanical modes are a potentially useful resource for quantum information applications, such as quantum-level wavelength transducers, due to their ability to interact with electromagnetic radiation across the spectrum. A significant challenge for wavelength transducers is thermomechanical noise in the mechanical mode, which pollutes the transduced signal with thermal states. In this paper, we eliminate thermomechanical noise in the GHz-frequency mechanical breathing mode of a piezoelectric optomechanical crystal using cryogenic cooling in a dilution refrigerator. We optically measure an average thermal occupancy of the mechanical mode of only $0.7\pm0.4 ~ \mathrm{phonons}$, providing a path towards low-noise microwave-to-optical conversion in the quantum regime.
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H. Ramp, B. D. Hauer, K. C. Balram, T. J. Clark, K. Srinivasan, J. P. Davis. 2018-12-21. Elimination of Thermomechanical Noise in Piezoelectric Optomechanical Crystals. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.123.093603
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