arXiv subjects

M. Pinard

Publications and source records attributed to M. Pinard.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2008

Reversible Quantum Interface for Tunable Single-sideband Modulation

Using Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) in a Cesium vapor, we demonstrate experimentally that the quantum state of a light beam can be mapped into the long lived Zeeman coherences of an atomic ground state. Two non-commuting variables carried by light are simultaneously stored and subsequentely read-out, with no noise added. We compare the case where a tunable single sideband is stored independently of the other one to the case where the two symmetrical sidebands are stored using the same EIT transparency window.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2007

Conditionnal squeezing of an atomic alignement

We investigate the possibility to perform a Quantum Non Demolition measurement of the collective alignment of an atomic ensemble in the case of a $F\geq 1$ spin. We compare the case of purely vectorial and purely tensorial Hamiltonians and show how to achieve conditional squeezing or entanglement of atomic alignment components.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

Radiation-pressure cooling and optomechanical instability of a micro-mirror

Recent experimental progress in table-top experiments or gravitational-wave interferometers has enlightened the unique displacement sensitivity offered by optical interferometry. As the mirrors move in response to radiation pressure, higher power operation, though crucial for further sensitivity enhancement, will however increase quantum effects of radiation pressure, or even jeopardize the stable operation of the detuned cavities proposed for next-generation interferometers. The appearance of such optomechanical instabilities is the result of the nonlinear interplay between the motion of the mirrors and the optical field dynamics. In a detuned cavity indeed, the displacements of the mirror are coupled to intensity fluctuations, which modifies the effective dynamics of the mirror. Such "optical spring" effects have already been demonstrated on the mechanical damping of an electromagnetic waveguide with a moving wall, on the resonance frequency of a specially designed flexure oscillator, and through the optomechanical instability of a silica micro-toroidal resonator. We present here an experiment where a micro-mechanical resonator is used as a mirror in a very high-finesse optical cavity and its displacements monitored with an unprecedented sensitivity. By detuning the cavity, we have observed a drastic cooling of the micro-resonator by intracavity radiation pressure, down to an effective temperature of 10 K. We have also obtained an efficient heating for an opposite detuning, up to the observation of a radiation-pressure induced instability of the resonator. Further experimental progress and cryogenic operation may lead to the experimental observation of the quantum ground state of a mechanical resonator, either by passive or active cooling techniques.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2006

High-sensitivity optical monitoring of a micro-mechanical resonator with a quantum-limited optomechanical sensor

We experimentally demonstrate the high-sensitivity optical monitoring of a micro-mechanical resonator and its cooling by active control. Coating a low-loss mirror upon the resonator, we have built an optomechanical sensor based on a very high-finesse cavity (30000). We have measured the thermal noise of the resonator with a quantum-limited sensitivity at the 10^-19 m/rootHz level, and cooled the resonator down to 5K by a cold-damping technique. Applications of our setup range from quantum optics experiments to the experimental demonstration of the quantum ground state of a macroscopic mechanical resonator.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Can optical squeezing be generated via polarization self-rotation in a thermal vapour cell?

The traversal of an elliptically polarized optical field through a thermal vapour cell can give rise to a rotation of its polarization axis. This process, known as polarization self-rotation (PSR), has been suggested as a mechanism for producing squeezed light at atomic transition wavelengths. In this paper, we show results of the characterization of PSR in isotopically enhanced Rubidium-87 cells, performed in two independent laboratories. We observed that, contrary to earlier work, the presence of atomic noise in the thermal vapour overwhelms the observation of squeezing. We present a theory that contains atomic noise terms and show that a null result in squeezing is consistent with this theory.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Beating quantum limits in interferometers with quantum locking of mirrors

The sensitivity in interferometric measurements such as gravitational-wave detectors is ultimately limited by quantum noise of light. We discuss the use of feedback mechanisms to reduce the quantum effects of radiation pressure. Recent experiments have shown that it is possible to reduce the thermal motion of a mirror by cold damping. The mirror motion is measured with an optomechanical sensor based on a high-finesse cavity, and reduced by a feedback loop. We show that this technique can be extended to lock the mirror at the quantum level. In gravitational-waves interferometers with Fabry-Perot cavities in each arms, it is even possible to use a single feedback mechanism to lock one cavity mirror on the other. This quantum locking greatly improves the sensitivity of the interferometric measurement. It is furthermore insensitive to imperfections such as losses in the interferometer.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Optomechanical characterization of acoustic modes in a mirror

We present an experimental study of the internal mechanical vibration modes of a mirror. We determine the frequency repartition of acoustic resonances via a spectral analysis of the Brownian motion of the mirror, and the spatial profile of the acoustic modes by monitoring their mechanical response to a resonant radiation pressure force swept across the mirror surface. We have applied this technique to mirrors with cylindrical and plano-convex geometries, and compared the experimental results to theoretical predictions. We have in particular observed the gaussian modes predicted for plano-convex mirrors.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Quantum locking of mirrors in interferometers

We show that quantum noise in very sensitive interferometric measurements such as gravitational-waves detectors can be drastically modified by quantum feedback. We present a new scheme based on active control to lock the motion of a mirror to a reference mirror at the quantum level. This simple technique allows to reduce quantum effects of radiation pressure and to greatly enhance the sensitivity of the detection.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2003

Polarization squeezing in a four-level system

We present a theoretical study of an ensemble of X-like 4-level atoms placed in an optical cavity driven by a linearly polarized field. We show that the self-rotation (SR) process leads to polarization switching (PS). Below the PS threshold, both the mean field mode and the orthogonal vacuum mode are squeezed. We provide a simple analysis of the phenomena responsible for the squeezing and trace the origin of vacuum squeezing not to SR, but to crossed Kerr effect induced by the mean field. Last, we show that this vacuum squeezing can be interpreted as polarization squeezing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Selective readout and back-action reduction for wideband acoustic gravitational wave detectors

We present the concept of selective readout for broadband resonant mass gravitational wave detectors. This detection scheme is capable of specifically selecting the signal from the contributions of the vibrational modes sensitive to the gravitational waves, and efficiently rejecting the contribution from non gravitationally sensitive modes. Moreover this readout, applied to a dual detector, is capable to give an effective reduction of the back-action noise within the frequency band of interest. The overall effect is a significant enhancement in the predicted sensitivity, evaluated at the standard quantum limit for a dual torus detector. A molybdenum detector, 1 m in diameter and equipped with a wide area selective readout, would reach spectral strain sensitivities 2x10^{-23}/sqrt{Hz} between 2-6 kHz.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2003

Atom spin squeezing in a double lambda system

The interaction of classical and quantized electromagnetic fields with an ensemble of atoms in an optical cavity is considered. Four fields drive a double-lambda level scheme in the atoms, consisting of a pair of lambda systems sharing the same set of lower levels. Two of the fields produce maximum coherence, rho12 = -1/2, between the ground state sublevels 1 and 2. This pumping scheme involves equal intensity fields that are resonant with both the one and two-photon transitions of the lambda system. There is no steady-state absorption of these fields, implying that the fields induce a type electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) in the medium. An additional pair of fields interacting with the second lambda system, combined with the EIT fields, leads to squeezing of the atom spin associated with the ground state sublevels. Our method involves a new mechanism for creating steady-state spin squeezing using an optical cavity. As the cooperativity parameter C is increased, the optimal squeezing varies as C^{-1/3}. For experimentally accessible values of C, squeezing as large as 90% can be achieved.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2003

Back-action cancellation in interferometers by quantum locking

We show that back-action noise in interferometric measurements such as gravitational-waves detectors can be completely suppressed by a local control of mirrors motion. An optomechanical sensor with an optimized measurement strategy is used to monitor mirror displacements. A feedback loop then eliminates radiation-pressure effects without adding noise. This very efficient technique leads to an increased sensitivity for the interferometric measurement, which becomes only limited by phase noise. Back-action cancellation is furthermore insensitive to losses in the interferometer.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2003

Thermal and back-action noises in dual-sphere gravitational-waves detectors

We study the sensitivity limits of a broadband gravitational-waves detector based on dual resonators such as nested spheres. We determine both the thermal and back-action noises when the resonators displacements are read-out with an optomechanical sensor. We analyze the contributions of all mechanical modes, using a new method to deal with the force-displacement transfer functions in the intermediate frequency domain between the two gravitational-waves sensitive modes associated with each resonator. This method gives an accurate estimate of the mechanical response, together with an evaluation of the estimate error. We show that very high sensitivities can be reached on a wide frequency band for realistic parameters in the case of a dual-sphere detector.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2003

Optical phase-space reconstruction of mirror position at the attometer level

We describe an experiment in which the quadratures of the position of an harmonically-bound mirror are observed at the attometer level. We have studied the Brownian motion of the mirror, both in the free regime and in the cold-damped regime when an external viscous force is applied by radiation pressure. We have also studied the thermal-noise squeezing when the external force is parametrically modulated. We have observed both the 50% theoretical limit of squeezing at low gain and the parametric oscillation of the mirror for a large gain.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2002

Atomic squeezing in a Lambda system

Using a quantum theory for an ensemble of three-level atoms (lambda) placed in an optical cavity abd driven by electromagnetic fields, we show that the long-lived spin associated with the ground state sublevels can be squeezed. Two kinds of squeezing are obtained: self-spin squeezing, when the input fields are coherent states and the atomic ensemble exhibit a large non-linearity; squeezing transfer, when one of the incoming fields is squeezed.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2002

Experimental measurement of photothermal effect in Fabry-Perot cavities

We report the experimental observation of the photothermal effect. The measurements are performed by modulating the laser power absorbed by the mirrors of two high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavities. The results are very well described by a recently proposed theoretical model [M. Cerdonio, L. Conti, A. Heidmann and M. Pinard, Phys. Rev. D 63 (2001) 082003], confirming the correctness of such calculations. Our observations and quantitative characterization of the photothermal effect demonstrate its critical importance for high sensitivity interferometric displacement measurements, as those necessary for gravitational wave detection.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2001

Quantum limits of cold damping with optomechanical coupling

Thermal noise of a mirror can be reduced by cold damping. The displacement is measured with a high-finesse cavity and controlled with the radiation pressure of a modulated light beam. We establish the general quantum limits of noise in cold damping mechanisms and we show that the optomechanical system allows to reach these limits. Displacement noise can be arbitrarily reduced in a narrow frequency band. In a wide-band analysis we show that thermal fluctuations are reduced as with classical damping whereas quantum zero-point fluctuations are left unchanged. The only limit of cold damping is then due to zero-point energy of the mirror

quant-ph↗

arXiv2001

Thermoelastic effects at low temperatures and quantum limits in displacement measurements

The displacement fluctuations of mirrors in optomechanical devices, induced via thermal expansion by temperature fluctuations due either to thermodynamic fluctuations or to fluctuations in the photon absorption, can be made smaller than quantum fluctuations, at the low temperatures, high reflectivities and high light powers needed to readout displacements at the standard quantum limit. The result is relevant for the design of quantum limited gravitational-wave detectors, both "interferometers" and "bars", and for experiments to study directly mechanical motion in the quantum regime.

gr-qc↗