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Resolved-sideband cooling and position measurement of a micromechanical oscillator close to the Heisenberg uncertainty limit

Abstract

The theory of quantum measurement of mechanical motion, describing the mutual coupling of a meter and a measured object, predicts a variety of phenomena such as quantum backaction, quantum correlations and non-classical states of motion. In spite of great experimental efforts, mostly based on nano-electromechanical systems, probing these in a laboratory setting has as yet eluded researchers. Cavity optomechanical systems, in which a high-quality optical resonator is parametrically coupled to a mechanical oscillator, hold great promise as a route towards the observation of such effects with macroscopic oscillators. Here, we present measurements on optomechanical systems exhibiting radiofrequency (62–122 MHz) mechanical modes, cooled to very low occupancy using a combination of cryogenic precooling and resolved-sideband laser cooling. The lowest achieved occupancy is n63. Optical measurements of these ultracold oscillators’ motion are shown to perform in a near-ideal manner, exhibiting an imprecision–backaction product about one order of magnitude lower than the results obtained with nano-electromechanical transducers.

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Figure 1: Cryogenic cooling and displacement measurements of a micromechanical oscillator.
Figure 2: Thermalization and probing of a micromechanical oscillator.
Figure 3: Cryogenic precooling and resolved-sideband laser cooling.
Figure 4: Resolved-sideband laser cooling and heating by absorption.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an Independent Max Planck Junior Research Group of the Max Planck Society, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG-GSC), the FP7 Project MINOS and a Marie Curie Excellence Grant. O.A. acknowledges financial support from a Marie Curie Grant (project QUOM). T. Becker is gratefully acknowledged for support with the cryogenic experiments, and J. Kotthaus for sample fabrication. T.J.K. gratefully thanks P. Gruss and MPQ for continued Max-Planck support.

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Correspondence to T. J. Kippenberg.

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Schliesser, A., Arcizet, O., Rivière, R. et al. Resolved-sideband cooling and position measurement of a micromechanical oscillator close to the Heisenberg uncertainty limit. Nature Phys 5, 509–514 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1304

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