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Broadband reduction of quantum radiation pressure noise via squeezed light injection

Nature Photonics volume 14, pages 19–23 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that the position of an object cannot be known with infinite precision, as the momentum of the object would then be totally uncertain. This momentum uncertainty then leads to position uncertainty in future measurements. When continuously measuring the position of an object, this quantum effect, known as back-action, limits the achievable precision1,2. In audio-band, interferometer-type gravitational-wave detectors, this back-action effect manifests as quantum radiation pressure noise (QRPN) and will ultimately (but does not yet) limit sensitivity3. Here, we present the use of a quantum engineered state of light to directly manipulate this quantum back-action in a system where it dominates the sensitivity in the 10–50 kHz range. We observe a reduction of 1.2 dB in the quantum back-action noise. This experiment is a crucial step in realizing QRPN reduction for future interferometric gravitational-wave detectors and improving their sensitivity.

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Fig. 1: Schematic of the experiment.
Fig. 2: Low-frequency squeezed light.
Fig. 3: Noise budget.
Fig. 4: Manipulation of QRPN with squeezed light.
Fig. 5: Noise level as a function of squeezing angle.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council under the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery grant no. CE170100004 and ARC Discovery Project DP160100760. J.C. and T.C. are supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF; grants nos. PHY-1150531 and PHY-1806634). The microresonator manufacturing was carried out at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Nanofabrication Facility. M.J.Y. thanks D. Shaddock for initial discussions.

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Author notes

  1. Georgia L. Mansell

    Present address: LIGO Hanford Observatory/MIT, Richland, WA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. OzGrav, Department of Quantum Science, Research School of Physics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Min Jet Yap, Georgia L. Mansell, Terry G. McRae, Robert L. Ward, Bram J. J. Slagmolen & David E. McClelland

  2. Department of Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Jonathan Cripe & Thomas Corbitt

  3. Crystalline Mirror Solutions LLC, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Paula Heu, David Follman & Garrett D. Cole

  4. Crystalline Mirror Solutions GmbH, Vienna, Austria

    Paula Heu, David Follman & Garrett D. Cole

  5. Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ), Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Garrett D. Cole

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Contributions

M.J.Y., J.C. and T.C. performed the investigation and formal analysis. D.E.M. and T.C. performed the conceptualization. M.J.Y. wrote the original draft manuscript. J.C., T.G.M., R.L.W., D.E.M. and T.C. reviewed and edited the manuscript. G.L.M., T.G.M., P.H., D.F. and G.D.C. provided resources. T.G.M., R.L.W., B.J.J.S., D.E.M. and T.C. provided supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Min Jet Yap.

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Yap, M.J., Cripe, J., Mansell, G.L. et al. Broadband reduction of quantum radiation pressure noise via squeezed light injection. Nat. Photonics 14, 19–23 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0527-y

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