Radiation pressure excitation and cooling of a cryogenic micro-mechanical systems cavity

We describe an experiment achieving radiation pressure excitation and cooling of a mechanical mode in a cryogenic Fabry–Perot cavity with a micromechanical oscillator [micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)] as end mirror. The response function to periodic modulations of the intracavity power provides an independent measurement of the effective modal mass allowing an accurate estimate of the mode temperature from the corresponding displacement noise spectrum. We also obtained optical cooling of the MEMS fundamental mode at 110 kHz from 11 to 4.4 K, limited only by the optical Finesse and the mechanical quality of the system. These results represent a step toward the observation of quantum optomechanical effects and motivate further experiments with improved performances of the MEMS samples.

[1]  A. Heidmann,et al.  Effective mass in quantum effects of radiation pressure , 1999, quant-ph/9901057.

[2]  Gillespie,et al.  Thermally excited vibrations of the mirrors of laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors. , 1995, Physical review. D, Particles and fields.

[3]  Beating quantum limits in optomechanical sensor by cavity detuning , 2006, quant-ph/0602040.

[4]  A. Sopczak.  Neutral Higgs boson mass constraints in the minimal supersymmetric standard model from searches in $\rm e^+e^-$ collisions , 1999 .

[5]  N. Mavalvala,et al.  Measurement of radiation-pressure-induced optomechanical dynamics in a suspended Fabry-Perot cavity , 2005, gr-qc/0511022.

[6]  M. Pinard,et al.  Thermoelastic effects at low temperatures and quantum limits in displacement measurements , 2001 .

[7]  K. Vahala,et al.  Radiation Pressure Cooling of a Micromechanical Oscillator Using Dynamical Backaction , 2006 .

[8]  Yanbei Chen,et al.  Signal recycled laser-interferometer gravitational-wave detectors as optical springs , 2002 .

[9]  Collett,et al.  Quantum-nondemolition measurement of photon number using radiation pressure. , 1994, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[10]  T. Briant,et al.  Radiation-pressure cooling and optomechanical instability of a micromirror , 2006, Nature.

[11]  S. Reynaud,et al.  Quantum Limits in Interferometric Measurements , 1990, quant-ph/0101104.

[12]  F. Marino,et al.  Thermo-optical nonlinearities and stability conditions for high-finesse interferometers , 2007 .

[13]  C. Caves.  Quantum Mechanical Noise in an Interferometer , 1981 .

[14]  F. Khalili,et al.  Squeezed-state source using radiation-pressure-induced rigidity (14 pages) , 2005, gr-qc/0511001.

[15]  M. Pinard,et al.  Cooling of a Mirror by Radiation Pressure , 1999 .

[16]  C. Fang-Yen,et al.  Optical bistability induced by mirror absorption: measurement of absorption coefficients at the sub-ppm level. , 1997, Optics letters.

[17]  John L. Hall,et al.  Laser phase and frequency stabilization using an optical resonator , 1983 .

[18]  K. Jacobs,et al.  Preparation of nonclassical states in cavities with a moving mirror , 1997 .

[19]  A. Heidmann,et al.  Quantum nondemolition measurement by optomechanical coupling , 1997 .

[20]  Fabre,et al.  Quantum-nondemolition measurement of light by a piezoelectric crystal. , 1995, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[21]  Stefano Mancini,et al.  Optomechanical Cooling of a Macroscopic Oscillator by Homodyne Feedback , 1998 .

[22]  Dirk Bouwmeester,et al.  Sub-kelvin optical cooling of a micromechanical resonator , 2006, Nature.

[23]  Sylvain Gigan,et al.  Radiation-pressure self-cooling of a micromirror in a cryogenic environment , 2007, 0705.1149.

[24]  Ilkka Tittonen,et al.  Interferometric measurements of the position of a macroscopic body: towards observation of quantum limits , 1999 .

[25]  Sylvain Gigan,et al.  Ground-state cooling of a micromechanical oscillator: Comparing cold damping and cavity-assisted cooling schemes , 2007, 0705.1728.

[26]  S. Gigan,et al.  Self-cooling of a micromirror by radiation pressure , 2006, Nature.

[27]  Aguirregabiria,et al.  Delay-induced instability in a pendular Fabry-Perot cavity. , 1987, Physical review. A, General physics.

[28]  Reynaud,et al.  Quantum-noise reduction using a cavity with a movable mirror. , 1994, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[29]  S. Girvin,et al.  Strong dispersive coupling of a high-finesse cavity to a micromechanical membrane , 2007, Nature.

[30]  S. Girvin,et al.  Dynamical multistability induced by radiation pressure in high-finesse micromechanical optical cavities. , 2005, Physical review letters.

[31]  Mancini,et al.  Quantum noise reduction by radiation pressure. , 1994, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.