Thermal mechanical motion hinders the use of a mechanical system in applications such as quantum information processing. Whereas the thermal motion can be overcome by cooling a mechanical oscillator to its motional ground state, an alternative approach is to exploit the use of a mechanically dark mode that can protect the system from mechanical dissipation. We have realized such a dark mode by coupling two optical modes in a silica resonator to one of its mechanical breathing modes in the regime of weak optomechanical coupling. The dark mode, which is a superposition of the two optical modes and is decoupled from the mechanical oscillator, can still mediate an effective optomechanical coupling between the two optical modes. We show that the formation of the dark mode enables the transfer of optical fields between the two optical modes. Optomechanical dark mode opens the possibility of using mechanically mediated coupling in quantum applications without cooling the mechanical oscillator to its motional ground state.

Non-reciprocal devices, such as circulators and isolators, are indispensable components in classical and quantum information processing in an integrated photonic circuit. Aside from those applications, the non-reciprocal phase shift is of fundamental interest for exploring exotic topological photonics, such as the realization of chiral edge states and topological protection. However, incorporating low optical-loss magnetic materials into a photonic chip is technically challenging. In this study, we experimentally demonstrate non-magnetic non-reciprocity using optomechanical interactions in a whispering-gallery microresonator, as proposed by Hafezi and Rabl. Optomechanically induced non-reciprocal transparency and amplification are observed, and a non-reciprocal phase shift of up to 40 degrees is demonstrated in this study. The results of this study represent an important step towards integrated all-optical controllable isolators and circulators, as well as non-reciprocal phase shifters.Comment: 5 pages, 4 Figure

Stimulated Brillouin scattering is a fundamental interaction between light and travelling acoustic waves and arises primarily from electrostriction and photoelastic effects, with an interaction strength several orders of magnitude greater than that of other relevant non-linear optical processes. Here we report an experimental demonstration of Brillouin-scattering-induced transparency in a high-quality whispering-gallery-mode optical microresonantor. The triply resonant Stimulated Brillouin scattering process underlying the Brillouin-scattering-induced transparency greatly enhances the light–acoustic interaction, enabling the storage of light as a coherent, circulating acoustic wave with a lifetime up to 10 μs. Furthermore, because of the phase-matching requirement, a circulating acoustic wave can only couple to light with a given propagation direction, leading to non-reciprocal light storage and retrieval. These unique features establish a new avenue towards integrated all-optical switching with low-power consumption, optical isolators and circulators.