Quantum optomechanics—throwing a glance [Invited]

Aspelmeyer, Markus; Gröblacher, Simon; Hammerer, Klemens; Kiesel, Nikolai

doi:10.1364/josab.27.00a189

Cited by 280 publications

(285 citation statements)

References 112 publications

(165 reference statements)

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“…For example, optomechanical systems 102 produce effective optical nonlinearities from motioninduced shifts in the frequency of an optical resonator. It was recently shown that sufficiently large photon-phonon couplings can enable strong interactions between single photons 103 (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum nonlinear optics — photon by photon

2014

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other. This linearity in light propagation, in combination with the high frequency and hence large bandwidth provided by waves at optical frequencies, has made optical signals the preferred method for communicating information over long distances. In contrast, the processing of information requires some form of interaction between signals. In the case of light, such interactions can be enabled by nonlinear optical processes. These processes, which are now found ubiquitously throughout science and technology, include optical modulation and switching, nonlinear spectroscopy and frequency conversion 1 , and have applications across both the physical 2 and biological 3,4 sciences.A long-standing goal in optical science has been the implementation of nonlinear effects at progressively lower light powers or pulse energies. The ultimate limit may be termed 'quantum nonlinear optics' (Box 1) -the regime where individual photons interact so strongly with one another that the propagation of light pulses containing one, two or more photons varies substantially with photon number. Although this domain is difficult to reach owing to the small nonlinear coefficients of bulk optical materials, the potential payoff is significant. The realization of quantum nonlinear optics could improve the performance of classical nonlinear devices, enabling, for example, fast energy-efficient optical transistors that avoid Ohmic heating 5 . Furthermore, nonlinear switches activated by single photons could enable optical quantum information processing and communication 6 , as well as other applications that rely on the generation and manipulation of non-classical light fields 7,8 . The challenge of making photons interactAt low optical powers, most optical materials exhibit only linear optical phenomena, such as refraction and absorption, which can be described by a complex index of refraction. However, a sufficiently intense light beam can modify a material's index of refraction, such that the light propagation becomes power-dependent. This is the essence of classical nonlinear optics (Box 1). Large optical fields are required to alter the index of refraction of conventional bulk materials because a strong nonlinear response can only be induced if the electric field of the light beam acting on the electrons is comparable to the field of the nucleus. As a result, early experimental observations of nonlinear optical phenomena, such as frequencydoubling or sum-frequency generation 9 , were achievable only after the development of powerful lasers. Advances in nonlinear optics over the past four decades have resulted in progressively more efficient nonlinear processes 10 , thus enabling the observation of nonlinear processes at lower and lower light levels. It is natural to inquire if and how these nonlinear interactions can be made so strong that they become important even at the level of individual quanta of radiation. Although this question was addressed in early theoretical studies [11][12][13] , it has become more pressing with the advent of...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum nonlinear optics — photon by photon

2014

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“…It is well known that optomechanical systems [20][21][22][23] can be created when a mechanical resonator is coupled to electromagnetic fields through radiation pressure. Although the mechanical resonator can be coupled to electromagnetic fields at very different wavelengths, most recent experiments use optomechanical couplings from microwave to optical wavelengths.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optomechanical analog of two-color electromagnetically induced transparency: Photon transmission through an optomechanical device with a two-level system

et al. 2014

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Some optomechanical systems can be transparent to a probe field when a strong driving field is applied. These systems can provide an optomechanical analogue of electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT). We study the transmission of a probe field through a hybrid optomechanical system consisting of a cavity and a mechanical resonator with a two-level system (qubit). The qubit might be an intrinsic defect inside the mechanical resonator, a superconducting artificial atom, or another two-level system. The mechanical resonator is coupled to the cavity field via radiation pressure and to the qubit via the Jaynes-Cummings interaction. We find that the dressed twolevel system and mechanical phonon can form two sets of three-level systems. Thus, there are two transparency windows in the discussed system. We interpret this effect as an optomechanical analog of two-color EIT (or double-EIT). We demonstrate how to switch between one and two EIT windows by changing the transition frequency of the qubit. We show that the absorption and dispersion of the system are mainly affected by the qubit-phonon coupling strength and the transition frequency of the qubit.

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“…In a related context of optomechanics, the coupling of photonic and mechanical resonances leads to novel nonlinear effects that are also manifested in the radiation spectrum of photonic cavities, often studied in the presence of incident, non-thermal radiation pressure. 18,49 We believe that electronic nonlinearities such as the Kerr effect in semiconductors offer an alternative approach to exploring similar ideas related to nonlinear fluctuations. (2)], which can be written in the following simplified form:…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiative heat transfer in nonlinear Kerr media

et al. 2015

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We obtain a fluctuation-dissipation theorem describing thermal electromagnetic fluctuation effects in nonlinear media that we exploit in conjunction with a stochastic Langevin framework to study thermal radiation from Kerr (χ (3) ) photonic cavities coupled to external environments at and out of equilibrium. We show that that in addition to thermal broadening due to two-photon absorption, the emissivity of such cavities can exhibit asymmetric, non-Lorentzian lineshapes due to self-phase modulation. When the local temperature of the cavity is larger than that of the external bath, we find that the heat transfer into the bath exceeds the radiation from a corresponding linear black body at the same local temperature. We predict that these temperature-tunable thermal processes can be observed in realistic, nanophotonic cavities operating near room temperature.

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Quantum optomechanics—throwing a glance [Invited]

Cited by 280 publications

References 112 publications

Quantum nonlinear optics — photon by photon

Quantum nonlinear optics — photon by photon

Optomechanical analog of two-color electromagnetically induced transparency: Photon transmission through an optomechanical device with a two-level system

Radiative heat transfer in nonlinear Kerr media

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