Quantum Coupling of Micromechanical and Electromagnetic Systems in Optical Cavities

Kendra Krueger
University of Colorado at Boulder
April 20th 2010

Background
The cutting edge of science always seems to lie in a region where a boundary exists
between two different paradigms of physics. In our current age of scientific research, this
boundary lies between the realms of quantum and classical physics. In order to study the
dynamics of these interactions of quantum and classical mechanics various experiments are
being developed to see how these systems collide. Quantum physics conveys the behavior of
matter and energy on the subatomic scale. However at larger sizes, it can be argued that classical
dynamics is a manifestation of quantum mechanics dealing with large system and large quantum
numbers, from the correspondence principle. Yet there still remains to be some discrepancies
where classical and quantum dynamics fail to agree. Some of these grey areas include the fact
that the quantum view of large systems is one of probabilities and statistics, and some scientists
such as Bohr disagreed that this was enough to prove classical mechanics formed out of the
quantum. One problem maintains to be that quantum mechanics can not accurately describe a
chaotic system, another deals coherence length and time. Small subatomic systems will stay
coherent below the coherence length, but larger oscillators do not obey the same behavior. A lot
of these problems arise in the Einstein-Poldosky-Rosen Paradox which states:
“The correctness of the theory is judged by the degree of agreement between the
conclusions of the theory and human experience. This experience, which alone enables us to
make inferences about reality, in physics takes the form of experiment and measurement. It is
the second question that we wish to consider here, as applied to quantum mechanics.” (Einstein,
Podolsky, & Rosen, 1935)
In other words, since quantum mechanics deals with statistics and uncertainties, are the
predictions made by quantum mechanics sufficient enough to form a complete picture, this is
also known as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Paradox. The big trick to completing this
picture is obtaining a quantum nondemoliton measurement. This measurement is one which
preserves all the information of the quantum system without any uncertainty, allowing for the
system to be measured repeatedly and accurately. This is difficult as a large roadblock in
quantum mechanics is that the measurement itself will affect the outcome. However, through
coupling techniques it may be possible to measure the state of the system without changing it’s
future state.
In order to correlate macroscopic mechanical systems with microscopic quantum
systems, strong coupling between the components is necessary. By measuring how a quantum
system is affecting a mechanical system, more robust information about the quantum states can
be obtained. This coupling is strongest in optical cavities, where it is possible to couple
mechanical objects with light through radiation pressure. Optical cavities provide a confined
environment in which to manipulate and observe optomechanical coupling. Most of the current
research focuses on the basic fabry-perot cavity, integrating different variations of mechanically
movable mirrors and membranes. By measuring the behavior of the mechanical elements
immersed in an electromagnetic field, information can be derived about the electromagnetic
systems and correlations are formed between the quantum and classical nature of the system.
The basis of these correlations is formed out of the fact that mechanical oscillators can be
modeled as a quantum harmonic oscillator. By using information from the mechanical system,
verifications can be formed about the quantum nature of macrosystems.
The theory of coupling within cavities developed from the properties of Kerr mediums.
When light is impingent on these mediums, the index of refraction changes as a function of the
electric field squared. It was then discovered that the quantum fluctuations of the light beam
becomes ‘squeezed’ in the medium. A squeezed state is one with more coherence and less
quantum noise. Another way to mimic a Kerr medium and the nonlinear effects is to use
movable mirrors in an optical cavity. With this setup the radiation pressure of the light beam
will oscillate the mirror. Eventually the motion of the mirror will reach a steady state oscillation
mode. Thus strong coupling is present between the intensity of the light beam and the position of
the mirror, or the mirrors stable eigenstates. This coupling is enhanced when both the
mechanical systems and optical systems are optimized, thus each with low loss, small mass for
mechanical systems, and high finesse for optical systems.
Currently there are a many different methods being attempted with optical cavities, along
with different concentrations on how information is extracted and correlated to quantum
dynamics. The basic model begins with the fabry perot optical cavities being the dominant
design for these optomechanical systems. Different projects have focused mainly on various
manipulation of either the mirrors or other movable membranes inside of the cavity. The
simplest scenario is composed of a cavity with one movable mirror on a spring or hinge. The
cavity has one fixed mirror with specified reflection and transmission coefficients r and t. The
remaining mirror is perfectly reflecting and is able to move in the direction of electromagnetic
propagation. The movable mirror is harmonically bound to a fixed point, meaning through a
spring or hinge. With the spring, the mirror will have a certain oscillation frequency and a
damping decay rate. When there is no field in the cavity, it will have a length of L0, with the
field the cavity will have a variable length of L depending on the position of the mirror. Figure
1.2 displays this scheme, where α is the amplitude of the field.

(Fabre, Pinard, Bourzeix, Heidmann, Giacobino, & Reynaud, 1993)

The displacement, of the mirror, or change of length of the cavity can be expressed in the
differential equation below

Where Ω is the oscillation frequency and Γ is the damping of the mirror. Here it can be seen that
the displacement is a function of |α|2 which can be normalized to represent a flux, or number of
photons impinging on an area per unit time. This multiplied by the 2ħk0 will give the force of the
radiation pressure. There is a component of the mirror damping which includes the radiation
force as well, but at average field intensities it is very small compared with the general damping
of the spring/hinge system. The output field from the cavity can then be given by the equation

Using this and the former equation, certain values can be obtained when the system is in steady
state, and what factors might influence instability. Also from this information, comparisons can
be made about the quantum noise fluctuations in the optical field.
Besides from this general method, other consequences of this system have fallen out
along the way. One of these features is cooling of a mechanical oscillator’s Brownian motion.
When the cavity is not optimized, the oscillator will have a certain thermal or Brownian motion.
However, when the cavity is detuned to account for Doppler effect of photons bouncing of the
moving mirror, the Brownian motion or thermal fluctuations will be reduced. The implications
from this finding would mean that that the mechanical oscillator in an optimally cooled state
could be modeled as a quantum oscillator is its grounded state.

Internal membrane with Fixed mirrors

(Thompson, Zwickl, Jayich, Marquardt, Girvin, & Harris, 2008)
One very recent project has placed the mechanical system within the cavity, and left both mirrors
fixed. Suspended in the middle of the cavity is a SiN membrane, 1mm X 1mm X 50nm held by
a silicon frame. A laser is also used as an external light source. Figure 1.1b illustrates the
configuration, and figure 1.1c displays the SiN membrane held in the frame.

(Thompson, Zwickl, Jayich, Marquardt, Girvin, & Harris, 2008)

Figure 1.1
The research team chose this configuration based on a number of features that hindered
previous studies with the moveable mirror approach (figure 1.1a). The first being the fact that
having the optical component also be a mechanical component sacrifices some of the quality of
the systems. It becomes very difficult to fabricate a device which has both highly reflective
properties to support finesse and Q factor, while also maintaining low mechanical loss and
weight. Furthermore mirrors high quality mirrors are more susceptible to bending and
contamination during micromachining. The configuration in figure 1.1b manages to avoid this
problem by separately optimizing the mechanical and optical properties of the system. Another
feature of this system consisted of the type of data that could be extracted.
In previous experiments only information about displacement, or x value could be
obtained. However, because of the versatility of this system, values of x2 can also be obtained
which leads to a more robust coupling to quantum nondemolition factors. This measurement
was discovered when the team observed different behavior when the membrane was placed at a
node or antinode of the resonant field within the cavity. Figure 1.2b displays cavity ringdown
measurements when the membrane is removed (blue), when it is at a node (red) and at an
antinode(green). It can be seen that the ringdown, or decay of energy is greater when the
membrane is placed at an antinode. Figure 1.2c presents the mechanical ringdown, or energy
decay of membrane after the laser is shut off.

(Thompson, Zwickl, Jayich, Marquardt, Girvin, & Harris, 2008)

Figure 1.2

The oscillating frequency of the membrane, ωm, is calculated to be 2π*3134 kHz. This
membrane can then also be modeled as a harmonic oscillator at low amplitudes. When the
ωcav(x) is fitted with a first order linear approximation, and the membrane is placed not placed at
a node/antinode, the value will be proportional to x. However, when placed at a node/antinode
the relationship then becomes proportional to x2.
x2 is believed to be a good value for more robust quantum modeling because it leads to
the solutions of energy eigenstates. By using the x2 in a Hamiltonian, certain quantum factors
can then be calculated, and thus measured of from the system. By observing the changes in these
values quantized energy phonon states can be measured, which theoretically means quantum
states of the mechanical oscillator can be measured.
Furthermore this project has achieved improved results with optical cooling. Figure 1.3
displays the spectral power density of the membrane’s undriven motion. The different graphs
represent the linewidths of the laser or detuning factor, and the x axis is frequency of the laser.
The smallest linewidth corresponds to the lowest temperature. Here the lowest temperature
obtained was 6.82mK, which is 4.4x104 less then the room temperature value of 294K. Previous
work has only managed to reach a value 100 times higher than this. The new geometry of this
set up, and the ability to attain high quality optical and mechanical factors has greatly improved
the results for cooling.
Discussion
The concept of using these mechanical systems to bridge the gap between the quantum realm
have been developing rapidly, but the experimental verifications are only now starting to catch up. This
is impart due to improved understanding of optical systems and also the availability of fabricating
micromechanical systems. Quantum physics itself is a relatively new field of science, and the discussions
continue on it’s viability for macrosystems. This is noticeable by reading a number of papers which
digress into philosophical questioning on how to obtain a ‘reality’ out of the virtual world quantum
physics seems to create.
However, research such as that discussed in the previous section, are coming close to hammering
down real experimental results which produce quantum states of macrosystems. The concept was clever
and the first of it’s kind to obtain such astounding results. It seems the full ramifications of these results
have not yet been seen, and there has yet to be any similar reproductions of this experiment. It should be
interesting to see what the next discovery in this field may be.
Conclusion
As seen from this research scientist seem to be on the brink of modeling large
macrosystems with quantum mechanics. Optical cavities have proven to be a near perfect
environment for brining together optical systems which are easily modeled with quantum
dynamics, and mechanical systems which use classical dynamics. The main obstacle in the
research has been obtaining proper measurements which can be manipulated using a quantum
model. Due to a number of constraints, such as obtaining measurements that do not interfere
with the outcome, problems have been faced making these correlations in the past. However, by
using mechanical oscillators which can be induced into resonant states by fields which also can
then be measured for information, coupled systems with both quantum outputs and classical
outputs can be produced and combined. Optical cavities have shown to be the near perfect
environment for these types of experiments. They harness the capability of easily manipulating
and optimizing these two types of systems in a confined space.
The most advanced research has managed to obtain promising data which can be used to
produce quantized energy states of a mechanical oscillator using quantum harmonic oscillator
dynamics.

The most fascinating of outcomes maybe further applications of these systems and the data
obtained. Currently these types of system
-Key advancements
-Where is the field heading
-What are the obstacles
-applications for gravitation wave detection

Definitions
Oscillator Energy Eigenstates- Stable energy modes of an oscillator
Folded Geometry Mirrors-
Brownian Motion-Thermal/random fluctuations

Works Cited
Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. (1935). Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical
Reality be Considered Complete? Physical Review , 777-780.
Fabre, C., Pinard, M., Bourzeix, S., Heidmann, A., Giacobino, E., & Reynaud, S. (1993). Quantum-noise
reduction using a cavity with a movable mirror. Physical Review , 1337-1343.
Thompson, J., Zwickl, B., Jayich, A., Marquardt, F., Girvin, S., & Harris, J. (2008). Strong dispersive
coupling of a high-finesse cavity to a micromechanical membrane. Nature , 72-75.
Bibliography
Einstein, A., Podolsky, B., & Rosen, N. (1935). Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical
Reality be Considered Complete? Physical Review , 777-780.
Fabre, C., Pinard, M., Bourzeix, S., Heidmann, A., Giacobino, E., & Reynaud, S. (1993). Quantum-noise
reduction using a cavity with a movable mirror. Physical Review , 1337-1343.
Thompson, J., Zwickl, B., Jayich, A., Marquardt, F., Girvin, S., & Harris, J. (2008). Strong dispersive
coupling of a high-finesse cavity to a micromechanical membrane. Nature , 72-75.