Radiation-pressure cooling and optomechanical instability of a micromirror
Radiation-pressure cooling and optomechanical instability of a micromirror
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DOI：
10.1038/nature05244
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发表时间：
2006-11-02
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Heidmann, A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Arcizet, O.;Cohadon, P. -F.;Heidmann, A.
最近的桌面光学干涉实验(1，2)和引力波探测器的进步(3)证明了光学干涉测量具有高灵敏度检测位移的能力。在更高功率下工作是进一步提高灵敏度的关键，但必须考虑辐射压力对干涉仪反射镜造成的动力学效应，而光机械不稳定的出现可能危及下一代干涉仪(4-6)的稳定运行。这些不稳定性(7，8)是反射镜运动和光场之间的非线性耦合的结果，这改变了反射镜的有效动力学。这种“光学弹簧”效应已经在具有移动壁面的电磁波导(9)的机械阻尼、特殊设计的弯曲振荡器(10)的共振频率以及二氧化硅微环谐振器(11)的光机械不稳定性中得到了证明。在这里，我们介绍了一个实验，在一个非常高精确度的光学腔中使用微机械谐振器作为反射镜，并以前所未有的灵敏度监测其位移。通过使激光频率相对于谐振腔失谐，我们观察到腔内辐射压力使微谐振器急剧降温，有效温度降至10Kelvin。对于相反的失谐，可以观察到有效的加热，以及由辐射压力引起的谐振器的不稳定性。进一步的实验进展和低温操作可能导致通过被动(15)或主动冷却(16-18)技术对微机械谐振器(12-14)的量子基态进行实验观察。
Recent table-top optical interferometry experiments(1,2) and advances in gravitational-wave detectors(3) have demonstrated the capability of optical interferometry to detect displacements with high sensitivity. Operation at higher powers will be crucial for further sensitivity enhancement, but dynamical effects caused by radiation pressure on the interferometer mirrors must be taken into account, and the appearance of optomechanical instabilities may jeopardize the stable operation of the next generation of interferometers(4-6). These instabilities(7,8) are the result of a nonlinear coupling between the motion of the mirrors and the optical field, which modifies the effective dynamics of the mirror. Such 'optical spring' effects have already been demonstrated for the mechanical damping of an electromagnetic waveguide with a moving wall(9), the resonance frequency of a specially designed flexure oscillator(10), and the optomechanical instability of a silica microtoroidal resonator(11). Here we present an experiment where amicromechanical resonator is used as a mirror in a very high-finesse optical cavity, and its displacements are monitored with unprecedented sensitivity. By detuning the laser frequency with respect to the cavity resonance, we have observed a drastic cooling of the microresonator by intracavity radiation pressure, down to an effective temperature of 10 kelvin. For opposite detuning, efficient heating is observed, as well as a radiation-pressure-induced instability of the resonator. Further experimental progress and cryogenic operation may lead to the experimental observation of the quantum ground state of a micromechanical resonator(12-14), either by passive(15) or active cooling techniques(16-18).