Superfluid Optomechanics

超流体光力学

• 批准号: 1205861
• 负责人: Jack Harris
• 金额: $ 47万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-01 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1205861&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Superfluid; Optomechanics

The field of optomechanics has progressed rapidly in the past few years from proof-of-principle demonstrations of coupling between optical and mechanical systems to the observation of quantum effects in a handful of these devices. During the same period, connections between optomechanical systems and other AMO systems such as ultracold atoms and diamond NV centers have emerged as promising routes towards controlling quantum information in hybrid systems. In this project, we are working to extend both of these efforts by realizing a new type of optomechanical system capable of reaching the quantum regime while also playing host to cold molecules strongly coupled to an optical cavity. The devices we are building will also be substantially more robust and compact than existing optomechanical devices.To achieve these goals, we are using high finesse optical cavities filled with superfluid helium. The cavities are formed between a pair of optical fibers. Precision-machined glass ferrules are being used to align the fibers and to contain the superfluid. The mechanical element will be the vibrational modes of the superfluid helium filling the space between the two fibers. This design eliminates all mechanical alignments, and should result in a very stable device. Numerical estimates suggest that this device will provide access to a range of quantum phenomena, including observations of the zero-point motion of the superfluid modes, the generation of squeezed light, and measurements of the quantum back action of an optical displacement measurement. In addition, we are exploring the optomechanical properties of superfluid-vacuum interfaces by filling the cavity only partially with superfluid.Superfluid helium can play host to a variety of atom-like systems (such as metastable helium dimer moledules and electron bubbles) that can interact with both the optical cavity and the sound waves in the helium. Combining optomechanics with such atom-like systems would greatly enhance the versatility of these devices. We are using these superfluid optomechanical devices to study the quantum limits of measurements, and to produce ultrastable light for use in instruments operating at the quantum limit of sensitivity. This work is also providing valuable training for graduate students in laser optics, cryogenics, low-noise measurements, signal processing, data analysis, and quantum optics. This training will allow them to pursue basic and applied research in a wide variety of settings.

在过去的几年中，光力学领域已经迅速发展，从光学和机械系统之间耦合的原理证明演示到在少数这些设备中观察量子效应。在同一时期，光力学系统与其他AMO系统（如超冷原子和金刚石NV中心）之间的连接已成为控制混合系统中量子信息的有希望的途径。在这个项目中，我们正在努力通过实现一种新型的光力学系统来扩展这两方面的努力，该系统能够达到量子状态，同时还能容纳与光学腔强耦合的冷分子。我们正在建造的设备也将比现有的光机械设备更加坚固和紧凑。为了实现这些目标，我们正在使用充满超流氦的高精细光学腔。空腔是在一对光纤之间形成的。精密加工的玻璃套圈被用来排列纤维和容纳超流体。机械元件将是填充在两根纤维之间空间的超流氦的振动模式。这种设计消除了所有的机械校准，并且应该产生一个非常稳定的设备。数值估计表明，该装置将提供对一系列量子现象的访问，包括超流体模式的零点运动的观察，压缩光的产生，以及光学位移测量的量子反向作用的测量。此外，我们还通过将超流体部分填充空腔来探索超流体-真空界面的光力学性质。超流氦可以成为各种类原子系统的宿主（如亚稳态氦二聚体分子和电子泡），这些系统可以与氦中的光学腔和声波相互作用。将光学力学与这种类原子系统相结合将大大提高这些设备的通用性。我们正在使用这些超流体光力学设备来研究测量的量子极限，并产生用于在量子极限灵敏度下工作的仪器的超稳定光。这项工作也为研究生在激光光学、低温学、低噪声测量、信号处理、数据分析和量子光学方面提供了有价值的培训。这种培训将使他们能够在各种各样的环境中进行基础和应用研究。