Ultra-stable Cryogenic Nanopositioner for Quantum Optomechanics and Zeptonewton Force Sensing

用于量子光力学和 Zeptonewton 力传感的超稳定低温纳米定位器

• 批准号: RTI-2017-00181
• 负责人: Sankey, Jack
• 金额: $ 10.68万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=616583
• 关键词: Ultra; stable; Cryogenic; Nanopositioner; Quantum

The central aim of our research program is to realize ultrasensitive mechanical systems that are actuated and enhanced by laser light. Recently, our group made a major breakthrough, fabricating ~50-nanometer-thin "micro-trampolines" exhibiting world-record force sensitivity at room temperature (with a noise floor measured in attonewtons, or equivalent to the gravitational pull between two people separated by ~100 km). At the same time, these devices achieve extraordinarily low optical losses, making them compatible with the world's most sensitive interferometers for optomechanics experiments. In particular, the demonstrated parameters correspond to a situation in which the forces exerted by light at the level of a single interferometer photon (on average) will profoundly affect the mechanical trajectory. The performance of these and related optomechanical systems will improve by orders of magnitude at cryogenic (millikelvin) temperatures, due to a combination of reduced thermal force noise and increased mechanical quality factor. The resulting unprecedented mechanical coherence will enable a host of exciting optomechanics experiments operating deeply within the regime of macroscopic quantum motion, as well as the development of new quantum information transduction platforms and force sensing at the level of ~10 zeptonewtons, wherein a variety of goals (e.g. nanometer-resolution magnetic resonance imaging) become feasible. Our group already has access to a CFI-funded dilution cryostat, but in order to achieve these extraordinarily sensitive goals, a stable, vibration-isolated, encoded cryogenic nanopositioner is an absolute requirement.

我们研究计划的中心目标是实现由激光驱动和增强的超灵敏机械系统。最近，我们的团队取得了重大突破，制造了约50纳米薄的“微型蹦床”，在室温下表现出世界纪录的力灵敏度（以牛顿为单位测量的噪声基底，或相当于两个相隔约100公里的人之间的引力）。与此同时，这些设备的光学损耗非常低，使其与世界上最灵敏的干涉仪兼容，用于光机实验。特别是，所展示的参数对应于这样一种情况，其中由光在单个干涉仪光子（平均）的水平上施加的力将深刻地影响机械轨迹。 由于降低的热力噪声和增加的机械品质因数的组合，这些和相关的光学机械系统的性能将在低温（毫开尔文）温度下提高几个数量级。由此产生的前所未有的机械相干性将使大量令人兴奋的光学力学实验能够在宏观量子运动的范围内深入运作，以及开发新的量子信息转换平台和在~10 zeptonewton水平上的力传感，其中各种目标（例如纳米分辨率磁共振成像）变得可行。 我们的团队已经获得了一个由CFI资助的稀释低温恒温器，但为了实现这些非常敏感的目标，一个稳定的、振动隔离的、编码的低温纳米定位器是绝对必要的。