Quantum nano-optomechanical devices

光学机械装置将光与机械谐振器的运动相耦合，是跨越纳米到宏观尺度的基本现象的开创性观察的中心。后者的一个例子是LIGO对引力波的壮观观测。在纳米尺度上，光学机械设备最近首次观察到了一个机械谐振器，它被激光冷却到其量子力学基态，在这种基态下，量子效应影响其机械运动。纳米级量子光机器件也具有巨大的实用潜力。它们特别适合于将力或场转换为机械振荡器运动的传感应用。然而，到目前为止，量子受限的光学机械设备从未被用于这种应用。这部分是因为制造与量子效应充分隔离的光学机械设备的相关技术挑战，从而限制了它们的性能，部分原因是将这些设备连接到传统光纤或自由空间光学部件和测量工具的难度。这项提案描述了一种合作伙伴关系，通过建立由申请者和一个工业合作伙伴在过去三年中开发的独特的和世界领先的纳米制造和实验能力来解决这些挑战。它将开发和展示其对量子效应的敏感性被用于传感应用的光学机械设备，并将解决阻止更广泛的光学和纳米机械传感器社区采用这些设备的关键问题。在开发这些器件的过程中，将开发可应用于广泛的量子平台的纳米制造和器件集成技术。这包括低温技术和团队的工业合作伙伴感兴趣的基于钻石的部件。在该项目期间开发的设备还将用于自旋-声子转换和驱动，以及用作纳米磁性传感器。这些设备将推动量子技术的发展，量子技术是一个新兴领域，具有显著影响加拿大经济的巨大潜力。

Optomechanical devices couple light to the motion of mechanical resonators, and are central to seminal observations of fundamental phenomena spanning nano- to macroscopic scales. An example of the latter is the spectacular observation of gravitational waves by LIGO. At the nanoscale, optomechanical devices have recently enabled the first observation of a mechanical resonator that is laser cooled to its quantum mechanical ground state, where quantum effects influence its mechanical motion. Nanoscale quantum optomechanical devices also have tremendous practical potential. They are particularly suited for sensing applications that convert a force or field into motion of a mechanical oscillator. However, to date, a quantum limited optomechanical device has never been used for such applications. This is in part due to the technical challenges associated with creating optomechanical devices that are sufficiently isolated from noise for quantum effects to limit their performance, and in part due to the difficulty of connecting these devices to conventional fiber or free-space optical components and measurement tools. This proposal describes a partnership to solve these challenges, by building upon unique and world-leading nanofabrication and experimental capabilities developed by the applicants and an industrial partner during the past three years. It will develop and demonstrate optomechanical devices whose sensitivity to quantum effects is harnessed for sensing applications, and will solve the critical problems preventing the adoption of these devices by the broader optical and nanomechanical sensor communities. En-route to developing these devices, nanofabrication and device integration technology will be developed that can be applied to a wide range of quantum platforms. This includes cryogenic technology and diamond based components of interest to the team's industrial partner. Devices developed during this project will also be used to for spin-phonon transduction and actuation, and as nanomagnetic sensors. These devices will advance development of quantum technology, an emerging field that has significant potential to dramatically impact Canada's economy.