"Exploiting Mechanical Properties of Light: Photon-Supported Micromechanical Resonators, Quantum Vibrations, and Applications"

我的研究计划的中心目标是开发由光子控制的新型灵敏微机电系统（MEMS）。我特别感兴趣的是实现主要由光学力支持的MEMS，从而用光来取代传统的机械材料。这种装置应能克服目前MEMS材料的限制，并达到前所未有的机械一致性水平（例如，在500 kHz下敲击时能持续数周）。因此，它们应该能够实现亚泽普顿力的灵敏度，检测单个质子的质量，并表现出相干量子运动。该计划最初包括三个主要目标。第一种是通过将强光学陷阱应用于专门制造的机械元件来实现光学支持的MEMS，使得它们的动力学完全由光学力控制。这些器件的性能应该超过现有最好的MEMS，捕获技术也将使传统机械材料中耗散的基础研究成为可能。第二个目标是开发紧凑的光纤微腔，以减小这些系统的尺寸，并显着增强光子MEMS耦合。由此产生的设备将允许我们使用不那么笨重的基于纤维的封装来访问更大的光机械参数空间。第三个目标是对这些系统进行低温冷却，充分抑制热波动，以观察固体机械元件运动中的高度相干量子效应。这种低温环境还将在未来实现更灵敏的力和质量检测。从长远来看，我设想使用这些光控MEMS来构建新型的扫描力检测器和光子器件（可能在量子极限下运行），以及在量子比特之间穿梭量子信息（直接或通过光纤中的光子远程）。这项发现补助金将在未来五年内为整个研究计划的核心运营成本提供资金。

The central goal of my research program is to develop new types of sensitive micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) controlled by photons. I am particularly interested in realizing MEMS supported primarily by optical forces, thereby replacing traditional mechanical materials with light. Such devices should overcome the limitations of current MEMS materials and achieve an unprecedented level of mechanical coherence (e.g. ringing at 500 kHz for weeks when struck). As a result, they should be capable of achieving sub-zeptonewton force sensitivity, detecting the mass of a single proton, and exhibiting coherent quantum motion. The program initially comprises three major goals. The first is to realize optically-supported MEMS by applying strong optical traps to specially-fabricated mechanical elements, such that their dynamics are completely dominated by optical forces. The performance of these devices should surpass that of the best existing MEMS, and the trapping techniques will also enable fundamental studies of dissipation in traditional mechanical materials. The second goal is to develop compact, fibre optical microcavities in order to reduce the size of these systems and significantly enhance the photon-MEMS coupling. The resulting devices will allow us to access a substantially larger space of optomechanical parameters using a less cumbersome, fibre-based package. The third goal is to cryogenically cool these systems, suppressing thermal fluctuations sufficiently to observe highly coherent quantum effects in the the motion of solid mechanical elements. This cryogenic environment will also enable significantly more sensitive force and mass detection in the future. In the longer term, I envision using these optically-controlled MEMS to construct new types of scanned force detectors and photonic devices (potentially operating at the quantum limit), as well as to shuttle quantum information between qubits (either directly or remotely via photons in a fibre). This Discovery Grant will fund the core operating costs of the entire research program over the next five years.