Polarization Dependent Scattering in Cavity Optomagnonics.

The polarization dependence of magnon-photon scattering in an optical microcavity is reported. Because of the short cavity length, the longitudinal mode-matching conditions found in previously explored, large path-length whispering gallery resonators are absent. Nonetheless, for cross-polarized scattering a strong and broadband suppression of one sideband is observed. This arises due to an interference between the Faraday and second-order Cotton-Mouton effects. To fully account for the suppression of the cross-polarized scattering, it is necessary to consider the squeezing of magnon modes intrinsic to thin-film geometry. A copolarized scattering due to Cotton-Mouton effect is also observed. In addition, the magnon modes involved are identified as Damon-Eshbach surface modes, whose nonreciprocal propagation could be exploited in device applications. This Letter experimentally demonstrates the important role of second-order Cotton-Mouton effect for optomagnonic devices.

Dissipation-Induced Instabilities of a Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate Inside an Optical Cavity.

We investigate the dynamics of a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate inside an optical cavity, driven transversely by a laser with a controllable polarization angle. We focus on a two-component Dicke model with complex light-matter couplings, in the presence of photon losses. We calculate the steady-state phase diagram and find dynamical instabilities in the form of limit cycles, heralded by the presence of exceptional points and level attraction. We show that the instabilities are induced by dissipative processes that generate nonreciprocal couplings between the two collective spins. Our predictions can be readily tested in state-of-the-art experiments and open up the study of nonreciprocal many-body dynamics out of equilibrium.

Nonreciprocal reconfigurable microwave optomechanical circuit.

Nonreciprocal microwave devices are ubiquitous in radar and radio communication and indispensable in the readout chains of superconducting quantum circuits. Since they commonly rely on ferrite materials requiring large magnetic fields that make them bulky and lossy, there has been significant interest in magnetic-field-free on-chip alternatives, such as those recently implemented using the Josephson nonlinearity. Here, we realize reconfigurable nonreciprocal transmission between two microwave modes using purely optomechanical interactions in a superconducting electromechanical circuit. The scheme relies on the interference in two mechanical modes that mediate coupling between the microwave cavities and requires no magnetic field. We analyse the isolation, transmission and the noise properties of this nonreciprocal circuit. Finally, we show how quantum-limited circulators can be realized with the same principle. All-optomechanically mediated nonreciprocity demonstrated here can also be extended to directional amplifiers, and it forms the basis towards realizing topological states of light and sound.Nonreciprocal optical devices traditionally rely on magnetic fields and magnetic-free approaches are rather recent. Here, Bernier et al. propose and demonstrate a purely optomechanical circulator with reconfigurable transmission without the need for direct coupling between input and output modes.

Triple-Resonant Brillouin Light Scattering in Magneto-Optical Cavities.

An enhancement in Brillouin light scattering of optical photons with magnons is demonstrated in magneto-optical whispering gallery mode resonators tuned to a triple-resonance point. This occurs when both the input and output optical modes are resonant with those of the whispering gallery resonator, with a separation given by the ferromagnetic resonance frequency. The identification and excitation of specific optical modes allows us to gain a clear understanding of the mode-matching conditions. A selection rule due to wave vector matching leads to an intrinsic single-sideband excitation. Strong suppression of one sideband is essential for one-to-one frequency mapping in coherent optical-to-microwave conversion.

Clean carbon nanotubes coupled to superconducting impedance-matching circuits.

Coupling carbon nanotube devices to microwave circuits offers a significant increase in bandwidth (BW) and signal-to-noise ratio. These facilitate fast non-invasive readouts important for quantum information processing, shot noise and correlation measurements. However, creation of a device that unites a low-disorder nanotube with a low-loss microwave resonator has so far remained a challenge, due to fabrication incompatibility of one with the other. Employing a mechanical transfer method, we successfully couple a nanotube to a gigahertz superconducting matching circuit and thereby retain pristine transport characteristics such as the control over formation of, and coupling strengths between, the quantum dots. Resonance response to changes in conductance and susceptance further enables quantitative parameter extraction. The achieved near matching is a step forward promising high-BW noise correlation measurements on high impedance devices such as quantum dot circuits.

Quantum-limited amplification and parametric instability in the reversed dissipation regime of cavity optomechanics.

Cavity optomechanical phenomena, such as cooling, amplification, or optomechanically induced transparency, emerge due to a strong imbalance in the dissipation rates of the parametrically coupled electromagnetic and mechanical resonators. Here we analyze the reversed dissipation regime where the mechanical energy relaxation rate exceeds the energy decay rate of the electromagnetic cavity. We demonstrate that this regime allows for mechanically induced amplification (or cooling) of the electromagnetic mode. Gain, bandwidth, and added noise of this electromagnetic amplifier are derived and compared to amplification in the normal dissipation regime. In addition, we analyze the parametric instability, i.e., optomechanical Brillouin lasing, and contrast it to conventional optomechanical phonon lasing. Finally, we propose an experimental scheme that realizes the reversed dissipation regime using parametric coupling and optomechanical cooling with a second electromagnetic mode enabling quantum-limited amplification. Recent advances in high-Q superconducting microwave resonators make the reversed dissipation regime experimentally realizable.

Signatures of nonlinear cavity optomechanics in the weak coupling regime.

We identify signatures of the intrinsic nonlinear interaction between light and mechanical motion in cavity optomechanical systems. These signatures are observable even when the cavity linewidth exceeds the optomechanical coupling rate. A strong laser drive red detuned by twice the mechanical frequency from the cavity resonance frequency makes two-phonon processes resonant, which leads to a nonlinear version of optomechanically induced transparency. This effect provides a new method of measuring the average phonon number of the mechanical oscillator. Furthermore, we show that if the strong laser drive is detuned by half the mechanical frequency, optomechanically induced transparency also occurs due to resonant two-photon processes. The cavity response to a second probe drive is in this case nonlinear in the probe power. These effects should be observable with optomechanical coupling strengths that have already been realized in experiments.

Proposal for entangling remote micromechanical oscillators via optical measurements.

We propose an experiment to create and verify entanglement between remote mechanical objects by use of an optomechanical interferometer. Two optical cavities, each coupled to a separate mechanical oscillator, are coherently driven such that the oscillators are laser cooled to the quantum regime. The entanglement is induced by optical measurement and comes about by combining the output from the two cavities to erase which-path information. It can be verified through measurements of degrees of second-order coherence of the optical output field. The experiment is feasible in the regime of weak optomechanical coupling. Realistic parameters for the membrane-in-the-middle geometry suggest entangled state lifetimes on the order of milliseconds.

Single-photon optomechanics.

Optomechanics experiments are rapidly approaching the regime where the radiation pressure of a single photon displaces the mechanical oscillator by more than its zero-point uncertainty. We show that in this limit the power spectrum has multiple sidebands and that the cavity response has several resonances in the resolved-sideband limit. Using master-equation simulations, we also study the crossover from the weak-coupling many-photon to the single-photon strong-coupling regime. Finally, we find non-Gaussian steady states of the mechanical oscillator when multiphoton transitions are resonant. Our study provides the tools to detect and take advantage of this novel regime of optomechanics.