Optomechanically induced transparency

Abstract

Coherent interaction of laser radiation with multilevel atoms and molecules can lead to quantum interference in the electronic excitation pathways. A prominent example observed in atomic three-level-systems is the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), in which a control laser induces a narrow spectral transparency window for a weak probe laser beam. The concomitant rapid variation of the refractive index in this spectral window can give rise to dramatic reduction of the group velocity of a propagating pulse of probe light. Dynamic control of EIT via the control laser enables even a complete stop, that is, storage, of probe light pulses in the atomic medium. Here, we demonstrate optomechanically induced transparency (OMIT)--formally equivalent to EIT--in a cavity optomechanical system operating in the resolved sideband regime. A control laser tuned to the lower motional sideband of the cavity resonance induces a dipole-like interaction of optical and mechanical degrees of freedom. Under these conditions, the destructive interference of excitation pathways for an intracavity probe field gives rise to a window of transparency when a two-photon resonance condition is met. As a salient feature of EIT, the power of the control laser determines the width and depth of the probe transparency window. OMIT could therefore provide a new approach for delaying, slowing and storing light pulses in long-lived mechanical excitations of optomechanical systems, whose optical and mechanical properties can be tailored in almost arbitrary ways in the micro- and nano-optomechanical platforms developed to date.

References in corpus (10)

• Strong dispersive coupling of a high finesse cavity to a micromechanical membrane
• Quantum Theory of Cavity-Assisted Sideband Cooling of Mechanical Motion
• Theory of ground state cooling of a mechanical oscillator using dynamical back-action
• Observation of strong coupling between a micromechanical resonator and an optical cavity field
• Radiation-pressure cooling and optomechanical instability of a micro-mirror
• Self-cooling of a micro-mirror by radiation pressure
• Resolved Sideband Cooling of a Micromechanical Oscillator
• Controlled coupling of counterpropagating whispering-gallery modes by a single Rayleigh scatterer: a classical problem in a quantum optical light
• Electromagnetically induced transparency with single atoms in a cavity
• Slowing and stopping light using an optomechanical crystal array

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and Slow Light with Optomechanics
• Circuit cavity electromechanics in the strong coupling regime
• Single-photon Optomechanics
• Slowing and stopping light using an optomechanical crystal array
• Optomechanical sideband cooling of a micromechanical oscillator close to the quantum ground state