paper

Multi-phonon relaxation and generation of quantum states in a nonlinear mechanical oscillator

arXiv:1302.1707 · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/15/5/053041

Abstract

The dissipative quantum dynamics of an anharmonic oscillator is investigated theoretically in the context of carbon-based nano-mechanical systems. In the short-time limit, it is known that macroscopic superposition states appear for such oscillators. In the long-time limit, single and multi-phonon dissipation lead to decoherence of the non-classical states. However, at zero temperature, as a result of two-phonon losses the quantum oscillator eventually evolves into a non-classical steady state. The relaxation of this state due to thermal excitations and one-phonon losses is numerically and analytically studied. The possibility of verifying the occurrence of the non-classical state is investigated and signatures of the quantum features arising in a ring-down setup are presented. The feasibility of the verification scheme is discussed in the context of quantum nano-mechanical systems.

arXiv comment23 pages, 8 figures; Minor revisions; Accepted for publication in NJP

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