Observation of the Three-Mode Parametric Instability

Abstract

Three-mode parametric interactions occur in triply-resonant optomechanical systems: photons from an optical pump mode are coherently scattered to a high-order mode by mechanical motion of the cavity mirrors, and these modes resonantly interact via radiation pressure force when certain conditions are met. Such effects are predicted to occur in long baseline advanced gravitational-wave detectors. They can pump energy into acoustic modes, leading to parametric instability, but they can also extract acoustic energy, leading to optomechanical cooling. We develop a large amplitude model of three-mode interactions that explains the ring-up amplitude saturation after instability occurs. We also demonstrate both radiation-pressure cooling and mechanical amplification in two different three-mode optomechanical systems, including the first observation of the three-mode parametric instability in a free-space Fabry-Perot cavity. The experimental data agrees well with the theoretical model. Contrary to expectations, parametric instability does not lead to loss of cavity lock, a fact which may make it easier to implement control techniques to overcome instability.

11 pages, 14 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Advanced Virgo: a 2nd generation interferometric gravitational wave detector
• Sideband Cooling Micromechanical Motion to the Quantum Ground State
• Radiation-pressure cooling and optomechanical instability of a micro-mirror
• Dispersive optomechanics: a membrane inside a cavity
• Brillouin Lasing with a CaF_2 Whispering Gallery Mode Resonator
• High-sensitivity optical monitoring of a micro-mechanical resonator with a quantum-limited optomechanical sensor
• High quality mechanical and optical properties of commercial silicon nitride membranes
• Observation of Three Mode Parametric Interactions in Long Optical Cavities

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Observation of Parametric Instability in Advanced LIGO
• Design of a quasi-2D photonic crystal optomechanical cavity with tunable, large $x^2$-coupling
• Parametric Instability in Long Optical Cavities and Suppression by Dynamic Transverse Mode Frequency Modulation
• Sub-Poissonian Phonon Lasing in Three-Mode Optomechanics
• Suppression of parametric oscillatory instability in third generation gravitational wave detectors