Non-reciprocal energy transfer through the Casimir effect
arXiv:2102.12857 · doi:10.1038/s41565-021-01026-8
Abstract
A fundamental prediction of quantum mechanics is that there are random fluctuations everywhere in a vacuum because of the zero-point energy. Remarkably, quantum electromagnetic fluctuations can induce a measurable force between neutral objects, known as the Casimir effect, which has attracted broad interests. The Casimir effect can dominate the interaction between microstructures at small separations and has been utilized to realize nonlinear oscillation, quantum trapping, phonon transfer, and dissipation dilution. However, a non-reciprocal device based on quantum vacuum fluctuations remains an unexplored frontier. Here we report quantum vacuum mediated non-reciprocal energy transfer between two micromechanical oscillators. We modulate the Casimir interaction parametrically to realize strong coupling between two oscillators with different resonant frequencies. We engineer the system's spectrum to have an exceptional point in the parameter space and observe the asymmetric topological structure near it. By dynamically changing the parameters near the exceptional point and utilizing the non-adiabaticity of the process, we achieve non-reciprocal energy transfer with high contrast. Our work represents an important development in utilizing quantum vacuum fluctuations to regulate energy transfer at the nanoscale and build functional Casimir devices.
References in corpus (14)
- Real Spectra in Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians Having PT Symmetry
- The physics of exceptional points
- Precision Measurement of the Casimir Force from 0.1 to 0.9 microns
- Dynamically encircling exceptional points in a waveguide: asymmetric mode switching from the breakdown of adiabaticity
- Topological energy transfer in an optomechanical system with exceptional points
- Observation of the Dynamical Casimir Effect in a Superconducting Circuit
- Nonlinear Micromechanical Casimir Oscillator
- A Materials Perspective on Casimir and van der Waals Interactions
- Dynamical strong coupling and parametric amplification in mechanical modes of graphene drums
- Vacuum friction in rotating particles
- Measurement of non-monotonic Casimir forces between silicon nanostructures
- Exceptional Point Engineered Glass Slide for Microscopic Thermal Mapping
- Demonstration of Motion Transduction Based on Parametrically Coupled Mechanical Resonators
- Casimir spring and dilution in macroscopic cavity optomechanics