A High-Finesse Suspended Interferometric Sensor for Macroscopic Quantum Mechanics with Femtometre Sensitivity

Abstract

We present an interferometric sensor for investigating macroscopic quantum mechanics on a table-top scale. The sensor consists of pair of suspended optical cavities with a finesse in excess of 100,000 comprising 10 g fused-silica mirrors. In the current room-temperature operation, we achieve a peak sensitivity of \SI{0.5}{\fmasd} in the acoustic frequency band, limited by the readout noise. With additional suppression of the readout noise, we will be able to reach the quantum radiation pressure noise, which would represent a novel measurement of the quantum back-action effect. Such a sensor can eventually be utilised for demonstrating macroscopic entanglement and testing semi-classical and quantum gravity models.