Enhanced Laser Cooling of a Mechanical Resonator via Zero-Photon Detection

Abstract

Throughout quantum science and technology, measurement is used as a powerful resource for nonlinear operations and quantum state engineering. In particular, single-photon detection is commonly employed for quantum-information applications and tests of fundamental physics. By contrast, and perhaps counter-intuitively, measurement of the absence of photons also provides useful information, and offers significant potential for a wide range of new experimental directions. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate cooling of a mechanical resonator below its laser-cooled mechanical occupation via zero-photon detection on the anti-Stokes scattered optical field and verify this cooling through heterodyne measurements. Our measurements are well captured by a stochastic master equation and the techniques introduced here open new avenues for cooling, quantum thermodynamics, quantum state engineering, and quantum measurement and control.

Main: 5 pages, 2 figures. Supplemental: 6 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (12)

• Sideband Cooling Micromechanical Motion to the Quantum Ground State
• Generation of a superposition of odd photon number states for quantum information networks
• Experimental nonclassicality of single-photon-added thermal light states
• Phonon counting and intensity interferometry of a nanomechanical resonator
• Quantum State Orthogonalization and a Toolset for Quantum Optomechanical Phonon Control
• Heralded noiseless amplification and attenuation of non-gaussian states of light
• Noiseless attenuation using an optical parametric amplifier
• Modifying quantum optical states by zero-photon subtraction
• Optoacoustic cooling of traveling hypersound waves
• Second-Order Coherence Across the Brillouin Lasing Threshold
• Non-classical correlations between photons and phonons of center-of-mass motion of a mechanical oscillator
• Theoretical framework for enhancing or enabling cooling of a mechanical resonator via the anti-Stokes or Stokes interaction and zero-photon detection

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Theoretical framework for enhancing or enabling cooling of a mechanical resonator via the anti-Stokes or Stokes interaction and zero-photon detection