Controlling multimode optomechanical interactions via interference

Mark C. Kuzyk and Hailin Wang

Phys. Rev. A 96, 023860 – Published 29 August 2017

Abstract

We demonstrate optomechanical interference in a multimode system, in which an optical mode couples to two mechanical modes. A phase-dependent excitation-coupling approach is developed, which enables the observation of destructive interference in dynamical backactions. The destructive interference prevents the coupling of the mechanical system to the optical mode, suppressing optically induced mechanical damping. These studies establish optomechanical interference as an essential tool for controlling the interactions between light and mechanical oscillators.

Received 11 May 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.96.023860

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Brillouin scattering & spectroscopy Coherent control Hybrid quantum systems Mechanical effects of light on material media Optical microcavities Optomechanics

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Mark C. Kuzyk and Hailin Wang

Department of Physics, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

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Issue

Vol. 96, Iss. 2 — August 2017

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Images

Figure 1
(a) Schematic of a multimode optomechanical system driven by two optical fields via respective red sideband couplings. (b) Interference between the two optomechanical-coupling processes leads to the formation of dark and bright mechanical modes that depend on the relative phase of the optical driving fields, $Δ ϕ = ϕ_{2} - ϕ_{1}$ , with the dark mode decoupled from the optical mode.
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Figure 2
Schematic of the experimental setup. Optical fields are coupled into and out of the relevant whispering gallery optical modes in the microsphere through a tapered fiber.
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Figure 3
Heterodyne-detected emissions (the dots) from the optical mode as a function of time in the two-mode system. Solid lines are numerical fits to single exponential decays with a decay rate of $γ / 2 π = 9.1 kHz$ . The first decay corresponds to the increasing conversion of $E_{s}$ to a mechanical excitation. The second decay corresponds to the conversion of the mechanical excitation to optical fields and the resulting mechanical damping, after $E_{s}$ is switched off. The inset shows the optical pulse sequence used, with $E_{s}$ (0.5 ms in duration) at $ω_{0}$ and $E_{1}$ at the red sideband of $E_{s}$ .
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Figure 4
(a) Optical pulse sequence used for optomechanical interference, with $E_{s}$ (0.5 ms in duration) at $ω_{0}$ and $E_{1}$ and $E_{2}$ at the respective red sidebands of $E_{s}$ . (b) Heterodyne-detected emissions from the optical mode as a function of time with $θ_{2} = ϕ_{2}$ , when $E_{s}$ is on. (c) Heterodyne-detected emissions from the optical mode as a function of time at various $ϕ_{1}$ with $θ_{2} = ϕ_{2}, C_{1} = 1.3$ , and $C_{2} = 1$ , when $E_{s}$ is off. Solid lines in (b) and (c) are numerical fits to single exponential decays. (d) The emission energy from the optical mode as a function of $ϕ_{1}$ , obtained in a time span of 0.4 ms after $E_{s}$ is switched off. The dashed line shows the theoretical calculation discussed in the text. $ϕ_{0}$ is an offset such that the dark mode occurs when $ϕ_{1} - ϕ_{0} = π$ .
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Figure 5
(a) Optical pulse sequence used to probe the suppression of optically induced mechanical damping due to destructive interference. (b) Heterodyne-detected optical emissions (the stars) from the optical mode obtained in the measurement stage as a function of τ, with $θ_{2} = ϕ_{2}$ and $G_{1} = G_{2}$ and with $ϕ_{1}$ adjusted such that the mechanical system is in the dark mode in the coupling stage. The dashed line shows the corresponding theoretical calculation discussed in the text. The dash-dotted line shows the theoretical calculation that includes only two-photon resonant optomechanical coupling, yielding a damping rate, $γ / 2 π = 3.6 kHz$ . The inset shows the measurement of the bright mode decay in the coupling stage. The solid lines are numerical fits of the experimental data to single exponential decays.
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