2009/04/30 by G. Anetsberger, O. Arcizet, Q. P. Unterreithmeier +9 · 2 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Photonic and Optical Devices #cond-mat.mes-hall #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/nphys1425
manuscript (7 pages, 4 figures) and supplement (9 pages, 4 figures); accepted for publication in Nature Physics
arxiv created 2009/09/07 · crossref issued 2009/10/11 · crossref published 2009/10/11 · crossref published-online 2009/10/11 · openalex publication_date 2009/10/11 · crossref created 2009/10/12 · crossref published-print 2009/12/01 · arxiv updated 2015/05/13 · crossref deposited 2023/05/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Cavity-enhanced radiation pressure coupling between optical and mechanical degrees of freedom allows quantum-limited position measurements and gives rise to dynamical backaction enabling amplification and cooling of mechanical motion. Here we demonstrate purely dispersive coupling of high Q nanomechanical oscillators to an ultra-high finesse optical microresonator via its evanescent field, extending cavity optomechanics to nanomechanical oscillators. Dynamical backaction mediated by the optical dipole force is observed, leading to laser-like coherent nanomechanical oscillations solely due to radiation pressure. Moreover, sub-fm/Hz^(1/2) displacement sensitivity is achieved, with a measurement imprecision equal to the standard quantum limit (SQL), which coincides with the nanomechanical oscillator's zero-point fluctuations. The achievement of an imprecision at the SQL and radiation-pressure dynamical backaction for nanomechanical oscillators may have implications not only for detecting quantum phenomena in mechanical systems, but also for a variety of other precision experiments. Owing to the flexibility of the near-field coupling approach, it can be readily extended to a diverse set of nanomechanical oscillators and particularly provides a route to experiments where radiation pressure quantum backaction dominates at room temperature, enabling ponderomotive squeezing or QND measurements.