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Optical self-cooling of a membrane oscillator in a cavity optomechanical experiment at room temperature

Vezio, P. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Marino, F. (author), Morana, B. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author), Marin, F. (author)

Thermal noise is a major obstacle to observing quantum behavior in macroscopic systems. To mitigate its effect, quantum optomechanical experiments are typically performed in a cryogenic environment. However, this condition represents a considerable complication in the transition from fundamental research to quantum technology applications. It...

journal article 2023

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Low Noise Opto-Electro-Mechanical Modulator for RF-to-Optical Transduction in Quantum Communications

Bonaldi, Michele (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Di Giuseppe, Giovanni (author), Malossi, Nicola (author), Morana, B. (author), Natali, Riccardo (author), Piergentili, Paolo (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author), Vitali, David (author)

In this work, we present an Opto-Electro-Mechanical Modulator (OEMM) for RF-to-optical transduction realized via an ultra-coherent nanomembrane resonator capacitively coupled to an rf injection circuit made of a microfabricated read-out able to improve the electro-optomechanical interaction. This device configuration can be embedded in a...

journal article 2023

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Active feedback cooling of a SiN membrane resonator by electrostatic actuation

Borrielli, A. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Serra, E. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Morana, B. (author)

Feedback-based control techniques are useful tools in precision measurements as they allow us to actively shape the mechanical response of high quality factor oscillators used in force detection measurements. In this paper, we implement a feedback technique on a high-stress low-loss SiN membrane resonator, exploiting the charges trapped on...

journal article 2021

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Silicon-nitride nanosensors toward room temperature quantum optomechanics

Serra, E. (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Marin, Francesco (author), Marino, Francesco (author), Malossi, Nicola (author), Morana, B. (author), Piergentili, Paolo (author), Prodi, Giovanni Andrea (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author)

Micro- and nanomechanical resonators play a prominent part in many sensing and signal processing platforms due to their capability to pervasively couple with a wide variety of physical systems. Particularly relevant is their embedding in advanced optomechanical setups, which has recently pioneered optically cooled mechanical oscillators...

journal article 2021

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Sympathetic cooling of a radio-frequency LC circuit to its ground state in an optoelectromechanical system

Malossi, Nicola (author), Piergentili, Paolo (author), Li, J. (author), Serra, E. (author), Natali, Riccardo (author), Di Giuseppe, Giovanni (author), Vitali, David (author)

We present a complete theory for laser cooling of a macroscopic radio-frequency LC electrical circuit by means of an optoelectromechanical system, consisting of an optical cavity dispersively coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator, which is in turn capacitively coupled to the LC circuit of interest. The driven optical cavity cools the...

journal article 2021

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Probing quantum gravity effects with quantum mechanical oscillators

Bonaldi, Michele (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Chowdhury, Avishek (author), Di Giuseppe, Gianni (author), Morana, B. (author), Piergentili, Paolo (author), Prodi, Giovanni A. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author)

Abstract: Phenomenological models aiming to join gravity and quantum mechanics often predict effects that are potentially measurable in refined low-energy experiments. For instance, modified commutation relations between position and momentum, that account for a minimal scale length, yield a dynamics that can be codified in additional...

journal article 2020

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Quantum Signature of a Squeezed Mechanical Oscillator

Chowdhury, A. (author), Vezio, P. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Marino, F. (author), Morana, B. (author), Prodi, G. A. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author), Marin, F. (author)

Recent optomechanical experiments have observed nonclassical properties in macroscopic mechanical oscillators. A key indicator of such properties is the asymmetry in the strength of the motional sidebands produced in the probe electromagnetic field, which is originated by the noncommutativity between the oscillator ladder operators. Here we...

journal article 2020

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Quantum motion of a squeezed mechanical oscillator attained via an optomechanical experiment

Vezio, P. (author), Chowdhury, A. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Marino, F. (author), Morana, B. (author), Prodi, G.A. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author), Marin, F. (author)

We experimentally investigate a mechanical squeezed state realized in a parametrically modulated membrane resonator embedded in an optical cavity. We demonstrate that a quantum characteristic of the squeezed dynamics can be revealed and quantified even in a moderately warm oscillator, through the analysis of motional sidebands. We provide a...

journal article 2020

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Calibrated quantum thermometry in cavity optomechanics

Chowdhury, A. (author), Vezio, P. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Marino, F. (author), Morana, B. (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author)

Cavity optomechanics has achieved the major breakthrough of the preparation and observation of macroscopic mechanical oscillators in non-classical states. The development of reliable indicators of the oscillator properties in these conditions is important also for applications to quantum technologies. We compare two procedures to infer the...

journal article 2019

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Quantum nondemolition measurement of optical field fluctuations by optomechanical interaction

Pontin, A. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Marconi, L. (author), Marino, F. (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Prodi, G.A. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author), Marin, F. (author)

According to quantum mechanics, if we keep observing a continuous variable we generally disturb its evolution. For a class of observables, however, it is possible to implement a so-called quantum nondemolition measurement: by confining the perturbation to the conjugate variable, the observable is estimated with arbitrary accuracy, or prepared...

journal article 2018

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MEMS-based multi-modal vibration energy harvesters for ultra-low power autonomous remote and distributed sensing

Iannacci, J. (author), Serra, E. (author), Sordo, G. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Schmid, U. (author), Schneider, M.D. (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author)

In this contribution, we discuss the implementation of a novel microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS)-based energy harvester (EH) concept within the technology platform available at the ISAS Institute (TU Vienna, Austria). The device, already presented by the authors, exploits the piezoelectric effect to convert environmental vibrations energy...

journal article 2018

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Silicon Nitride MOMS Oscillator for Room Temperature Quantum Optomechanics

Serra, E. (author), Morana, B. (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Marin, Francesco (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Pontin, Antonio (author), Prodi, Giovanni Andrea (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Bonaldi, Michele (author)

Optomechanical SiN nano-oscillators in high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavities can be used to investigate the interaction between mechanical and optical degree of freedom for ultra-sensitive metrology and fundamental quantum mechanical studies. In this paper, we present a nano-oscillator made of a high-stress round-shaped SiN membrane with an...

journal article 2018

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Imaging Correlations in Heterodyne Spectra for Quantum Displacement Sensing

Pontin, A. (author), Lang, J.E. (author), Chowdhury, A. (author), Vezio, P. (author), Marino, F. (author), Morana, B. (author), Serra, E. (author), Marin, F. (author), Monteiro, T.S. (author)

The extraordinary sensitivity of the output field of an optical cavity to small quantum-scale displacements has led to breakthroughs such as the first detection of gravitational waves and of the motions of quantum ground-state cooled mechanical oscillators. While heterodyne detection of the output optical field of an optomechanical system...

journal article 2018

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Normal-Mode Splitting in a Weakly Coupled Optomechanical System

Rossi, Massimiliano (author), Kralj, Nenad (author), Zippilli, Stefano (author), Natali, Riccardo (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Serra, E. (author), Di Giuseppe, Giovanni (author), Vitali, David (author)

Normal-mode splitting is the most evident signature of strong coupling between two interacting subsystems. It occurs when two subsystems exchange energy between themselves faster than they dissipate it to the environment. Here we experimentally show that a weakly coupled optomechanical system at room temperature can manifest normal-mode...

journal article 2018

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Quantum nondemolition measurement of light intensity fluctuations in an optomechanical experiment

Pontin, A. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Marconi, L. (author), Marino, F. (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Prodi, G.A. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Serra, E. (author), Marin, F. (author)

Summary form only given. According to quantum mechanics, there exists a class of observables for which is possible to confine the perturbation produced by a continuous measurement to the conjugate variable. Therefore, it is possible to devise experimental schemes that allow estimating the observed variable with arbitrary accuracy, or preparing...

abstract 2017

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Enhancing Sideband Cooling by Feedback-Controlled Light

Rossi, Massimiliano (author), Kralj, Nenad (author), Zippilli, Stefano (author), Natali, Riccardo (author), Borrielli, Antonio (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Serra, E. (author), Di Giuseppe, Giovanni (author), Vitali, David (author)

We realize a phase-sensitive closed-loop control scheme to engineer the fluctuations of the pump field which drives an optomechanical system and show that the corresponding cooling dynamics can be significantly improved. In particular, operating in the counterintuitive "antisquashing" regime of positive feedback and increased field...

journal article 2017

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Microfabrication of large-area circular high-stress silicon nitride membranes for optomechanical applications

Serra, E. (author), Bawaj, M. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Di Giuseppe, G. (author), Forte, S. (author), Kralj, N. (author), Malossi, N. (author), Marconi, L. (author), Marin, F. (author), Marino, F. (author), Morana, B. (author), Natali, R. (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Pontin, A. (author), Prodi, G.A. (author), Rossi, M. (author), Sarro, Pasqualina M (author), Vitali, D. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author)

In view of the integration of membrane resonators with more complex MEMS structures, we developed a general fabrication procedure for circular shape SiN_<i>x</i> membranes using Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE). Large area and high-stress SiN_<i>x</i> membranes were fabricated and used as optomechanical resonators in a...

journal article 2016

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Low-Loss Optomechanical Oscillator for Quantum-Optics Experiments

Borrielli, A. (author), Pontin, A. (author), Cataliotti, F.S. (author), Marconi, L. (author), Marin, F. (author), Marino, F. (author), Pandraud, G. (author), Prodi, G.A. (author), Serra, E. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author)

We present an oscillating micromirror with mechanical quality factors Q up to 1.2×106 at cryogenic temperature and optical losses lower than 20 ppm. The device is specifically designed to ease the detection of ponderomotive squeezing (or, more generally, to produce a cavity quantum optomechanical system) at frequencies of about 100 kHz. The...

journal article 2015

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Frequency-noise cancellation in optomechanical systems for ponderomotive squeezing

Pontin, A. (author), Biancofiore, C. (author), Serra, E. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Cataliotti, F.S. (author), Marino, F. (author), Prodi, G.A. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Marin, F. (author), Vitali, D. (author)

Ponderomotive squeezing of the output light of an optical cavity has been recently observed in the megahertz range in two different cavity optomechanical devices. Quadrature squeezing becomes particularly useful at lower spectral frequencies, for example, in gravitational wave interferometers, despite being more sensitive to excess phase and...

journal article 2014

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Detection of weak stochastic forces in a parametrically stabilized micro-optomechanical system

Pontin, A. (author), Bonaldi, M. (author), Borrielli, A. (author), Cataliotti, F.S. (author), Marino, F. (author), Prodi, G.A. (author), Serra, E. (author), Marin, F. (author)

Measuring a weak force is an important task for micromechanical systems, both when using devices as sensitive detectors and, particularly, in experiments of quantum mechanics. The optimal strategy for resolving a weak stochastic signal force on a huge background (typically given by thermal noise) is a crucial and debated topic, and the stability...

journal article 2014