Optical self-cooling of a membrane oscillator in a cavity optomechanical experiment at room temperature
P. Vezio (University of Florence)
M. Bonaldi (University of Roma Tre, Fondazione Bruno Kessler)
Antonio Borrielli (University of Roma Tre, Fondazione Bruno Kessler)
Francesco Marino (Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Sezione di Firenze)
Bruno Morana (TU Delft - EKL Equipment, Fondazione Bruno Kessler)
P.M. Sarro (TU Delft - Electronic Components, Technology and Materials)
Enrico Serra (University of Roma Tre, TU Delft - Electronic Components, Technology and Materials)
Francesco Marin (Sezione di Firenze, European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche)
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Abstract
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 is therefore interesting to explore the possibility of achieving the quantum regime in room-temperature experiments. In this work we test the limits of sideband-cooling vibration modes of a SiN membrane in a cavity optomechanical experiment. We obtain an effective temperature of a few millikelvins, corresponding to a phononic occupation number of around 100. We show that further cooling is prevented by the excess classical noise of our laser source, and we outline the road toward the achievement of ground state cooling.