Verhagen, Ewold

Date:    Monday, May 16, 2022
Time:   10:00
Place:   ETH Zurich, Campus Hönggerberg, HPF G 6
Host:    Yiwen Chu

Putting the squeeze on nanomechanical resonators

Ewold Verhagen
AMOLF, Netherlands

In cavity optomechanics, laser fields are used to measure and control the motion of mechanical resonators in new ways, in both classical and quantum regimes. Suitable driving can induce mechanical squeezing, which reduces uncertainty of specific observables while amplifying others. In this talk, I discuss the use of optomechanical squeezing in quantum metrology and in the study of unusual non-Hermitian dynamics in bosonic networks. We demonstrate a new mechanism for mechanical squeezing using strong interactions with short laser pulses in nano-optomechanical resonators. This mechanism is compatible with low-frequency mechanical resonators and extends to the quantum domain without limitation, opening new possibilities in quantum sensing and coherent state transduction. Moving to multi-mode optomechanical systems, we show that the introduction of squeezing interactions leads to unique states in mechanical resonator networks, with potential implications for non-Hermitian topological phases and the enhancement of sensor performance. Using radiation pressure to control both non-Hermitian dynamics and the breaking of time-reversal symmetry, we demonstrate chiral amplification of nanomechanical signals and new forms of unidirectional bosonic transport.