Energy Measurements and Preparation of Canonical Phase States of a Nano-Mechanical Resonator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method for continuous quantum non-demolition energy measurement of a nanomechanical resonator using a quantum point contact and Cooper-pair box, enabling preparation of non-classical states.

Contribution

It introduces a novel measurement technique for nanomechanical resonators and shows how to prepare non-classical states like phase-reference and noon states.

Findings

Quantum non-demolition measurement of energy achieved

Preparation of non-classical states demonstrated

Potential for advanced quantum control of resonators

Abstract

We show that a continuous quantum non-demolition measurement of the energy of a nanomechanical resonator can be achieved by monitoring the resonator with a quantum point contact via a Cooper-pair box. This technique can further be used to prepare highly non-classical states of two resonators, such as canonical phase-reference states, and so-called "noon" states.