Self-referenced opto-mechanical oscillator

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel self-referenced method for stabilizing the frequency of an opto-mechanical oscillator by exploiting differences in temperature and strain dependencies, achieving microKelvin level temperature control without external references.

Contribution

It presents a new approach to frequency stabilization of opto-mechanical oscillators using intrinsic mode dependencies, potentially surpassing thermodynamic limits.

Findings

Mechanical resonator temperature stabilized to microKelvin levels.

Method eliminates need for external temperature or frequency references.

Potential to reach or exceed thermodynamic performance limits.

Abstract

We propose a method for frequency stabilization of a resonant opto-mechanical oscillator utilizing the different temperature and strain dependence of the optical and mechanical modes. In particular, we show that the temperature of the mechanical resonator can be stabilized to microKelvin level without the need for an external temperature or frequency reference. The method is promising for reaching the thermodynamically limited performance of opto-mechanical oscillators, and even for lifting the thermodynamic limit.