Quantum dynamics of a high-finesse optical cavity coupled with a thin semi-transparent membrane

TL;DR

This paper investigates the quantum behavior of a cavity optomechanical system with a vibrating membrane, demonstrating that optical absorption does not prevent reaching quantum ground states and entanglement.

Contribution

It derives a comprehensive multimode Hamiltonian and analyzes the impact of membrane absorption on quantum regime accessibility in cavity optomechanics.

Findings

Membrane absorption does not significantly hinder quantum ground state cooling.

Ground state cooling and entanglement are achievable with current technology.

The study provides a detailed theoretical framework for cavity-membrane quantum dynamics.

Abstract

We study the quantum dynamics of the cavity optomechanical system formed by a Fabry-Perot cavity with a thin vibrating membrane at its center. We first derive the general multimode Hamiltonian describing the radiation pressure interaction between the cavity modes and the vibrational modes of the membrane. We then restrict the analysis to the standard case of a single cavity mode interacting with a single mechanical resonator and we determine to what extent optical absorption by the membrane hinder reaching a quantum regime for the cavity-membrane system. We show that membrane absorption does not pose serious limitations and that one can simultaneously achieve ground state cooling of a vibrational mode of the membrane and stationary optomechanical entanglement with state-of-the-art apparatuses.