Storing light as a mechanical excitation in a silica optomechanical resonator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates experimentally how light can be stored as a mechanical vibration in a silica resonator, enabling controlled storage and retrieval of optical signals through optomechanical coupling.

Contribution

It introduces a method for optomechanical light storage in silica resonators using mechanical excitations controlled by laser pulses, a novel approach in the field.

Findings

Successful demonstration of light storage in a silica resonator.

Storage lifetime governed by mechanical damping time.

Controlled mapping between optical and mechanical states achieved.

Abstract

We report the experimental demonstration of optomechanical light storage in a silica resonator. We use writing and readout laser pulses tuned to one mechanical frequency below an optical cavity resonance to control the coupling between the mechanical displacement and the optical field at the cavity resonance. The writing pulse maps a signal pulse at the cavity resonance to a mechanical excitation. The readout pulse later converts the mechanical excitation back to an optical pulse. The light storage lifetime is determined by the relatively long damping time of the mechanical excitation.