Optomechanical superpositions via nested interferometry

TL;DR

The paper proposes a nested interferometry scheme for creating macroscopic quantum superpositions in optomechanical systems, enabling decoherence observation with minimal device improvements.

Contribution

It introduces a nested interferometry approach that simplifies the creation of macroscopic superpositions and allows decoherence studies without requiring strong coupling.

Findings

Method works in weak coupling regime

Allows decoherence observation beyond optical decay time

Requires only small device parameter improvements

Abstract

We present a scheme for achieving macroscopic quantum superpositions in optomechanical systems by using single photon postselection and detecting them with nested interferometers. This method relieves many of the challenges associated with previous optical schemes for measuring macroscopic superpositions, and only requires the devices to be in the weak coupling regime. It requires only small improvements on currently achievable device parameters, and allows observation of decoherence on a timescale unconstrained by the system's optical decay time. Prospects for observing novel decoherence mechanisms are discussed.