Phonon number measurements using single photon opto-mechanics

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel opto-mechanical system that enables phonon number measurements by combining coupled optical cavities, a mechanical resonator, and single photon detection, effectively realizing a Jaynes-Cummings model for phonon state engineering.

Contribution

It introduces a new scheme for phonon number measurement using a hybrid opto-mechanical setup that models a Jaynes-Cummings interaction with a dual rail optical qubit.

Findings

Demonstrates the feasibility of engineering phonon number states via photon counting.

Provides a theoretical framework for conditional mechanical state preparation.

Shows potential for quantum control of mechanical oscillators.

Abstract

We describe a system composed of two coupled optical cavity modes with a coupling modulated by a bulk mechanical resonator. In addition, one of the cavity modes is irreversibly coupled to a single photon source. Our scheme is an opto-mechanical realisation of the Jaynes-Cummings model where the qubit is a dual rail optical qubit while the bosonic degree of freedom is a matter degree of freedom realised as the bulk mechanical excitation. We show the possibility of engineering phonon number states of the mechanical oscillator in such a system by computing the conditional state of the mechanics after successive photon counting measurements.