Optically Mediated Hybridization Between Two Mechanical Modes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how two nearly degenerate mechanical modes coupled via an optical cavity can hybridize into bright and dark modes, enabling efficient energy transfer and strong optomechanical interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a system where optical coupling induces hybridization of mechanical modes, achieving near-complete mode mixing and efficient energy transfer.

Findings

99.5% hybridization of mechanical modes

40% energy transfer efficiency

Distinct bright and dark mode behaviors

Abstract

In this paper we study a system consisting of two nearly degenerate mechanical modes that couple to a single mode of an optical cavity. We show that this coupling leads to nearly complete (99.5%) hybridization of the two mechanical modes into a bright mode that experiences strong optomechanical interactions and a dark mode that experiences almost no optomechanical interactions. We use this hybridization to transfer energy between the mechanical modes with 40% efficiency.