Heralded Preparation and Readout of Entangled Phonons in a Photonic Crystal Cavity

TL;DR

This paper presents a practical protocol for generating and detecting entangled phonon states in an optomechanical system using a photonic crystal cavity, enabling heralded state preparation and readout through optical postselection.

Contribution

It introduces a realistic method for creating and measuring mechanical Bell states in optomechanical systems, applicable to various setups with similar parameters.

Findings

Heralded generation of entangled phonons demonstrated.

Interference patterns reveal nonclassical states.

Protocol applicable to different optomechanical systems.

Abstract

We propose a realistic protocol for the preparation and readout of mechanical Bell states in an optomechanical system. The proposal relies on parameters characterizing a photonic crystal cavity mode, coupled to two localized flexural modes of the structure, but equally applies to other optomechanical systems in the same parameter range. The nonclassical states are heralded via optical postselection and revealed in specific interference patterns characterizing the emission at the cavity frequency.