Injection locking of an electro-optomechanical device

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates radiation-pressure driven injection locking of an optomechanical device using an electrical interface, achieving phase noise reduction, frequency tuning, and revealing new synchronization dynamics with potential for scalable sensor arrays.

Contribution

First demonstration of electrical injection locking in an optomechanical system, enabling enhanced control, noise suppression, and new synchronization behaviors.

Findings

Phase noise reduced by over 55 dBc/Hz at 2 Hz offset

Oscillation frequency tunable by over 2 million times its linewidth

Uncovered new synchronization dynamics enabled by inertial drive

Abstract

The techniques of cavity optomechanics have enabled significant achievements in precision sensing, including the detection of gravitational waves and the cooling of mechanical systems to their quantum ground state. Recently, the inherent non-linearity in the optomechanical interaction has been harnessed to explore synchronization effects, including the spontaneous locking of an oscillator to a reference injection signal delivered via the optical field. Here, we present the first demonstration of a radiation-pressure driven optomechanical system locking to an inertial drive, with actuation provided by an integrated electrical interface. We use the injection signal to suppress drift in the optomechanical oscillation frequency, strongly reducing phase noise by over 55 dBc/Hz at 2 Hz offset. We further employ the injection tone to tune the oscillation frequency by more than 2 million times its narrowed linewidth. In addition, we uncover previously unreported synchronization dynamics, enabled by the independence of the inertial drive from the optical drive field. Finally, we show that our approach may enable control of the optomechanical gain competition between different mechanical modes of a single resonator. The electrical interface allows enhanced scalability for future applications involving arrays of injection-locked precision sensors.