Cavity-free quantum optomechanical cooling by atom-modulated radiation

TL;DR

This paper proposes a cavity-free quantum optomechanical cooling method using atom-modulated radiation, enabling ground state cooling of a mechanical oscillator without cavities or perfect alignment.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cavity-free cooling strategy that manipulates radiation sidebands via atomic driving to achieve net cooling of a mechanical mirror.

Findings

Net cooling of the mechanical mirror is achievable without cavities.

The method can reach the motional ground state.

It offers a cavity-free alternative for quantum cooling.

Abstract

We theoretically study the radiation-induced interaction between the mechanical motion of an oscillating mirror and a remotely trapped atomic cloud. When illuminated by continuous-wave radiation, the mirror motion will induce red and blue sideband radiation, which respectively increases and reduces motional excitation. We find that by suitably driving $\Lambda$-level atoms, the mirror correlation with a specific radiation sideband could be converted from the outgoing to the incoming radiation. Such process allows us to manipulate the heating and cooling effects. Particularly, we develop an optomechanical cooling strategy that can mutually cancel the heating effect of the outgoing and incoming radiations, thus the motional ground state is attainable by net cooling. Without the necessity of cavity installation or perfect alignment, our proposal complements other efforts in quantum cooling of macroscopic objects.