Unraveling nonclassicality in the optomechanical instability

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that continuous optical measurements can reveal nonclassical behavior in optomechanical limit cycles, even in regimes previously thought to be classical, with potential for experimental realization.

Contribution

It introduces a method to uncover nonclassicality in optomechanical limit cycles using measurement techniques, applicable even in the sideband-unresolved regime.

Findings

Nonclassical limit cycles can be observed with continuous measurements.

Significant reduction in mechanical amplitude fluctuations predicted.

Applicable to realistic experimental parameters.

Abstract

Conditional dynamics due to continuous optical measurements has successfully been applied for state reconstruction and feedback cooling in optomechanical systems. In this article, we show that the same measurement techniques can be used to unravel nonclassicality in optomechanical limit cycles. In contrast to unconditional dynamics, our approach gives rise to nonclassical limit cycles even in the sideband-unresolved regime, where the cavity decay rate exceeds the mechanical frequency. We predict a significant reduction of the mechanical amplitude fluctuations for realistic experimental parameters.