Interference effects in hybrid cavity optomechanics

TL;DR

This paper explores how interference effects between radiation pressure and quantum emitter interactions in hybrid cavity optomechanics can enhance cooling and entanglement, opening new avenues for engineering optomechanical systems.

Contribution

It demonstrates how interference between different forces in a hybrid system can improve cooling and entanglement, providing a new perspective on controlling optomechanical interactions.

Findings

Interference between radiation pressure and Tavis--Cummings interaction enhances cooling.

Hybrid system enables regimes where individual forces are ineffective.

Results suggest potential for engineering advanced optomechanical devices.

Abstract

Radiation pressure forces in cavity optomechanics allow for efficient cooling of vibrational modes of macroscopic mechanical resonators, the manipulation of their quantum states, as well as generation of optomechanical entanglement. The standard mechanism relies on the cavity photons directly modifying the state of the mechanical resonator. Hybrid cavity optomechanics provides an alternative approach by coupling mechanical objects to quantum emitters, either directly or indirectly via the common interaction with a cavity field mode. While many approaches exist, they typically share a simple effective description in terms of a single force acting on the mechanical resonator. More generally, one can study the interplay between various forces acting on the mechanical resonator in such hybrid mechanical devices. This interplay can lead to interference effects that may, for instance, improve cooling of the mechanical motion or lead to generation of entanglement between various parts of the hybrid device. Here, we provide such an example of a hybrid optomechanical system where an ensemble of quantum emitters is embedded into the mechanical resonator formed by a vibrating membrane. The interference between the radiation pressure force and the mechanically modulated Tavis--Cummings interaction leads to enhanced cooling dynamics in regimes in which neither force is efficient by itself. Our results pave the way towards engineering novel optomechanical interactions in hybrid optomechanical systems.