Cavity electromechanics with parametric mechanical driving

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how parametric mechanical driving in cavity electromechanical systems can enable phase-sensitive microwave amplification and cooling, enhancing functionalities for quantum-limited microwave devices.

Contribution

It introduces a method for direct parametric manipulation of a nanobeam resonator, adding new capabilities to microwave optomechanical systems.

Findings

Parametric modulation of the nanobeam resonance frequency acts as a phase-sensitive amplifier.

The technique allows simultaneous mechanical cooling and microwave amplification.

Potential for quantum-limited operation in microwave amplification devices.

Abstract

Microwave optomechanical circuits have been demonstrated in the past years to be extremely powerfool tools for both, exploring fundamental physics of macroscopic mechanical oscillators as well as being promising candidates for novel on-chip quantum limited microwave devices. In most experiments so far, the mechanical oscillator is either used as a passive device element and its displacement is detected using the superconducting cavity or manipulated by intracavity fields. Here, we explore the possibility to directly and parametrically manipulate the mechanical nanobeam resonator of a cavity electromechanical system, which provides additional functionality to the toolbox of microwave optomechanical devices. In addition to using the cavity as an interferometer to detect parametrically modulated mechanical displacement and squeezed thermomechanical motion, we demonstrate that parametric modulation of the nanobeam resonance frequency can realize a phase-sensitive parametric amplifier for intracavity microwave photons. In contrast to many other microwave amplification schemes using electromechanical circuits, the presented technique allows for simultaneous cooling of the mechanical element, which potentially enables this type of optomechanical microwave amplifier to be quantum-limited.