Quantum motion of a squeezed mechanical oscillator attained via a optomechanical experiment

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental creation and analysis of a quantum squeezed state in a mechanical oscillator using optomechanics, revealing quantum features through motional sideband analysis even at moderate temperatures.

Contribution

It introduces a method to detect quantum squeezing in a mechanical oscillator via motional sidebands without absolute calibration, extending quantum state observation to warmer regimes.

Findings

Quantum squeezed states were successfully generated and observed.

Motional sidebands reveal quantum squeezing signatures.

Quantum features are detectable even with residual fluctuations below zero-point.

Abstract

We experimentally investigate a mechanical squeezed state realized in a parametrically-modulated membrane resonator embedded in an optical cavity. We demonstrate that a quantum characteristic of the squeezed dynamics can be revealed and quantified even in a moderately warm oscillator, through the analysis of motional sidebands. We provide a theoretical framework for quantitatively interpreting the observations and present an extended comparison with the experiment. A notable result is that the spectral shape of each motional sideband provides a clear signature of a quantum mechanical squeezed state without the necessity of absolute calibrations, in particular in the regime where residual fluctuations in the squeezed quadrature are reduced below the zero-point level.