Optomechanical Two-Photon Hopping

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that two-photon hopping between coupled cavities can be achieved through higher order resonant processes mediated by a vibrating mirror, opening new avenues for quantum control in optomechanical systems.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for photon-pair hopping via higher order processes in optomechanical cavities, expanding the understanding of photon transport in such systems.

Findings

Photon-pair hopping is achievable with current experimental parameters.

Two-photon hopping is driven by higher order resonant processes, not tunneling.

The system enables investigation of new photon propagation mechanisms in optomechanical lattices.

Abstract

The hopping mechanism plays a key role in collective phenomena emerging in many-body physics. The ability to create and control systems that display this feature is important for next generation quantum technologies. Here we study two cavities separated by a vibrating two-sided perfect mirror and show that, within currently available experimental parameters, this system displays photon-pair hopping between the two electromagnetic resonators. In particular, the two-photon hopping is not due to tunneling, but rather to higher order resonant processes. Starting from the classical problem, where the vibrating mirror perfectly separates the two sides of the cavity, we quantize the system and then the two sides can interact. This opens the possibility to investigate a new mechanism of photon-pair propagation in optomechanical lattices.