Simultaneous ponderomotive squeezing of light by two mechanical modes in an optomechanical system

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates simultaneous ponderomotive squeezing of light using two high-Q mechanical modes in an optomechanical system at cryogenic temperatures, extending squeezing capabilities beyond a single mode.

Contribution

The study introduces a method to generate simultaneous squeezing from multiple mechanical modes in an optomechanical cavity, enhancing the potential for quantum optics applications.

Findings

Achieved 4.8 dB and 4.2 dB squeezing in two mechanical modes

Demonstrated extension of squeezing beyond a single octave

Projected squeezing levels of 7.3 dB and 6.8 dB with homodyne detection

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate a source of squeezed light featuring simultaneous ponderomotive squeezing from two mechanical modes of an optomechanical system. We use ultra-coherent vibrational modes ($Q$ factors on the order of $10^{8}$) of a soft-clamped membrane placed in a Fabry-P\'erot optical cavity at cryogenic conditions ($T=11\,\mathrm{K}$) and driven by quantum fluctuations in the intensity of light to create correlations between amplitude and phase quadratures of the intra-cavity light field. Continuous optical monitoring was conducted on two different mechanical modes with a frequency separation of around $1\,\mathrm{MHz}$. As a result of the interaction between the membrane position and the light, we generated ponderomotive squeezing of $4.8\,\mathrm{dB}$ for the first localized mechanical mode at $1.32\,\mathrm{MHz}$ and $4.2\,\mathrm{dB}$ for the second localized mode at $2.43\,\mathrm{MHz}$, as observed in direct detection when correcting for the detection inefficiency. Thus, we have demonstrated how squeezed light generation can be extended beyond a single octave in an optomechanical system by leveraging more than one mechanical mode. Utilizing homodyne detection to detect squeezing in an optimal quadrature would lead to squeezing levels at the output of the cavity of $7.3\,\mathrm{dB}$ and $6.8\,\mathrm{dB}$, in the two modes respectively. Squeezing of light demonstrated here for near-infrared light can be achieved in a broad range of wavelengths due to the relative insensitivity of optomechanical interaction with SiN membranes to the wavelength.