Quantum optical control of micro-mechanical resonators

摘要: Optomechanical interactions in high-finesse cavities offer a new promising route for the ongoing experimental efforts to achieve and to control the quantum regime of massive mechanical systems using the available toolbox of quantum optics. For example, they allow to cool mechanical degrees of freedom of movable mirrors via radiation-pressure backaction, in principle even into their quantum ground state. Ground-state cooling will eventually require to realize the scheme in a cryogenic environment. We have taken this next step and realized stable operation of a high-finesse cavity inside a 4 He cryostat [1]. This allowed us to show radiation-pressure laser cooling of a micro-mechanical kHz resonator from a base temperature of 5 K to approximately 1.3 mK, which corresponds to a thermal occupation factor of< n>= 32±4 [2]. Heating effects, eg due to absorption of photons in the micromirror, could not be observed …