Near-field coupling of a levitated nanoparticle to a photonic crystal cavity

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Magrini, Lorenzo, Norte, Richard A, Riedinger, Ralf, Marinković, Igor, Grass, David, Delić, Uroš, Gröblacher, Simon, Hong, Sungkun, Aspelmeyer, Markus
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 13.01.2019
• Subjects: Coupling; Nanoparticles; Opto-mechanics; Photonic crystals; Physics - Optics; Physics - Quantum Physics; Silicon dioxide
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1804.06676

Quantum control of levitated dielectric particles is an emerging subject in quantum optomechanics. A major challenge is to efficiently measure and manipulate the particle's motion at the Heisenberg uncertainty limit. Here we present a nanophotonic interface suited to address this problem. By optically trapping a 150 nm silica particle and placing it in the near field of a photonic crystal cavity, we achieve tunable single-photon optomechanical coupling of up to \(g_0/2\pi=9\) kHz, three orders of magnitude larger than previously reported for levitated cavity optomechanical systems. Efficient collection and guiding of light through the nanophotonic structure results in a per-photon displacement sensitivity that is increased by two orders of magnitude compared to conventional far-field detection. The demonstrated performance shows a promising route for room temperature quantum optomechanics.