High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator

Abstract In recent years, levitated optomechanics has delivered on the promise of reaching the motional quantum ground state. An important next milestone of the field would be the generation of mechanical entanglement. An ideal candidate is the two-dimensional motion in the polarization plane of an...

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Main Authors: Q. Deplano, A. Pontin, A. Ranfagni, F. Marino, F. Marin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59213-3
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author Q. Deplano
A. Pontin
A. Ranfagni
F. Marino
F. Marin
author_facet Q. Deplano
A. Pontin
A. Ranfagni
F. Marino
F. Marin
author_sort Q. Deplano
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In recent years, levitated optomechanics has delivered on the promise of reaching the motional quantum ground state. An important next milestone of the field would be the generation of mechanical entanglement. An ideal candidate is the two-dimensional motion in the polarization plane of an optical tweezer inside an optical cavity, where optical and mechanical modes are coupled via coherent scattering. Achieving this goal requires two key conditions: two-dimensional ground state cooling along with substantial spectral overlap between the two modes. The latter is essential to generate the necessary correlations, but unfortunately, it hinders efficient cooling thus narrowing the useful parameter space. In this work, we report the achievement of a high purity two-dimensional state in a regime where the strong optomechanical coupling induces the desired spectral overlap between oscillations in different directions, as reflected in the non-trivial spectral shape of the detected cavity field. As a result, significant correlations consistently arise between any pair of orthogonal directions, preventing the motion from being reduced to two independent one-dimensional oscillators and leading to higher purity compared to that scenario. Our system serves as an excellent platform for realizing continuous variable entanglement in two-dimensional motion.
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spelling doaj-art-598664d821f84fbcaf945e2ccd46c5f92025-08-20T01:49:43ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-011611610.1038/s41467-025-59213-3High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillatorQ. Deplano0A. Pontin1A. Ranfagni2F. Marino3F. Marin4Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di FirenzeCNR-INODipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di FirenzeINFN, Sezione di FirenzeDipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di FirenzeAbstract In recent years, levitated optomechanics has delivered on the promise of reaching the motional quantum ground state. An important next milestone of the field would be the generation of mechanical entanglement. An ideal candidate is the two-dimensional motion in the polarization plane of an optical tweezer inside an optical cavity, where optical and mechanical modes are coupled via coherent scattering. Achieving this goal requires two key conditions: two-dimensional ground state cooling along with substantial spectral overlap between the two modes. The latter is essential to generate the necessary correlations, but unfortunately, it hinders efficient cooling thus narrowing the useful parameter space. In this work, we report the achievement of a high purity two-dimensional state in a regime where the strong optomechanical coupling induces the desired spectral overlap between oscillations in different directions, as reflected in the non-trivial spectral shape of the detected cavity field. As a result, significant correlations consistently arise between any pair of orthogonal directions, preventing the motion from being reduced to two independent one-dimensional oscillators and leading to higher purity compared to that scenario. Our system serves as an excellent platform for realizing continuous variable entanglement in two-dimensional motion.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59213-3
spellingShingle Q. Deplano
A. Pontin
A. Ranfagni
F. Marino
F. Marin
High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator
Nature Communications
title High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator
title_full High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator
title_fullStr High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator
title_full_unstemmed High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator
title_short High purity two-dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator
title_sort high purity two dimensional levitated mechanical oscillator
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59213-3
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