Optomechanical Dark Mode

Abstract

Inducing a Quiet Space: The interaction between light and matter forms the foundation of many applications in communication and sensing, as well as provides insights into fundamental quantum-level processes. Optical coupling of a mechanical system can be used to study these processes. However, because the mechanical oscillator is unavoidably coupled to its environment, thermal noise can spoil the sensitivity of the optomechanical coupling. Dong et al. (p. 1609 , published online 15 November) exploit the ability to form a mechanical “dark state” that can effectively isolate the mechanical system from thermal-induced noise. The formation of such a noise-free zone may provide a simpler route to probe quantum optomechanical systems that circumvents the need to cool the oscillator to its quantum limit where all thermal motion is frozen out.