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Observation of Quantum Motion of a Nanomechanical Resonator

Source: Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 033602 (2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.033602

Published 17 January 2012

PACS
  • 42.50.Wk
    Mechanical effects of light on material media, microstructures and particles
  • 42.65.-k
    Nonlinear optics
  • 62.25.-g
    Mechanical properties of nanoscale systems
  • YEAR: 2011
PUBLICATION DATA
ISSN:
1553-9644 (online)
Publisher:
AIP is a member of CrossRef APS
Amir H. Safavi-Naeini, Jasper Chan, Jeff T. Hill, Thiago P. Mayer Alegre, Alex Krause, and Oskar Painter
Thomas J. Watson, Sr., Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
In this Letter we use resolved sideband laser cooling to cool a mesoscopic mechanical resonator to near its quantum ground state (phonon occupancy 2.6±0.2), and observe the motional sidebands generated on a second probe laser. Asymmetry in the sideband amplitudes provides a direct measure of the displacement noise power associated with quantum zero-point fluctuations of the nanomechanical resonator, and allows for an intrinsic calibration of the phonon occupation number.
History: Received 14 September 2011; published 17 January 2012
Digital Object Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.033602
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