Coupled multimode optomechanics in the microwave regime

¹ Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics, Center for NanoScience and Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München - Theresienstr. 37, D-80333 München, Germany, EU
² Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg - Staudtstr. 7, 91058 Erlangen, Germany, EU

Received: 18 May 2010
Accepted: 23 December 2010

Abstract

The motion of micro- and nanomechanical resonators can be coupled to electromagnetic fields. This allows one to explore the mutual interaction and introduces new means to manipulate and control both light and mechanical motion. Such optomechanical systems have recently been implemented in nanoelectromechanical systems involving a nanomechanical beam coupled to a superconducting microwave resonator. Here, we propose optomechanical systems that involve multiple, coupled microwave resonators. In contrast to similar systems in the optical realm, the coupling frequency governing photon exchange between microwave modes is naturally comparable to typical mechanical frequencies. For instance this enables new ways to manipulate the microwave field, such as mechanically driving coherent photon dynamics between different modes. In particular we investigate two setups where the electromagnetic field is coupled either linearly or quadratically to the displacement of a nanomechanical beam. The latter scheme allows one to perform QND Fock state detection. For experimentally realistic parameters we predict the possibility to measure an individual quantum jump from the mechanical ground state to the first excited state.