Generalized non-reciprocity in an optomechanical circuit via synthetic magnetism and reservoir engineering

Synthetic magnetism has been used to control charge neutral excitations for applications ranging from classical beam steering to quantum simulation. In optomechanics, radiation-pressure-induced parametric coupling between optical (photon) and mechanical (phonon) excitations may be used to break time...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature physics 2017-05, Vol.13 (5), p.465-471
Main Authors: Fang, Kejie, Luo, Jie, Metelmann, Anja, Matheny, Matthew H., Marquardt, Florian, Clerk, Aashish A., Painter, Oskar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/766/1130/2800
639/766/400
Atomic
Circuit design
Circuits
Classical and Continuum Physics
Complex Systems
Condensed Matter Physics
Coupling
Devices
Holes
Lasers
Magnetism
Mathematical and Computational Physics
Molecular
Optical and Plasma Physics
Optoelectronics
Phonons
Photons
Physics
Reservoir engineering
Silicon
Theoretical
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Summary:Synthetic magnetism has been used to control charge neutral excitations for applications ranging from classical beam steering to quantum simulation. In optomechanics, radiation-pressure-induced parametric coupling between optical (photon) and mechanical (phonon) excitations may be used to break time-reversal symmetry, providing the prerequisite for synthetic magnetism. Here we design and fabricate a silicon optomechanical circuit with both optical and mechanical connectivity between two optomechanical cavities. Driving the two cavities with phase-correlated laser light results in a synthetic magnetic flux, which, in combination with dissipative coupling to the mechanical bath, leads to non-reciprocal transport of photons with 35 dB of isolation. Additionally, optical pumping with blue-detuned light manifests as a particle non-conserving interaction between photons and phonons, resulting in directional optical amplification of 12 dB in the isolator through-direction. These results suggest the possibility of using optomechanical circuits to create a more general class of non-reciprocal optical devices, and further, to enable new topological phases for both light and sound on a microchip. Combining synthetic magnetism and controlled dissipation, researchers created an optomechanical device in which photons and phonons are coupled, enabling non-reciprocal (asymmetric) photon transport and directional amplification.
ISSN:1745-2473
1745-2481
DOI:10.1038/nphys4009