Speaker: Mikolaj Schmidt
Affiliation: Macquarie University, Australia
Date: Thursday, 23 March 2023 at 12:00
Location: Online seminar
Quantum acoustics explores the non-classical dynamics of vibrating mechanical systems –– pendulums oscillating at exceedingly high frequencies with vanishingly small amplitudes [1]. It constitutes an entirely new platform for implementing quantum technologies, and offers to cooperate with optical and electronic components to form a new paradigm of hybrid quantum systems. However, at the moment quantum acoustics lacks a central component that enabled the success of the optical or electronic platforms –– a source of a quantum nonlinearity. In this talk I will show two platforms which can implement this key characteristic: strain-coupled transitions between states of an NV which form an acoustic two-level system [3], and a molecular vibration with strong anharmonicity [4].
[1] M. Aspelmeyer et al., “Cavity optomechanics,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 86, 1391 (2014).
[2] D. Lee et al., “Topical review: spins and mechanics in diamond,” J. Opt. 19, 033001 (2017).
[3] M. K. Schmidt et al., “Acoustic diamond resonators with ultra-small mode volumes,” Phys. Rev. Research 2, 033153 (2021).
[4] M. K. Schmidt and M. J. Steel, “Molecular optomechanics in the anharmonic regime,” in preparation.