Quantum noise of a Michelson-Sagnac interferometer with a translucent mechanical oscillator
- Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) and Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Callinstrasse 38, D-30167 Hannover (Germany)
- Theoretical Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow RU-119992 (Russian Federation)
Quantum fluctuations in the radiation pressure of light can excite stochastic motions of mechanical oscillators thereby realizing a linear quantum opto-mechanical coupling. When performing a precise measurement of the position of an oscillator, this coupling results in quantum radiation pressure noise. Up to now this effect has not been observed yet. Generally speaking, the strength of radiation pressure noise increases when the effective mass of the oscillator is decreased or when the power of the reflected light is increased. Recently, extremely light SiN membranes ({approx_equal}100 ng) with high mechanical Q values at room temperature ({>=}10{sup 6}) have attracted attention as low thermal noise mechanical oscillators. However, the power reflectance of these membranes is much lower than unity (<0.4 at a wavelength of 1064 nm) which makes the use of advanced interferometer recycling techniques to amplify the radiation pressure noise in a standard Michelson interferometer inefficient. Here, we propose and theoretically analyze a Michelson-Sagnac interferometer that includes the membrane as a common end mirror for the Michelson interferometer part. In this topology, both power and signal recycling can be used even if the reflectance of the membrane is much lower than unity. In particular, signal recycling is a useful tool because it does not involve a power increase at the membrane. We derive the formulas for the quantum radiation pressure noise and the shot noise of an oscillator position measurement and compare them with theoretical models of the thermal noise of a SiN membrane with a fundamental resonant frequency of 75 kHz and an effective mass of125 ng. We find that quantum radiation pressure noise should be observable with a power of 1 W at the central beam splitter of the interferometer and a membrane temperature of 1 K.
- OSTI ID:
- 21413313
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 81, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.033849; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
BEAM SPLITTING
COUPLING
EFFECTIVE MASS
FLUCTUATIONS
KHZ RANGE
MEMBRANES
MICHELSON INTERFEROMETER
MIRRORS
NOISE
OSCILLATORS
RADIATION PRESSURE
SIGNALS
SILICON NITRIDES
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
VISIBLE RADIATION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
FREQUENCY RANGE
INTERFEROMETERS
MASS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PNICTIDES
RADIATIONS
SILICON COMPOUNDS
VARIATIONS