Abstract

Due to the prospect of transferring the optical quantum control achieved with ions and atoms also to macroscopic mechanical oscillators, cavity optomechanics [1,2] has been an increasingly active research field commencing with the first demonstration of radiation pressure dynamical backaction cooling more than half a decade ago. By optimizing the optical and mechanical quality factors and operating at cryogenic temperatures, quantum-coherent coupling could be achieved [3]. Simultaneously, it has been shown that nanomechanical resonators based on photonic crystals can be advantageous, as they offer low phonon occupancies $(\overline{n}=k_{B}T/\hslash \Omega )$ due to the high vacuum optomechanical coupling rates and high mechanical frequencies in the GHz domain [4]. To fully exploit the potential of these systems, sensitive measurement techniques need to be developed.

© 2013 IEEE