Pierre Verlot

Université Paris-Saclay

We investigate a novel hybrid system composed of an ensemble of room temperature rare-earth ions embedded in a bulk crystal, intrinsically coupled to internal strain via the surrounding crystal field. We evidence the generation of a mechanical response under resonant light excitation. Thanks to an ultra-sensitive time- and space-resolved photodefle...

Hybrid quantum optomechanical systems offer an interface between a single two-level system and a macroscopical mechanical degree of freedom. In this work, we build a hybrid system made of a vibrating microwire coupled to a single semiconductor quantum dot (QD) via material strain. It was shown a few years ago, that the QD excitonic transition energ...

We report the first study on the thermal behavior of the stiffness of individual carbon nanotubes, which is achieved by measuring the resonance frequency of their fundamental mechanical bending modes. We observe a reduction of the Young’s modulus over a large temperature range with a slope −(173±65) ppm/K in its relative shift. These findings are r...

Hybrid quantum optomechanical systems¹ interface a macroscopic mechanical degree of freedom with a single two-level system such as a single spin2–4, a superconducting qubit5–7 or a single optical emitter8–12. Recently, hybrid systems operating in the microwave domain have witnessed impressive progress13,14. Concurrently, only a few experimental app...

We report the first study on the thermal behaviour of the stiffness of individual carbon nanotubes, which is achieved by measuring the resonance frequency of their fundamental mechanical bending modes. We observe a reduction of the Young's modulus over a large temperature range with a slope $-(173\pm 65)$ ppm/K in its relative shift. These findings...

We report on a nanomechanical engineering method to monitor matter growth in real time via e-beam electromechanical coupling. This method relies on the exceptional mass sensing capabilities of nanomechanical resonators. Focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) is employed to selectively grow platinum particles at the free end of singly clam...

Graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials associate remarkable mechanical, electronic, optical and phononic properties. As such, 2D materials are promising for hybrid systems that couple their elementary excitations (excitons, phonons) to their macroscopic mechanical modes. These built-in systems may yield enhanced strain-mediated couplin...

Owing to their low mass and outstanding mechanical figures of merit, graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials are ideal nano-electro-mechanical systems, for applications in mass and force sensing but also for studies of heat transport, non-linear mode coupling and optomechanical interactions. At the same time, 2D materials are endowed wi...

Electron beam microscopy is an important instrument in both research and technology, due to its ability to image matter at the nanometre scale. At the Institut Néel we have been employing a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to observe the mechanical vibrations of nanometre-scale mechanical devices, specifically semiconductor “nanowires“. These vib...

Nanowire antennas embedding a single quantum dot (QD) have recently emerged as versatile platforms to realize bright sources of quantum light. In this theoretical work, we show that the thermally driven, lowfrequency vibrations of the nanowire have a major impact on the QD light emission spectrum. Even at liquid helium temperatures, these prevent t...

We report on a nanomechanical engineering method to monitor matter growth in real time via e-beam electromechanical coupling. This method relies on the exceptional mass sensing capabilities of nanomechanical resonators. Focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) is employed to selectively grow platinum particles at the free end of singly clam...

Detecting nanomechanical motion has become an important challenge in Science and Technology. Recently, electromechanical coupling to focused electron beams has emerged as a promising method adapted to ultra-low scale systems. However the fundamental measurement processes associated with such complex interaction remain to be explored. Here we report...

In just 20 years of history, the field of optomechanics has achieved impressive progress, stepping into the quantum regime just 5 years ago. Such remarkable advance relies on the technological revolution of nano-optomechanical systems, whose sensitivity towards thermal decoherence is strongly limited due to their ultra-low mass. Here we report a hy...

Mechanical resonators based on low-dimensional materials provide a unique platform for exploring a broad range of physical phenomena. The mechanical vibrational states are indeed extremely sensitive to charges, spins, photons, and adsorbed masses. However, the roadblock is often the readout of the resonator, since the detection of the vibrational s...

In this work we couple the motion of nanotube-based resonators to a free propagating electron beam to demonstrate that singly-clamped nanotube resonators undergo thermally-driven Brownian motion.

In this paper we present our first experimental results towards the exploration of nano-optomechanical detection in the limit of a weak optical coupling. We have been able to measure and actively control SiC nanowires and carbon nanotube-based resonators.

Optically measuring in the photon counting regime is a recurrent challenge in modern physics and a guarantee to develop weakly invasive probes. Here we investigate this idea on a hybrid nano-optomechanical system composed of a nanowire hybridized to a single Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) defect. The vibrations of the nanoresonator grant a spatial degree of...

The ability to cool single ions, atomic ensembles, and more recently macroscopic degrees of freedom down to the quantum groundstate has generated considerable progress and perspectives in Basic and Technological Science. These major advances have been essentially obtained by coupling mechanical motion to a resonant electromagnetic degree of freedom...

We report ultra-low threshold optically induced self-oscillations of a ultra-low dissipation nanowire. We interpret the asymmetrically observed responses as a signature of the laser shot noise drive, consistent with our system’s parameters

Optomechanics, which explores the fundamental coupling between light and mechanical motion, has made important advances in both exploring and manipulating macroscopic mechanical oscillators down to the quantum level. However, dynamical effects related to the vectorial nature of the optomechanical interaction remain to be investigated. Here we study...

A hybrid spin-oscillator system in parametric interaction is experimentally emulated using a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) spin qubit immersed in a radio frequency (rf) field and probed with a quasiresonant microwave (MW) field. We report on the MW-mediated locking of the NV spin dynamics onto the rf field, appearing when the MW-driven Rabi precessi...

The rapid development of micro- and nanooscillators in the past decade has led to the emergence of novel sensors that are opening new frontiers in both applied and fundamental science. The potential of these novel devices is, however, strongly limited by their increased sensitivity to external perturbations. We report a non-invasive optomechanical...

Recent progress in nanotechnology has allowed to fabricate new hybrid systems where a single two-level system is coupled to a mechanical nanoresonator. In such systems the quantum nature of a macroscopic degree of freedom can be revealed and manipulated. This opens up appealing perspectives for quantum information technologies, and for the explorat...

We investigate the nano-optomechanical properties between a nanowire and a focused beam of light. Based on such a system, we report unprecedently sensitive vectorial detection of nanomechanical motion using SiC nanowires and Carbon nanotubes.

form only given. Probing the quantum world with macroscopic objects has been a core challenge for research during the past decades. Proposed systems to reach this goal include hybrid devices that couple a nanomechanical resonator to a single spin two level system [1]. In particular, the coherent actuation of a macroscopic mechanical oscillator by a...

Most of the optomechanical studies [1] have so far been restricted to objects with sizes much larger than the optical wavelength. Sensitive nano-optomechanical coupling has also been evidenced, but with wavelength size objects which were incorporated into advanced optical microcavity designs. We report a new of ultra-sensitive nano-optomechanical s...

Nanoscale mechanical oscillators are used as ultrasensitive detectors of force, mass and charge. Nanomechanical oscillators have also been coupled with optical and electronic resonators to explore the quantum properties of mechanical systems. Here, we report an optomechanical transducer in which a Si(3)N(4) nanomechanical beam is coupled to a disk-...

We employ silica microspheres to detect and actuate nanomechanical motion. With Si3N4-nanostrings, we achieve significant passive cooling by radiation pressure. Feedback-cooling enables stable operation at optical powers beyond the parametric-instability threshold, paving the way to detect quantum backation.

Nanomechanical oscillators have been employed as transducers to measure force, mass and charge with high sensitivity. They are also used in opto- or electromechanical experiments with the goal of quantum control and phenomena of mechanical systems. Here, we report the realization and operation of a hybrid monolithically integrated transducer system...

A micromechanical oscillator is cooled close to the quantum ground state using a laser tuned to its lower mechanical sideband. This highly coupled system allows to optically control the transmission of a weak probe beam.

Quantum radiation pressure noise has never been experimentally demonstrated, though it has been predicted for more than thirty years. It is, however, expected to limit the low-frequency sensitivity of second generation gravitational-wave interferometers. We have demonstrated classical radiation-pressure-induced correlations between two optical beam...

We present our experiments devoted to the observation of quantum radiation-pressure effects and to quantum-noise reduction schemes. We have demonstrated optomechanical correlations between two independent laser beams, and a backaction amplification scheme.

Using optical readout, we demonstrate for the first time sub-SQL imprecision for nanomechanical motion at room temperature.

In quantum mechanics, the measurement is responsible for a back-action on the measured system, which generally limits the measurement sensitivity. It is so for interferometric measurement, where the mirrors of the interferometer are likely to move under the effect of the radiation pressure exerted by the light. We present an experiment dedicated to...

Radiation pressure exerted by light in interferometric measurements is responsible for displacements of mirrors which appear as an additional back-action noise and limit the sensitivity of the measurement. We experimentally study these effects by monitoring in a very high-finesse optical cavity the displacements of a mirror with a sensitivity at th...

Optical interferometry is by far the most sensitive displacement measurement technique available, with sensitivities at the 10(-20) m/square root(Hz) level in the large-scale gravitational-wave interferometers currently in operation. Second-generation interferometers will experience a tenfold improvement in sensitivity and be mainly limited by quan...

En mécanique quantique, toute mesure est responsable d'une action en retour sur le système mesuré, qui limite en général la sensibilité de la mesure. Il en est ainsi dans les mesures interférométriques, où les miroirs de l'interféromètre sont susceptibles de se déplacer sous l'effet de la pression de radiation exercée par la lumière. Nous présenton...

We observed optomechanical correlations induced by radiation pressure between a light beam and the resulting mirror displacements. This scheme can be extended down to the quantum level, with applications in high-sensitivity measurements and quantum optics.

The quantum effects of radiation pressure are expected to limit the sensitivity of second-generation gravitational-wave interferometers. Though ubiquitous, such effects are so weak that they have not been experimentally demonstrated yet. Using a high-finesse optical cavity and a classical intensity noise, we have demonstrated radiation-pressure ind...

Radiation pressure exerted by light in interferometric measurements is responsible for displacements of mirrors which appear as an additional back-action noise and limit the sensitivity of the measurement. We experimentally study these effects by monitoring in a very high-finesse optical cavity the displacements of a mirror with a sensitivity at th...

Quantum effects of radiation pressure are expected to limit the sensitivity of second-generation gravitational-wave interferometers. Though ubiquitous, such effects are so weak that they haven't been experimentally demonstrated yet. Using a high-finesse optical cavity and a classical intensity noise, we have demonstrated radiation-pressure induced...

We present experiments where the motion of micro-mirrors is optically monitored with a quantum-limited sensitivity. Direct effects of radiation pressure on single and twin-mirror cavities are experimentally demonstrated. Applications to quantum optics are discussed.

We experimentally demonstrate a cancellation of back-action noise in optical measurements. Back-action cancellation was first proposed within the framework of gravitational-wave detection by dual resonators as a way to drastically improve their sensitivity. We have developed an experiment based on a high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity to study radiatio...

In the case of gravitational-wave resonant detectors such as dual spheres with optical readout, the sensitivity can be strongly improved by a back-action cancellation effect related to the specific geometry of this kind of detectors. We report the observation of such a back-action cancellation. Our experiment is based on a high-finesse Fabry-Perot...

We have developed an experiment of ultrasensitive interferometric measurement of small displacements based on a high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity. We describe recent progress in our experimental setup in order to reach a sensitivity better than 10-20 m/&surd;Hz. This unique sensitivity is a step towards the first observation of radiation pressure eff...

In quantum mechanics, every measurement induces a back-action on the measured system which usually implies a limit in the sensitivity of the measurement. Our goal is to demonstrate such quantum effects, with an experimental setup based on a high-finesse optical cavity to detect very small displacements of the mirrors. We recently observed a cancell...

Recent progress in high-finesse optical cavities and micro-mechanical resonators allows one to reach a new regime in which both mechanical and optical dynamics are governed by the radiation pressure exerted by light on mirrors. This optomechanical coupling leads to the existence of fundamental quantum limits in ultrasensitive interferometric measur...

We report the first experimental demonstration of a cancellation of back-action noise in ultra-sensitive interferometric measurements. Our setup is based upon a high-finesse optical cavity with movable mirrors and achieved a sensitivity of 1×10−20 m/√Hz. Using an intensity-modulated intracavity light beam to mimic the quantum noise of radiation-pre...