Observation of optomechanical buckling phase transitions

Published

March 1, 2017

Author(s)

Jacob M. Taylor, John R. Lawall, Haitan Xu, Utku Kemiktarak, Jingyun Fan, Stephen Ragole

Abstract

Correlated phases of matter provide long-term stability for systems as diverse as solids, magnets, and potential exotic quantum materials. Mechanical systems, such as relays and buckling transition spring switches can yield similar stability by exploiting non-equilibrium phase transitions. Curiously, in the optical domain, observations of such phase transitions remain elusive. However, efforts to integrate optical and mechanical systems -- optomechanics -- suggest that a hybrid approach combining the quantum control of optical systems with the engineerability of mechanical systems may provide a new avenue for such explorations. Here we report the first observation of the buckling of an optomechanical system, in which states corresponding to both first- and second-order phase transitions can be accessed by varying laser power and detuning. Our result enables new applications in photonics and, given rapid progress in pushing optomechanical systems into the quantum regime, the potential for explorations of quantum phase transitions.

Citation

Nature Communications

Volume

8

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

DOI Link

Keywords

Optomechanics, phase transitions, quantum optics

Citation

Taylor, J. , Lawall, J. , Xu, H. , Kemiktarak, U. , Fan, J. and Ragole, S. (2017), Observation of optomechanical buckling phase transitions, Nature Communications, [online], https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14481 (Accessed April 25, 2024)