分类： 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： A fundamental prediction of quantum mechanics is that there are random fluctuations everywhere in a vacuum because of the zero-point energy. Remarkably, quantum electromagnetic fluctuations can induce a measurable force between neutral objects, known as the Casimir effect, which has attracted broad interests. The Casimir effect can dominate the interaction between microstructures at small separations and has been utilized to realize nonlinear oscillation, quantum trapping, phonon transfer, and dissipation dilution. However, a non-reciprocal device based on quantum vacuum fluctuations remains an unexplored frontier. Here we report quantum vacuum mediated non-reciprocal energy transfer between two micromechanical oscillators. We modulate the Casimir interaction parametrically to realize strong coupling between two oscillators with different resonant frequencies. We engineer the system's spectrum to have an exceptional point in the parameter space and observe the asymmetric topological structure near it. By dynamically changing the parameters near the exceptional point and utilizing the non-adiabaticity of the process, we achieve non-reciprocal energy transfer with high contrast. Our work represents an important development in utilizing quantum vacuum fluctuations to regulate energy transfer at the nanoscale and build functional Casimir devices.
分类： 光学 >> 量子光学 提交时间： 2023-02-19
摘要： A levitated non-spherical nanoparticle in a vacuum is ideal for studying quantum rotations and is an extremely sensitive torque and force detector. It has been proposed to probe fundamental particle-surface interactions such as the Casimir torque and the rotational quantum vacuum friction, which require it to be driven to rotate near a surface at sub-micrometer separations. Here, we optically levitate a silica nanodumbbell in a vacuum at about 430 nm away from a sapphire surface and drive it to rotate at GHz frequencies. The relative linear speed between the tip of the nanodumbbell and the surface reaches 1.4 km/s at a sub-micrometer separation. The rotating nanodumbbell near the surface demonstrates a torque sensitivity of $(5.0 \pm 1.1) \times 10^{-26} {\rm NmHz}^{-1/2}$ at room temperature. Moreover, we levitate a nanodumbbell near a gold nanograting and use it to probe the near-field intensity distribution beyond the optical diffraction limit. Our numerical simulation shows it is promising to detect the Casimir torque between a nanodumbbell and a nanograting.
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