The work of Braginsky introduced radiation pressure dynamical backaction, in which a mechanical oscillator that is parametrically coupled to an electromagnetic mode can experience achange in its rigidity and its damping rate. The finite cavity electromagnetic decay rate can lead to either amplification or cooling of the mechanical oscillator, and lead in particular to a parametric oscillatory instability, associated with regenerative oscillations of the mechanical oscillator, an effect limiting the circulating power in laser gravitational wave interferometers. These effects implicitly rely on an electromagnetic cavity whose dissipation rate vastly exceeds that of the mechanical oscillator, a condition naturally satisfied in most optomechanical systems. Here we consider the opposite limit, where the mechanical dissipation is engineered to dominate over the electromagnetic one, essentially reversing role of electromagnetic and mechanical degree of freedom. As a result, the electromagnetic field is now subject to dynamical backaction: the mechanical oscillator provides a feedback mechanism which modifies the damping rate of the electromagnetic cavity. We describe this phenomenon in the spirit of Braginsky’s original description, invoking finite cavity delay and highlighting the role of dissipation. Building on previous experimental work, we demonstrate this dynamical backaction on light in a superconducting microwave optomechanical circuit. In particular, we drive the system above the parametric instability threshold of the microwave mode, leading to maser action and demonstrate injection locking of the maser, which stabilizes its frequency and reduces its noise.
Devices that achieve nonreciprocal microwave transmission are ubiquitous in radar and radio-frequency communication systems, and commonly rely on magnetically biased ferrite materials.Such devices are also indispensable in the readout chains of superconducting quantum circuits as they protect sensitive quantum systems from the noise emitted by readout electronics. Since ferrite-based nonreciprocal devices are bulky, lossy, and re- quire large magnetic fields, there has been significant interest in magnetic-field-free on-chip alternatives, such as those recently implemented using Josephson junctions. Here we realize reconfigurable nonreciprocal transmission between two microwave modes using purely optomechanical interactions in a superconducting electromechanical circuit. The scheme relies on purposely breaking the symmetry between two mechanically-mediated dissipative coupling pathways. This enables reconfigurable nonreciprocal isolation on-chip without any external magnetic field, rendering it fully compatible with superconducting quantum circuits. All-optomechanically- mediated nonreciprocity demonstrated here can be extended to implement other types of devices such as directional amplifiers and circulators, and it forms the basis towards realizing topological states of light and sound.
Dissipation can significantly affect the quantum behaviour of a system and even completely suppress it. Counterintuitively, engineered dissipation enables the preparation of quantumstates as well as their stabilization. In cavity electro- and optomechanics, the control over mechanical oscillators relies on a dissipation hierarchy in which the electromagnetic energy decay rate significantly exceeds that of the mechanical oscillator. In contrast, recent theoretical work has considered the opposite regime in which the mechanical oscillator dissipation dominates and provides a cold dissipative reservoir to the electromagnetic degree of freedom. This novel regime allows to manipulate the electromagnetic mode and enables a new class of dissipative interactions. Here, we report on the experimental realization of this reversed dissipation regime in a microwave cavity optomechanical system. We directly evidence the preparation of a quasi-instantaneous, cold reservoir for a microwave field by on-demand decreasing or increasing the damping rate of the microwave mode, that corresponds to amplification and de-amplification of the microwave field. Moreover, we observe the onset of parametric instability, i.e. stimulated emission of microwaves (masing). The dissipative interaction additionally enables to operate the system as a low-noise, large-gain phase-preserving amplifier. Realizing a dissipative reservoir for microwave light is a requirement for the dissipative coupling of multiple cavity modes, which in turn forms the basis of dissipative quantum phase transitions, microwave entanglement schemes, and electromechanical quantum-limited amplifiers. Equally importantly, this interaction underpins recently predicted non-reciprocal devices, which would extend the available toolbox of quantum-limited microwave manipulation techniques.