Optimal optomechanical coupling strength in multimembrane systems

Physical Review A, vol. 101

Abstract

We calculate the optomechanical coupling strength for a multimembrane in a cavity system. The optimal configuration for an array of $N$ membranes placed near the center of a cavity is identified. This results in a coupling strength much greater than previously proposed multimembrane configurations. We find that the coupling strength scales exponentially with the number of membranes until saturating due to complete localization of the field within the array. Furthermore we explore two sources of loss, those due to light absorption within the membrane(s) and leakage through the cavity's end-mirrors, and evaluate how they affect the possibility of achieving strong coupling.

Authors 4

1. David Newsom

   University of California, Santa Barbara

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

2. Vitaly Fedoseev Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Universiteit Leiden, NL-2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands

3. W. Löffler Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Universiteit Leiden, NL-2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands

4. Dirk Bouwmeester Aachen Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium

   Leiden University · University of California, Santa Barbara

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA

   Huygens-Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Universiteit Leiden, NL-2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands