Strong dispersive coupling of a high finesse cavity to a micromechanical membrane

Macroscopic mechanical objects and electromagnetic degrees of freedom couple to each other via radiation pressure. Optomechanical systems with sufficiently strong coupling are predicted to exhibit quantum effects and are a topic of considerable interest. Devices reaching this regime would offer new types of control of the quantum state of both light and matter and would provide a new arena in which to explore the boundary between quantum and classical physics. Experiments to date have achieved sufficient optomechanical coupling to laser-cool mechanical devices but have not yet reached the quantum regime. The outstanding technical challenge in this field is integrating sensitive micromechanical elements (which must be small, light, and flexible) into high finesse cavities (which are typically much more rigid and massive) without compromising the mechanical or optical properties of either. A second, and more fundamental, challenge is to read out the mechanical element's quantum state: displacement measurements (no matter how sensitive) cannot determine the energy eigenstate of an oscillator, and measurements which couple to quantities other than displacement have been difficult to realize. Here we present a novel optomechanical system which seems to resolve both these challenges. We demonstrate a cavity which is detuned by the motion of a thin dielectric membrane placed between two macroscopic, rigid, high-finesse mirrors. This approach segregates optical and mechanical functionality to physically distinct structures and avoids compromising either. It also allows for direct measurement of the square of the membrane's displacement, and thus in principle the membrane's energy eigenstate. We estimate it should be practical to use this scheme to observe quantum jumps of a mechanical system.