CAREER: Nanomechanics in the Quantum Regime

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project focuses on the realization of quantum motion in macroscopic nanomechanical oscillators at millikelvin temperatures. Detection of quantum mechanical displacement of a macroscopic system is fundamentally important to the foundations of quantum mechanics, quantum information processing, and condensed matter physics. To realize the textbook quantum-"mechanical" harmonic oscillator, this project will use novel approaches to design structures with gigahertz-range resonance frequencies and novel microwave measurement techniques with unprecedented levels of displacement detection sensitivity. With the measurements of quantum motion in nanomechanical oscillators, this project will explore quantum mechanics in the macroscopic realm through energy quantization, macroscopic superposition of Schrodinger cat states, and decoherence in the quantum-to-classical crossover regime. Education of students towards their eventual placement in the emerging field of nanotechnology is an essential component of this project. Students will be trained on cutting-edge technologies of nanofabrication and ultra-sensitive measurements, and fundamental concepts of quantum physics. Observation of quantum effects in macroscopic objects is paramount to defining the limits of quantum mechanics. Towards this end, the central emphasis has been on the realization of the so-called Schrodinger's Cat States with "Macroscopic Realism". This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) project at Boston University focuses on the realization of macroscopic quantum states with nanomechanical oscillators at millikelvin temperatures. In order to access the quantum regime of mechanical motion, innovative multi-element structure design approaches and ultra-sensitive microwave measurement techniques will be employed. Using the novel antenna design of nanomechanical structures with gigahertz-range resonance frequencies, developed recently at Boston University, this research will investigate energy quantization, quantum superposition and quantum-to-classical crossover effects in macroscopic nanomechanical oscillators. This project will train postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students, who will benefit from their education in the cutting-edge technologies in nanoscience and the exposure to the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum information science.