Storing Optical Information as a Mechanical Excitation in a Silica Optomechanical Resonator

TLDR

The study demonstrates storing optical information as a mechanical excitation in a silica optomechanical resonator. The authors use laser pulses tuned below an optical cavity resonance to map a signal pulse onto a mechanical excitation and later retrieve it by converting the excitation back to light. The storage lifetime is limited by the long mechanical damping time.

Abstract

We report the experimental demonstration of storing optical information as a mechanical excitation in a silica optomechanical resonator. We use writing and readout laser pulses tuned to one mechanical frequency below an optical cavity resonance to control the coupling between the mechanical displacement and the optical field at the cavity resonance. The writing pulse maps a signal pulse at the cavity resonance to a mechanical excitation. The readout pulse later converts the mechanical excitation back to an optical pulse. The storage lifetime is determined by the relatively long damping time of the mechanical excitation.