Quantum interference effects on ground-state optomechanical cooling

Abstract

We propose a fast ground-state optomechanical cooling scheme through the use of a two-mode optical cavity with a quarter-wave plate inside. Two cavity modes are orthogonally polarized; one cavity mode dissipates to the external environment at a fast rate while the other dissipates at a slow rate. The quarter-wave plate provides linear mixing interaction between these two cavity modes. The cooling process is dominated by scattering process via the fast-decay channel, which is significantly enhanced as compared with that obtained in the resolved-sideband optomechanical cooling scheme. Meanwhile, the heating process is significantly suppressed by exploiting the destructive quantum interference between the two cavity modes with the help of the quarter-wave plate.