Squeezing below the ground state of motion of a continuously monitored levitating nanoparticle

• Published in: Quantum science and technology Vol. 9; no. 4; pp. 45038 - 45053
• Main Authors: Wu, Q, Chisholm, D A, Muffato, R, Georgescu, T, Homans, J, Ulbricht, H, Carlesso, M, Paternostro, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.10.2024
• Subjects: below the ground state variance; continuous measurement; levitated nanoparticles; squeezing protocol
• ISSN: 2058-9565; 2058-9565
• DOI: 10.1088/2058-9565/ad7284

Abstract Squeezing is a crucial resource for quantum information processing and quantum sensing. In levitated nanomechanics, squeezed states of motion can be generated via temporal control of the trapping frequency of a massive particle. However, the amount of achievable squeezing typically suffers from detrimental environmental effects. We propose a scheme for the generation of significant levels of mechanical squeezing in the motional state of a levitated nanoparticle by leveraging on the careful temporal control of the trapping potential. We analyse the performance of such a scheme by fully accounting for the most relevant sources of noise, including measurement backaction. The feasibility of our proposal, which is close to experimental state-of-the-art, makes it a valuable tool for quantum state engineering.