Two-membrane cavity optomechanics: non-linear dynamics

• Published in: New journal of physics Vol. 23; no. 7; pp. 73013 - 73027
• Main Authors: Piergentili, Paolo, Li, Wenlin, Natali, Riccardo, Malossi, Nicola, Vitali, David, Di Giuseppe, Giovanni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01-07-2021
• Subjects: Amplitudes; Chaos theory; Fabry-Perot interferometers; Membranes; non-linear dynamics; Nonlinear dynamics; Nonlinear response; optical cavity; Opto-mechanics; optomechanical systems; Physics; radiation pressure
• ISSN: 1367-2630; 1367-2630
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/abdd6a

We study the non-linear dynamics of a multimode optomechanical system constituted of a driven high-finesse Fabry–Pérot cavity containing two vibrating dielectric membranes. The analytical study allows to derive a full and consistent description of the displacement detection by a probe beam in the non-linear regime, enabling the faithful detection of membrane displacements well above the usual sensing limit corresponding to the cavity linewidth. In the weak driving regime where the system is in a pre-synchronized situation, the unexcited oscillator has a small, synchronized component at the frequency of the excited one; both large and small amplitude resonator motions are transduced in a nontrivial way by the non-linear response of the optical probe beam. We find perfect agreement between the experimental results, the numerical simulations, and an analytical approach based on slowly-varying amplitude equations.