Towards quantum science and technology with Brillouin-Mandelstam scattering

Brillouin-Mandelstam scattering offers several favourable properties to control sound with light at a quantum mechanical level. In particular, the high acoustic frequencies, acoustic mode selectivity, and low optical absorption provide a promising route towards this goal whilst also overcoming several current hindrances within optomechanics. Utilizing these properties, some of our main results in this direction include: the first observation of Brillouin optomechanical strong coupling, studying the second-order coherence across the Brillouin lasing threshold, and, we’ve performed heralded single-phonon addition and subtraction to a thermal state of the acoustic field observing the resulting non-Gaussianity with a precision that advanced the forefront of opticsbased mechanical state tomography. More recently, we’ve demonstrated that laser cooling may be enhanced via zero-photon detection, and we’ve characterized the Brillouin scattering response in optical fibre at millikelvin temperatures. This talk will cover these results, what they enable, and the broader direction of our lab including the prospects of this platform for quantum science and technology.