Optical detection of radio waves through a nanomechanical transducer

Understand

Low-loss transmission and sensitive recovery of weak radio-frequency (rf) and microwave signals is an ubiquitous technological challenge, crucial in fields as diverse as radio astronomy, medical imaging, navigation and communication, including those of quantum states.

• Efficient upconversion of rf-signals to an optical carrier would allow transmitting them via optical fibers dramatically reducing losses, and give access to the mature toolbox of quantum optical techniques, routinely enabling quantum-limited signal detection.
• Research in the field of cavity optomechanics has shown that nanomechanical oscillators can couple very strongly to either microwave or optical fields.
• An oscillator accommodating both functionalities would bear great promise as the intermediate platform in a radio-to-optical transduction cascade.