Abstract

Brillouin-Mandelstam scattering offers an exciting avenue to pursue both classical and quantum optomechanics applications. Our team—the Quantum Measurement Lab—together with our collaborators, are currently exploring and utilizing the favourable properties this platform affords for non-Gaussian motional state preparation of acoustic fields.

In particular, the high acoustic frequencies, acoustic mode selectivity, and low optical absorption provide a promising route to overcome current hindrances within optomechanics. Some of our key recent results in this direction include: the first observation of Brillouin optomechanical strong coupling [1], single-phonon addition and subtraction to a thermal state of the acoustic field [2], advancing the state-of-the-art of mechanical state tomography to observe the non-Gaussian states generated by single- and multi-phonon subtraction [3], and studying the second-order coherence across the Brillouin lasing threshold [4].

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. Time permitting, the talk will also cover our latest experimental research demonstrating enhanced laser cooling via zero-photon detection [5,6], and our studies of Brillouin scattering in optical fibre at millikelvin temperatures [7].

[1] G. Enzian etal Optica 6, 7 (2019).
[2] G. Enzian etal Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 033601 (2021).
[3] G. Enzian*, L. Freisem*, J. J. Price*, A. Ø. Svela* etal Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 243601 (2021).
[4] E. A. Cryer-Jenkins*, G. Enzian* etal Optica 10, 1432 (2023).
[5] E. A. Cryer-Jenkins*, K. D. Major* etal Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 073601 (2025).
[6] J. Clarke*, E. A. Cryer-Jenkins*, A. Gupta*, K. D. Major* etal Phys. Rev. A 111, 023516 (2025).
[7] E. A. Cryer-Jenkins*, A. C. Leung*, H. Rathee*, A. K. C. Tan* etal APL Photonics 10, 010805 (2025).

Speaker

Dr. Michael R. Vanner is the PI of the Quantum Measurement Lab at Imperial College London, and together with his team, pursues a combination of experimental and theoretical quantum optics for studies of the foundations of physics and the development of powerful new quantum technologies. Dr. Vanner joined the faculty at Imperial in 2017 after working as a lecturer at Oxford University, a visiting fellow at Harvard, and a postdoctoral fellow in Brisbane. Dr. Vanner completed his PhD in Vienna in 2013 under the supervision of Markus Aspelmeyer, Anton Zeilinger, and Gerard Milburn.