Frequency Fluctuations in Nanomechanical Resonators due to Quantum Defects

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Maksymowych, M. P., Yuksel, M., Hitchcock, O. A., Lee, N. R., Mayor, F. M., Jiang, W., Roukes, M. L., Safavi-Naeini, A. H.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Maksymowych, M. P.
Yuksel, M.
Hitchcock, O. A.
Lee, N. R.
Mayor, F. M.
Jiang, W.
Roukes, M. L.
Safavi-Naeini, A. H.
author_facet Maksymowych, M. P.
Yuksel, M.
Hitchcock, O. A.
Lee, N. R.
Mayor, F. M.
Jiang, W.
Roukes, M. L.
Safavi-Naeini, A. H.
contents Nanomechanical resonators promise diverse applications ranging from mass spectrometry to quantum information processing, requiring long phonon lifetimes and frequency stability. Although two-level system (TLS) defects govern dissipation at millikelvin temperatures, the nature of frequency fluctuations remains poorly understood. In nanoscale devices, where acoustic fields are confined to sub-wavelength volumes, strong coupling to individual TLS should dominate over weak coupling to defect ensembles. In this work, we monitor fast frequency fluctuations of phononic crystal nanomechanical resonators, while varying temperature ($10$ mK$-1$ K), drive power ($10^2-10^5$ phonons), and the phononic band structure. We consistently observe random telegraph signals (RTS) which we attribute to state transitions of individual TLS. The frequency noise is well-explained by mechanical coupling to individual far off-resonant TLS, which are either thermally excited or strongly coupled to thermal fluctuators. Understanding this fundamental decoherence process, particularly its RTS structure, opens a clear path towards noise suppression for quantum and sensing applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_08289
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Frequency Fluctuations in Nanomechanical Resonators due to Quantum Defects
Maksymowych, M. P.
Yuksel, M.
Hitchcock, O. A.
Lee, N. R.
Mayor, F. M.
Jiang, W.
Roukes, M. L.
Safavi-Naeini, A. H.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Applied Physics
Quantum Physics
Nanomechanical resonators promise diverse applications ranging from mass spectrometry to quantum information processing, requiring long phonon lifetimes and frequency stability. Although two-level system (TLS) defects govern dissipation at millikelvin temperatures, the nature of frequency fluctuations remains poorly understood. In nanoscale devices, where acoustic fields are confined to sub-wavelength volumes, strong coupling to individual TLS should dominate over weak coupling to defect ensembles. In this work, we monitor fast frequency fluctuations of phononic crystal nanomechanical resonators, while varying temperature ($10$ mK$-1$ K), drive power ($10^2-10^5$ phonons), and the phononic band structure. We consistently observe random telegraph signals (RTS) which we attribute to state transitions of individual TLS. The frequency noise is well-explained by mechanical coupling to individual far off-resonant TLS, which are either thermally excited or strongly coupled to thermal fluctuators. Understanding this fundamental decoherence process, particularly its RTS structure, opens a clear path towards noise suppression for quantum and sensing applications.
title Frequency Fluctuations in Nanomechanical Resonators due to Quantum Defects
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Applied Physics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.08289