Squeezing a thermal mechanical oscillator by stabilized parametric effect on the optical spring

Abstract

We report the confinement of an optomechanical micro-oscillator in a squeezed thermal state, obtained by parametric modulation of the optical spring. We propose and implement an experimental scheme based on parametric feedback control of the oscillator, which stabilizes the amplified quadrature while leaving the orthogonal one unaffected. This technique allows us to surpass the -3 dB limit in the noise reduction, associated with parametric resonance, with a best experimental result of -7.4 dB. While the present experiment is in the classical regime, in a moderately cooled system our technique may allow squeezing of a macroscopic mechanical oscillator below the zero-point motion.