Levitated optomechanics experiments typically operate in a linearized regime, in which a classical light field drives the system to compensate for a small single-photon optomechanical coupling rate. The cost of operating in this regime is that these experiments are limited to the preparation of Gaussian states of a mechanical oscillator. However, non-Gaussian states, which have a negative Wigner function, are expected to be crucial resources for quantum sensors and for observing quantum mechanics in unprecedented regimes. In order to prepare and study non-Gaussian states of motion, we plan to couple both a trapped ion and a levitated dielectric nanosphere to an optical cavity. In this hybrid system, both the ion's internal energy levels and the nanosphere's center-of-mass motion will couple to the cavity field, enabling an effective nonlinear optomechanical interaction. I will outline ion-assisted schemes for ground-state cooling outside the resolved sideband regime and for the preparation of non-classical motional states of the nanosphere. I will then focus on current experimental challenges, namely, on loading and charging nanospheres in a Paul trap in ultra-high vacuum, and on simultaneous trapping of both an ion and a nanosphere.
Host: M. Aspelmeyer