Ground-State Cooling of a Mechanical Oscillator by Interference in Andreev Reflection

Year: 2016

Authors: Stadler P., Belzig W., Rastelli G.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Konstanz, Fachbereich Phys, D-78457 Constance, Germany

Abstract: We study the ground-state cooling of a mechanical oscillator linearly coupled to the charge of a quantum dot inserted between a normal metal and a superconducting contact. Such a system can be realized, e.g., by a suspended carbon nanotube quantum dot with a capacitive coupling to a gate contact. Focusing on the subgap transport regime, we analyze the inelastic Andreev reflections which drive the resonator to a nonequilibrium state. For small coupling, we obtain that vibration-assisted reflections can occur through two distinct interference paths. The interference determines the ratio between the rates of absorption and emission of vibrational energy quanta. We show that ground-state cooling of the mechanical oscillator can be achieved for many of the oscillator´s modes simultaneously or for single modes selectively, depending on the experimentally tunable coupling to the superconductor.

Journal/Review: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

Volume: 117 (19)      Pages from: 197202  to: 197202

More Information: We acknowledge A. Armour for interesting discussions and for a critical reading of the manuscript. We also thank S. Girvin, A. K. Huettel, and A. Bachtold for useful comments. This research was supported by the Zukunftskolleg of the University of Konstanz and by the DFG through the collaborative research center SFB 767.
KeyWords: quantum dots, Andreev refllection, quantum electromechanical systems
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.197202

Citations: 29
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