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Multiphonon Fock state heralding with single-photon detection

Andrew J. Shepherd* and Ryan O. Behunin†

  • Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA and Center for Materials Interfaces in Research and Applications (¡MIRA!), Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

  • *Contact author: as5262@nau.edu
  • †Contact author: ryan.behunin@nau.edu
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043078 – Published 20 October, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/z8tj-ml6k

Abstract

Recognized as a potential resource for quantum technologies and a possible test bed for fundamental physics, the control and preparation of nonclassical states of mechanical oscillators have been explored extensively. Within optomechanics, quantum state synthesis can be realized by entangling photonic and phononic degrees of freedom followed by optical detection. Single-photon detection enables one of the most powerful forms of such heralded quantum state preparation, permitting the creation of single-phonon states when applied to conventional cavity optomechanical systems. As the complexity of optomechanical systems increases, single-photon detection may provide heralded access to a larger class of exotic quantum states. Here, we examine the quantum dynamics of optomechanical systems that permit forward Brillouin scattering, where a single-phonon mode mediates transitions between a collection of equally spaced optical resonances. Solving both the Schrodinger equation and the Lindblad master equation for this system, we find that initial states comprised of single photons or weak laser pulses evolve into complex quantum states where the frequency of single-photon states and the phonon occupation number are entangled. Physically, these interactions permit a single photon to scatter to lower frequencies, where phonon excitation occurs for each scattering event. Combining this result with frequency filtering, we show how single-photon detection can herald selected multiphonon Fock states, even in the presence of optical losses. We also present an approach for quantum tomography of the heralded phonon states, which in the form of a state swap from the phononic to photonic domain enables on-demand generation of multiphoton Fock states.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043078– Published 20 October, 2025
  • Received 25 July 2024
  • Revised 26 November 2024
  • Accepted 23 September 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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