Fast quantum squeezing of a nanomechanical oscillator with an inverted potential

Abstract

Nonclassical states of nano- and micro-mechanical motion enable measurements beyond the standard quantum limit and constitute a key resource for quantum sensing and metrology. The most strongly squeezed mechanical states to date have been generated with electromechanical platforms under cryogenic refrigeration and using reservoir engineering. To push mechanical systems deeper into the quantum-squeezed regime requires protocols that increase the rate at which squeezing is generated to more strongly overcome the decoherence rate at which state purity is lost. Here, we squeeze the 800 kHz libration mode of a silica nanoparticle optically levitated in vacuum at room temperature. We expose our mechanical oscillator to an optically generated inverted potential, where the squeezing operation proceeds at an exponentially accelerated rate. We reach a squeezed quadrature variance 11 dB below the vacuum fluctuations within 250 ns. Our protocol establishes a new paradigm for generating quantum squeezing of mechanical motion and offers a platform for quantum-enhanced sensing with massive oscillators.