"Room-Temperature Quantum Control: Milestone Achieved in Optomechanics and Optical Squeezing"
Researchers have demonstrated room-temperature quantum optomechanics using an ultralow noise cavity and a phononic-engineered membrane-in-the-middle system. By overcoming challenges such as thermal intermodulation noise and vibrations of cavity mirror substrates, they achieved optomechanical squeezing of light and prepared displaced thermal states with single-phonon occupation, showcasing the system's ability for measurement-based quantum state preparation protocols. This breakthrough paves the way for real-time quantum control of macroscopic mechanical resonators at room temperature, with potential applications in quantum technology and hybrid quantum systems.