Optomechanical transducer based on a single quantum dot

In the context of nanomechanics, quantum hybrid systems are mechanical oscillators coupled to a single individual quantum system. These systems offer radically new possibilities for the fabrication of extremely sensitive and ultra-compact optomechanical transducers, which can serve as position sensors or nano engines.The hybrid system investigated in this work consists of a single semiconducting quantum dot (QD) embedded in a vibrating photonic wire. It has been shown in the team, a few years ago, that the transition energy of the QD depends on the strain generated by the wire oscillations.In this thesis, we demonstrate the reverse effect, where each photon emitted by the QD comes along with a strain-induced force which drives the oscillations of the photonic wire. This realizes a nano engine run by a laser-driven single quantum object. The effect has been coined “Quantum Hammer effect”. This result opens the possibility for the future realization of a quantum state of motion via the transfer of the ”quantumness” of a two-level system towards the motion of a macroscopic mechanical oscillator.