Nonlinearity in macroscopic mechanical system plays a crucial role in a wide variety of applications, including signal transduction and processing, synchronization, and building logical devices. However, it is difficult to generate nonlinearity due t
o the fact that macroscopic mechanical systems follow the Hookes law and response linearly to external force, unless strong drive is used. Here we propose and experimentally realize a record-high nonlinear response in macroscopic mechanical system by exploring the anharmonicity in deforming a single chemical bond. We then demonstrate the tunability of nonlinear response by precisely controlling the chemical bonding interaction, and realize a cubic elastic constant of mathversion{bold}$2 times 10^{18}~{rm N}/{rm m^3}$, many orders of magnitude larger in strength than reported previously. This enables us to observe vibrational bistate transitions of the resonator driven by the weak Brownian thermal noise at 6~K. This method can be flexibly applied to a variety of mechanical systems to improve nonlinear responses, and can be used, with further improvements, to explore macroscopic quantum mechanics.
Universal sensing the motion of mechanical resonators with high precision and low back-action is of paramount importance in ultra-weak signal detection which plays a fundamental role in modern physics. Here we present a universal scheme that transfer
mechanically the motion of the resonator not directly measurable to the one can be precisely measured using mechanical frequency conversion. Demonstration of the scheme at room temperature shows that both the motion imprecision and the back-action force are below the intrinsic level of the objective resonator, which agree well with our theoretical prediction. The scheme developed here provides an effective interface between an arbitrary mechanical resonator and a high quantum efficient displacement sensor, and is expected to find extensive applications in high-demanding mechanical-based force measurements.
Under resonant conditions, a long sequence of landau-zener transitions can lead to Rabi oscillations. Using a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center spin in diamond, we investigated the interference between more than 100 Landau-Zener processes. We observed the
new type of Rabi oscillations of the electron spin resulting from the interference between successive Landau-Zener processes in various regimes, including both slow and fast passages. The combination of the control techniques and the favorable coherent properties of NV centers provides an excellent experimental platform to study a variety of quantum dynamical phenomena.
