It has been a long term goal of physicists to control macroscopic quantum superposition states - cat states - since these connect to a number of open fundamental questions in physics: the...Show moreIt has been a long term goal of physicists to control macroscopic quantum superposition states - cat states - since these connect to a number of open fundamental questions in physics: the transition from the quantum to the classical world, the quantum measurement problem, and the area between quantum physics and theory of general relativity. Optomechanics has been identified as a method for generating cat states, however, this is yet to be achieved. The scientific community has developed increasingly improved optomechanical systems. About a decade ago, a promising optomechanical system has been demonstrated that consists of a high-stress silicon nitride membrane in the middle of a Fabry-Pérot cavity. This project concerns the development of a membrane-in-the-middle device for our lab. Our main focus lies on developing an understanding about the connection between system design and optomechanical performance. In addition, we demonstrate optomechanics for our device, and show that the initial optomechanical parameters are good. The availability of clearly defined methods for improving upon the current system parameters implies that we are moving in the right direction towards quantum optomechanical experiments.Show less
