| Supervisor's Foreword | 7 |
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| Acknowledgments | 9 |
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| Contents | 11 |
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| 1 Introduction | 13 |
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| 1.1 Optomechanical Effects | 13 |
| 1.1.1 Quantum Noise Limit | 17 |
| 1.2 Observation of Quantum Back-Action | 19 |
| References | 20 |
| 2 Theory of Optomechanics | 24 |
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| 2.1 Optical System | 24 |
| 2.1.1 The Quantized Electromagnetic Field | 24 |
| 2.1.2 The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle | 26 |
| 2.1.3 States of Light | 26 |
| 2.1.4 Optical Cavity | 28 |
| 2.2 Mechanical Oscillator | 31 |
| 2.2.1 Mechanical Normal Modes | 32 |
| 2.2.2 Mechanical Dissipation | 32 |
| 34 | 32 |
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| 2.3 Optomechanical System | 37 |
| 2.3.1 Theoretical Derivation of Quantum Back-Action | 37 |
| 2.3.2 Phase-Induced Radiation Pressure | 42 |
| 2.3.3 Photo-Thermal Shot Noise | 44 |
| 2.3.4 Raman Decoherence | 44 |
| References | 45 |
| 3 Application of Optomechanics | 47 |
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| 3.1 Towards Gravitational Wave Astronomy | 47 |
| 3.1.1 Background of This Section | 49 |
| 3.1.2 Back-Action Evasion Method | 49 |
| 3.2 Test of Quantum Mechanics | 50 |
| 3.2.1 Direct Test of Interference of a Massive Pendulum Via Single-Photon Coupling | 52 |
| 3.2.2 Test of Gravity-Induced Decoherece Models by Linear Continuous Measurement | 54 |
| 3.2.3 Test of Spontaneous Wave-Function Collapse Models Using a Classical Pendulum | 55 |
| References | 57 |
| 4 Optical Torsional Spring | 60 |
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| 4.1 Trade-Off Relationship | 60 |
| 4.2 Model of a Triangular Optical Cavity | 63 |
| 4.3 Experimental Setup | 64 |
| 4.4 Experimental Results | 64 |
| 66 | 64 |
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| References | 68 |
| 5 Experimental Setup | 69 |
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| 5.1 All Aspects of the Experiment | 69 |
| 5.2 Partial Aspects of the Experiment | 74 |
| 5.2.1 Mechanical Oscillator | 74 |
| 5.2.2 Laser Source | 76 |
| 5.2.3 Calibration | 77 |
| 5.2.4 Detection System and Vacuum System | 85 |
| References | 86 |
| 6 Experimental Results | 88 |
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| 6.1 Optical Characterization | 88 |
| 6.2 Mechanical Characterization | 90 |
| 6.3 Optomechanical Characterization | 93 |
| 6.4 Measurement of the Back-Action and Discussions | 94 |
| References | 98 |
| 7 The Future | 100 |
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| 7.1 Future Improvement | 100 |
| 7.2 Towards Ground-State Cooling | 101 |
| 7.3 Towards Beating the SQL | 102 |
| References | 103 |
| 8 Conclusions | 104 |
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| Appendix A Intensity Stabilization | 106 |
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| Curriculum Vitae | 110 |