Optical drive of macroscopic mechanical motion by a single two-level system

A quantum emitter coupled to a nano-mechanical oscillator is a hybrid system where a macroscopic degree of freedom is coupled to a purely quantum system. Recent progress in nanotechnology has led to the realization of such devices by embedding single artificial atoms like quantum dots or superconducting qubits into vibrating wires or membranes, opening up new perspectives for quantum information technologies and for the exploration of the quantum-classical boundary. In this letter, we show that the quantum emitter can be turned into a strikingly efficient light-controlled source of mechanical power, by exploiting constructive interferences of classical phonon fields in the mechanical oscillator. We show that this mechanism can be used as a novel strategy to carry out low-background non-destructive single-shot measurement of an optically active quantum bit state.