We propose a framework for inducing strong optomechanical effects in a suspended carbon nanotube based on deformation potential exciton-phonon coupling. The excitons are confined using an inhomogeneous axial electric field which generates optically active quantum dots with a level spacing in the milli-electronvolt range and a characteristic size in the 10-nanometer range. A transverse field induces a tunable parametric coupling between the quantum dot and the flexural modes of the nanotube mediated by electron-phonon interactions. We derive the corresponding excitonic deformation potentials and show that this interaction enables efficient optical ground-state cooling of the fundamental mode and could allow us to realise the strong and ultra-strong coupling regimes of the Jaynes-Cummings and Rabi models.
@article{arxiv.0911.1330,
title = {Exciton-assisted optomechanics with suspended carbon nanotubes},
author = {I. Wilson-Rae and C. Galland and W. Zwerger and A. Imamoglu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0911.1330},
year = {2012}
}