Classical and quantum theory of photothermal cavity cooling of a mechanical oscillator

Photothermal effects allow very efficient optomechanical coupling between mechanical degrees of freedom and photons. In the context of cavity cooling of a mechanical oscillator, the question of if the quantum ground-state of the oscillator can be reached using photothermal back-action has been debated and remains an open question. Here we address this problem by complementary classical and quantum calculations. Both lead us to conclude that: first, the ground-state can indeed be reached using photothermal cavity cooling, second, it can be reached in a regime where the cavity detuning is small allowing a large amount of incident photons to enter the cavity. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Academie des sciences.