We study the dissipative dynamics and the formation of entangled states in a driven cascaded quantum network, where a cascaded double-cavity optomechanical system is coupled to a common unidirectional optical fiber. In terms of two coherent laser fields simultaneously driving the chiral coupling system, the entanglement can be effectively transferred from the light to two nanomechanical resonators (NMRs) through cavity modes based on the completely destructive interference of quantum noise. By adjusting the relative strength ratio of red- and blue-detuned pump lasers, it is found that the two NMRs can be driven into a mixed two-mode Gaussian entangled mechanical state rather than a non-Gaussian entangled dark state or a pure entangled dark state. If the frequency of the NMR is tuned to be much larger than the chiral coupled-cavity-chain damping rate, it is demonstrated that the chiral dissipative cascaded system can always realize one-way Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering from one mechanical oscillator to the other, while the reverse one-way EPR steering is impossible to obtain, and the reason for achieving asymmetric Gaussian steering is analyzed. Furthermore, a simple one-way EPR steering criterion based on two-photon correlation can be achieved for an arbitrary bipartite Gaussian state under the standard form of EPR steering, and the effect of mechanical thermal noise on the steering is also discussed. Moreover, the present chiral system can be realized with currently available experimental technology; therefore, we hope that it can be very helpful for potential applications in quantum computation and quantum communication.

• Received 28 February 2021
• Accepted 16 July 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.104.022402