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Non‐reciprocal devices serving as fundamental elements in photonic and microwave circuits have attracted great attention for its applications in both classical and quantum information processing. The spin–orbit coupling (SOC) of light in microstructures shows that the polarization affects and controls the spatial degrees of freedom of light, which could been exploited to break the reciprocity of light transmission. Here, non‐reciprocal light transmission is demonstrated experimentally in high‐quality factor yttrium iron garnet microspheres via photonic SOC and Faraday effect. By applying an magnetic field in the vertical direction of resonator equator, the degeneracy of the clockwise and counter‐clockwise whispering gallery modes are lifted. The non‐reciprocal effect is shown for both polarizations and promises applications including non‐reciprocal photonic devices, magneto‐optic modulators, and magnetometers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical degrees of freedom, which have often been overlooked in various quantum systems, have been studied for applications ranging from quantum information processing to sensing. Here, we develop a hybrid platform consisting of a magnomechanical cavity and an optomechanical cavity, which are coherently coupled by the straightway physical contact. The phonons in the system can be manipulated either with the magnetostrictive interaction or optically through the radiation pressure. Together with mechanical state preparation and sensitive readout, we demonstrate the microwave-to-optical conversion with an ultrawide tuning range up to 3 GHz. In addition, we observe a mechanical motion interference effect, in which the optically driven mechanical motion is canceled by the microwave-driven coherent motion. Manipulating mechanical oscillators with equal facility through both magnonic and photonic channels enables new architectures for signal transduction between the optical, microwave, mechanical, and magnetic fields.