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Published July 2007 | public
Journal Article

Actuation of micro-optomechanical systems via cavity-enhanced optical dipole forces

Abstract

Optical forces can produce significant mechanical effects in micro- and nanophotonic systems. Here we demonstrate a novel optomechanical system using a movable, micrometre-scale waveguide evanescently coupled to a high-Q optical microresonator. Micrometre-scale displacements of the waveguide are observed for milliwatt-level optical input powers. Measurement of the spatial variation of the force on the waveguide indicates that it arises from a cavity-enhanced optical dipole force resulting from the stored optical field of the resonator. This force is used to realize an all-optical tunable filter operating with submilliwatt control power. A theoretical model of the system shows that the maximum achievable force is independent of the intrinsic Q of the optical resonator and scales inversely with the cavity mode volume, suggesting that such forces may become even more effective as devices approach the nanoscale.

Additional Information

© 2007 Nature Publishing Group. Received 26 February 2007; accepted 24 May 2007; published 2 July 2007. The authors sincerely thank T. Johnson, P. Barclay and K. Srinivasan for many fruitful discussions and helpful feedback.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023