Energy-efficient utilization of bipolar optical forces in nano-optomechanical cavities

Abstract

Nanoscale all-optical circuits driven by optical forces have broad applications in future communication, computation, and sensing systems. Because human society faces huge challenges of energy saving and emission reduction, it is very important to develop energy-efficient nanooptomechanical devices. Due to their high quality (Q) factors, resonance modes of cavities are capable of generating much larger forces than waveguide modes. Here we experimentally demonstrate the use of resonance modes of double-coupled one-dimensional photonic crystal cavities to generate bipolar optical forces. Attractive and repulsive forces of -6.2 nN and 1.9 nN were obtained with respective launching powers of 0.81 mW and 0.87 mW in the waveguide just before cavities. Supported by flexible nanosprings (spring constant 0.166 N/m), one cavity is pulled to (pushed away from) the other cavity by 37.1 nm (11.4 nm). The shifts of the selected resonance modes of the device are mechanically and thermally calibrated with an integrated nanoelectromechanical system actuator and a temperature-controlled testing platform respectively. Based on these experimentally-obtained relations, probe mode shifts due to the optomechanical effect are decoupled from those due to the thermo-optic effect. Actuated by the third-order even pump mode, the optomechanical shift of the second-order even probe mode is found to be about 2.5 times its thermal shift, indicating a highly efficient conversion of light energy to mechanical energy. ©2013 Optical Society of America.