Optomechanical Crystals

Understand

Structured, periodic optical materials can be used to form photonic crystals capable of dispersing, routing, and trapping light.

• A similar phenomena in periodic elastic structures can be used to manipulate mechanical vibrations.
• Here we present the design and experimental realization of strongly coupled optical and mechanical modes in a planar, periodic nanostructure on a silicon chip.
• 200-Terahertz photons are co-localized with mechanical modes of Gigahertz frequency and 100-femtogram mass.