Cavity optomechanics with whispering-gallery-mode optical micro-resonators

Understand

Parametric coupling of optical and mechanical degrees of freedom forms the basis of many ultra-sensitive measurements of both force and mechanical displacement.

• An optical cavity with a mechanically compliant boundary enhances the optomechanical interaction, but also gives rise to qualitatively new coupled dynamics.
• As early as 1967, in a pioneering work, V.
• Braginsky analyzed theoretically the role of radiation pressure in the interferometric measurement process, but it has remained experimentally unexplored for many decades.