Optical control of nanomechanical brownian motion eigenfrequencies in metamaterials
Optical control of nanomechanical brownian motion eigenfrequencies in metamaterials
Nanomechanical photonic metamaterials provide a wealth of active switching, nonlinear, and enhanced light-matter interaction functionalities by coupling optically and mechanically resonant subsystems. Thermal (Brownian) motion of the nanostructural components of such metamaterials leads to fluctuations in optical properties, which may manifest as noise, but which also present opportunity to characterize performance and thereby optimize design at the level of individual nanomechanical elements. We show that nanomechanical motion in an all-dielectric metamaterial ensemble of silicon-on-silicon-nitride nanowires can be controlled by light at sub-μW/μm2 intensities. Induced changes in nanowire temperature of just a few Kelvin and nonthermal optical forces generated within the structure change the few-MHz Eigenfrequencies and/or picometric displacement amplitudes of motion, and thereby metamaterial transmission. The tuning mechanism can provide active control of frequency response in photonic metadevices and may serve as a basis for bolometric, mass, and micro/nanostructural stress sensing.
nanomechanics, optical control, photonic metamaterials, thermal motion
4301 - 4306
Li, Jinxiang
736c69a2-23ca-474f-a908-960235118fa8
MacDonald, Kevin F.
76c84116-aad1-4973-b917-7ca63935dba5
Zheludev, Nikolai
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
8 June 2022
Li, Jinxiang
736c69a2-23ca-474f-a908-960235118fa8
MacDonald, Kevin F.
76c84116-aad1-4973-b917-7ca63935dba5
Zheludev, Nikolai
32fb6af7-97e4-4d11-bca6-805745e40cc6
Li, Jinxiang, MacDonald, Kevin F. and Zheludev, Nikolai
(2022)
Optical control of nanomechanical brownian motion eigenfrequencies in metamaterials.
Nano Letters, 22 (11), .
(doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c04900).
Abstract
Nanomechanical photonic metamaterials provide a wealth of active switching, nonlinear, and enhanced light-matter interaction functionalities by coupling optically and mechanically resonant subsystems. Thermal (Brownian) motion of the nanostructural components of such metamaterials leads to fluctuations in optical properties, which may manifest as noise, but which also present opportunity to characterize performance and thereby optimize design at the level of individual nanomechanical elements. We show that nanomechanical motion in an all-dielectric metamaterial ensemble of silicon-on-silicon-nitride nanowires can be controlled by light at sub-μW/μm2 intensities. Induced changes in nanowire temperature of just a few Kelvin and nonthermal optical forces generated within the structure change the few-MHz Eigenfrequencies and/or picometric displacement amplitudes of motion, and thereby metamaterial transmission. The tuning mechanism can provide active control of frequency response in photonic metadevices and may serve as a basis for bolometric, mass, and micro/nanostructural stress sensing.
Text
nl-2021-049009_R1 accepted manuscript
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
acs.nanolett.1c04900
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 16 May 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 May 2022
Published date: 8 June 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), U.K. (Grants EP/M009122/1 and EP/T02643 X/1); the Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE2016-T3-1-006), and the China Scholarship Council (201708440254). The authors would also like to thank to Jun-Yu Ou for contributions to the design of experimental apparatus.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
nanomechanics, optical control, photonic metamaterials, thermal motion
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 457538
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/457538
ISSN: 1530-6984
PURE UUID: 291d6d09-24c5-4891-9429-00d12a603402
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Date deposited: 10 Jun 2022 16:41
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:38
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Contributors
Author:
Jinxiang Li
Author:
Kevin F. MacDonald
Author:
Nikolai Zheludev
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