Abstract
A new class of hybrid systems that couple optical and mechanical nanoscale devices is under development. According to their interaction concepts, two groups of opto-mechanical systems are summarized as mechanically tunable and radiation pressure-driven optical resonators. On account of their high-quality factors and small mode volumes as well as good on-chip integrability with waveguides/circuits, photonic crystal (PhC) cavities have attracted great attention in sensing applications. Benefitting from the opto-mechanical interaction, a PhC cavity integrated opto-mechanical system provides an attractive platform for ultrasensitive sensors to detect displacement, mass, force, and acceleration. In this review, we introduce basic physical concepts of opto-mechanical PhC system and describe typical experimental systems for sensing applications. Opto-mechanical interaction-based PhC cavities offer unprecedented opportunities to develop lab-on-a-chip devices and witness a promising prospect to further manipulate light propagation in the nanophotonics.
Highlights
One of the challenging technologies in optics and photonics is the manipulation of light propagation, and it has a direct effect on optical communications, sensing and imaging [1,2].Micro/nano-opto-electro-mechanical systems (M/NOEMS) offer unprecedented opportunities to control the flow of light in nanophotonic structures with efficient and compact architecture, high operation speed and low power consumption [3]
When it comes to sensing applications, excellent sensing performance can be achieved through the optical readout of mechanical characteristics from optomechanical system
We have reviewed most of the typical photonic crystal (PhC) cavities for radiation pressure-driven sensing applications based on the types of target signals to measure
Summary
One of the challenging technologies in optics and photonics is the manipulation of light propagation, and it has a direct effect on optical communications, sensing and imaging [1,2]. For the purpose of sensing application, with the advantages of flexible mechanical configurations and integration with nano-/micro-electromechanical systems (N/MEMS), mechanically tunable photonic crystal (PhC) cavities have widely developed into a variety of sensors, such as displacement [8,9,10] and stress sensors [11,12], magnetic [13,14] and electric field [15] sensors. As light exerts forces, radiation pressure from the light reflected from an optical resonator can induce mechanical movement of device This mechanical displacement, in turn, can change the optical modes of cavity and induce dynamically optomechanics phenomena. We summarize a brief conclusion and discuss the future of opto-mechanical sensing technologies
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