Controlling photonic structures using optical forces

Abstract

The downscaling of optical systems to the micro and nano-scale results in very compliant systems with nanogram-scale masses, which renders them susceptible to optical forces. Here we show a specially designed resonant structure for enabling efficient static control of the optical response with relatively weak repulsive and attractive optical forces. Using attractive gradient optical forces we demonstrate a static mechanical deformation of up to 20 nanometers in the resonator structure. This deformation is enough to shift the optical resonances by roughly 80 optical linewidths.