Nonlinear optomechanical pressure

Abstract

A transparent material exhibits ultra-fast optical nonlinearity and is subject to optical pressure if irradiated by a laser beam. However, the effect of nonlinearity on optical pressure is often overlooked, even if a nonlinear optical pressure may be potentially employed in many applications, as optical manipulation, biophysics, cavity optomechanics, quantum optics, optical tractors, and is relevant in fundamental problems as the Abraham-Minkoswky dilemma, or the Casimir effect. Here we show that an ultra-fast nonlinear polarization gives indeed a contribution to the optical pressure that also is negative in certain spectral ranges; the theoretical analysis is confirmed by first-principles simulations. An order of magnitude estimate shows that the effect can be observable by measuring the deflection of a membrane made by graphene.