A nano-actuator via cavity-enhanced optical dipole force

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate a nano-actuator using a silicon-based monolithic cavity nano-opto-mechanical system. The nano-actuator is constructed by a special designed nano-scale silicon suspended cantilever which is efficiently driven by the optical gradient force. In experiment, the actuator obtains a tuning range up to 52 nm. The optical power consumption is reduced to 0.04 mW/nm, which is much smaller than typical value of 3mW/nm in optomechanical systems.