Silicon Optomechanics: Light-force devices on a chip
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Venue:
KIT - Campus North -
Lecture Hall 0-167, Bldg. 640 -
Date:
11.11.2009
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Speaker:
Dr. Wolfram Pernice
Yale University, USA -
Time:
15:00
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Abstract: Machines propelled by light have been envisioned by Science Fiction writers for more than a century. Even though the force exerted by photons is seemingly small, it becomes significant on a nanometer scale. In integrated nano-photonic circuits strongly confined optical fields can be used to efficiently actuate and readout nanomechanical structures. In this talk I will describe how the optical gradient force can be harnessed as the fundamental building block for opto-mechanical devices. I will present recent progress on on-chip photonic interferometry for precision motion readout and how it can be used to investigate classical and quantum optomechanics arising from strongly coupled optomechanical systems. Applications for optically cooling a macroscopic object to its quantum ground state will be discussed.