Integrated high frequency aluminum nitride optomechanical resonators

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the use of aluminum nitride in integrated optomechanical resonators, achieving high optical quality factors and sensitive displacement detection in ambient air, advancing the development of low-loss optomechanical devices.

Contribution

The work introduces AlN as a material for integrated optomechanical resonators with low optical and mechanical loss, achieving high Q factors and sensitive displacement measurements.

Findings

High optical quality factor (Q up to 125,000) in AlN microring resonators

Displacement sensitivity of 6.2×10^(-18) m/Hz^(1/2) in ambient air

Successful optomechanical transduction of GHz contour mode Brownian motion

Abstract

Aluminum nitride (AlN) has been widely used in microeletromechanical resonators for its excellent electromechanical properties. Here we demonstrate the use of AlN as an optomechanical material that simultaneously offer low optical and mechanical loss. Integrated AlN microring resonators in the shape of suspended rings exhibit high optical quality factor (Q) with loaded Q up to 125,000. Optomechanical transduction of the Brownian motion of a GHz contour mode yields a displacement sensitivity of 6.2\times10^(-18)m/Hz^(1/2) in ambient air.