Sensing Dispersive and Dissipative Forces by an Optomechanical Cavity

TL;DR

This paper experimentally investigates an optomechanical cavity influenced by dispersive and dissipative forces, revealing significant behavioral changes at sub-micrometer scales due to Casimir, Coulomb, and optomechanical effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates the combined influence of Casimir, Coulomb, and optomechanical forces on a cavity's behavior at nanometer scales, with experimental results compared to theoretical predictions.

Findings

Behavioral change observed below 1 micrometer distance

Partial agreement between experiment and theory

Identification of Casimir and Coulomb effects in the system

Abstract

We experimentally study an optomechanical cavity that is formed between a mechanical resonator, which serves as a movable mirror, and a stationary on-fiber dielectric mirror. A significant change in the behavior of the system is observed when the distance between the fiber's tip and the mechanical resonator is made smaller than about 1 micrometer. The observed effects are attributed to the combined influence of Casimir force, Coulomb interaction due to trapped charges, and optomechanical coupling. The comparison between experimental results and theory yields a partial agreement.