Uncooled low-noise thin-film optomechanical resonator for thermal sensing on lithium niobate

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact, integrated lithium niobate optomechanical resonator with low noise and high thermal sensitivity, suitable for uncooled infrared detection and large-scale thermal sensing arrays.

Contribution

It introduces a novel thin-film lithium niobate platform with engineered optical, mechanical, and thermal properties for enhanced thermal sensing performance.

Findings

Achieved high optical Q of 1 million and mechanical Q of 1117.

Demonstrated a temperature coefficient of frequency of -124 ppm/K.

Achieved a noise-equivalent power of 6.2 nW/√Hz at 10 kHz.

Abstract

Optomechanical transduction harnesses the interaction between optical fields and mechanical motion to achieve sensitive measurement of weak mechanical quantities with inherently low noise. Lithium niobate combines low optical loss, strong piezoelectricity, high intrinsic fQ_m factor, and low thermal conductivity, making it promising for exploring optomechanical platforms targeting thermal sensing applications. Here, we developed an integrated optomechanical platform on thin-film lithium niobate with precisely engineered optical, mechanical, and thermal fields within a compact 40 {\mu}m by 40 {\mu}m footprint. The platform integrates suspended microring resonators with ultrathin central membranes, reducing mechanical stiffness and effective mass while maintaining a high optical factor Q_o of 1e6 and mechanical quality factor Q_m of 1117, which increases to 5.1e4 after oscillation. The design suppresses thermal dissipation into the silicon substrate and enhances thermal sensitivity, achieving a temperature coefficient of frequency of -124 ppm/K and a noise-equivalent power of 6.2 nW/sqrt(Hz) at 10 kHz at room temperature. This compact and scalable platform opens up new opportunities for high-sensitivity thermal sensing, supports heterogeneous integration with infrared absorbers for uncooled infrared detection, and enables fully integrated, all-optical on-chip readout, paving the way toward large-format, low-noise infrared sensing arrays.