Optomechanical Cavity for Electrical Voltage Sensing

Devices for measuring physical, chemical, and biological phenomena must be able to detect electrostatic charge with high accuracy. A strong interaction between an optical cavity and a mechanical resonator is accomplished by a nanophotonic optomechanical cavity, which limits the light field at the nanoscale. It offers promise for applications in precision sensing thanks to its strong optomechanical coupling and high optical quality factor cavity. Using a zipper cavity and a suspended photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) that functions as a moveable mechanical resonator, an integrated optomechanical electrometer for electrical voltage measurement is presented here.