Mapping the Cavity Optomechanical Interaction with Subwavelength-Sized Ultrasensitive Nanomechanical Force Sensors

Abstract

In canonical optomechanical systems, mechanical vibrations are dynamically encoded on an optical probe field, which reciprocally exerts a backaction force. Because of the weak single-photon coupling strength achieved with macroscopic oscillators, most of the existing experiments were conducted with large photon numbers to achieve sizable effects, thereby hiding the original optomechanical nonlinearity. To increase the optomechanical interaction, we make use of subwavelength-sized ultrasensitive suspended nanowires inserted in the mode volume of a fiber-based microcavity. By scanning the nanowire within the cavity mode volume and measuring its impact on the cavity mode, we obtain a map of the 2D optomechanical interaction. Then, by using the toolbox of nanowire-based force-sensing protocols, we explore the backaction of the optomechanical interaction and map the optical force field experienced by the nanowire. These measurements also allow us to demonstrate the possibility to detect variations of the mean intracavity photon number smaller than unity. This implementation should also allow us to enter the promising regime of cavity optomechanics, where a single intracavity photon can displace the oscillator by more than its zero-point fluctuations, which will open novel perspectives in the field.