dc.contributor.advisor | Capasso, Federico | |
dc.contributor.author | Woolf, David Nathaniel | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-10-08T21:16:36Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2013-10-08 | |
dc.date.submitted | 2013 | |
dc.identifier.citation | Woolf, David Nathaniel. 2013. Near-Field Optical Forces: Photonics, Plasmonics and the Casimir Effect. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University. | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | http://dissertations.umi.com/gsas.harvard:10812 | en |
dc.identifier.uri | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11158247 | |
dc.description.abstract | The coupling of macroscopic objects via the optical near-field can generate strong attractive and repulsive forces. Here, I explore the static and dynamic optomechanical interactions that take place in a geometry consisting of a silicon nanomembrane patterned with a square-lattice photonic crystal suspended above a silicon-on-insulator substrate. This geometry supports a hybridized optical mode formed by the coupling of eigenmodes of the membrane and the silicon substrate layer. This system is capable of generating nanometer-scale deflections at low optical powers for membrane-substrate gaps of less than 200 nm due to the presence of an optical cavity created by the photonic crystal that enhances both the optical force and a force that arises from photo-thermal-mechanical properties of the system. Feedback between Brownian motion of the membrane and the optical and photo-thermal forces lead to dynamic interactions that perturb the mechanical frequency and linewidth in a process known as ``back-action.'' The static and dynamic properties of this system are responsible for optical bistability, mechanical cooling and regenerative oscillations under different initial conditions. Furthermore, solid objects separated by a small distance experience the Casimir force, which results from quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field (i.e. virtual photons).The Casimir force supplies a strong nonlinear perturbation to membrane motion when the membrane-substrate separation is less than 150 nm. Taken together, the unique properties of this system makes it an intriguing candidate for transduction, accelerometry, and sensing applications. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | Engineering and Applied Sciences | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
dash.license | LAA | |
dc.subject | Physics | en_US |
dc.subject | Optics | en_US |
dc.subject | Casimir | en_US |
dc.subject | Forces | en_US |
dc.subject | MEMS | en_US |
dc.subject | Optomechanics | en_US |
dc.subject | Photonics | en_US |
dc.subject | Plasmonics | en_US |
dc.title | Near-Field Optical Forces: Photonics, Plasmonics and the Casimir Effect | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis or Dissertation | en_US |
dash.depositing.author | Woolf, David Nathaniel | |
dc.date.available | 2013-10-08T21:16:36Z | |
thesis.degree.date | 2013 | en_US |
thesis.degree.discipline | Engineering and Applied Sciences | en_US |
thesis.degree.grantor | Harvard University | en_US |
thesis.degree.level | doctoral | en_US |
thesis.degree.name | Ph.D. | en_US |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Capasso, Federico | en_US |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Crozier, Ken | en_US |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Vlassak, Joost | en_US |
dc.contributor.committeeMember | Westervelt, Bob | en_US |
dash.contributor.affiliated | Woolf, David | |