Spin-optomechanical coupling between light and a nanofiber torsional mode

Light that carries linear or angular momentum can interact with a mechanical object, giving rise to optomechanical effects. In particular, a photon can transfer its intrinsic angular momentum to an object when the object either absorbs the photon or changes the photon polarization, as in an action/r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2018-04, Vol.43 (7), p.1534-1537
Main Authors: Fenton, Eliot F, Khan, Adnan, Solano, Pablo, Orozco, Luis A, Fatemi, Fredrik K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angular momentum
Nanofibers
Opto-mechanics
Polarimetry
Polarization
Torsion
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Summary:Light that carries linear or angular momentum can interact with a mechanical object, giving rise to optomechanical effects. In particular, a photon can transfer its intrinsic angular momentum to an object when the object either absorbs the photon or changes the photon polarization, as in an action/reaction force pair. Here, we demonstrate resonant driving of torsional mechanical modes of a single-mode tapered optical nanofiber using spin angular momentum. The nanofiber torsional mode spectrum is characterized by polarimetry, showing narrow natural resonances (Q≈2,000). By sending amplitude-modulated light through the nanofiber, we resonantly drive individual torsional modes as a function of the light polarization. By varying the input polarization to the fiber, we find the largest amplification of a mechanical oscillation (>35  dB) is observed when driving the system with light containing longitudinal spin on the nanofiber waist. These results present optical nanofibers as a platform suitable for quantum spin-optomechanics experiments.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.43.001534