Dissipative and Dispersive Optomechanics in a Nanocavity Torque Sensor

Abstract: Dissipative and dispersive optomechanical couplings are experimentally observed in a photonic crystal split-beam nanocavity optimized for detecting nanoscale sources of torque. Dissipative coupling of up to approximately $500$ MHz/nm and dispersive coupling of $2$ GHz/nm enable measurements of sub-pg torsional and cantilever-like mechanical resonances with a thermally-limited torque detection sensitivity of 1.2$$\times 10^{-20} \text{N} \, \text{m}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$$ in ambient conditions and 1.3$$\times 10^{-21} \text{N} \, \text{m}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$$ in low vacuum. Interference between optomechanical coupling mechanisms is observed to enhance detection sensitivity and generate a mechanical-mode-dependent optomechanical wavelength response.