Near-self-imaging cavity for three-mode optoacoustic parametric amplifiers using silicon microresonators

Area of Science:

• Optoacoustic physics
• Quantum optics
• Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)

Background:

• Optoacoustic parametric amplifiers (OAPAs) couple optical and acoustic modes.
• Realizing OAPAs requires optical cavities with tunable transverse modes and high-quality resonators.
• Existing OAPA designs face challenges in achieving tunable mode spacing for different operational regimes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel table-top optoacoustic parametric amplifier (OAPA) design.
• To demonstrate a silicon torsional microresonator-based OAPA with tunable mode spacing.
• To investigate the potential for self-cooling and parametric instability in the designed OAPA.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a near-self-imaging optical cavity design.
• Employed a silicon torsional microresonator for the OAPA.
• Characterized the tuning coefficient of the optical mode spacing.
• Calculated predicted performance based on demonstrated resonator parameters.

Main Results:

• Achieved a tuning coefficient for optical mode spacing of 2.46 MHz/mm.
• Predicted parametric instability at 1.6 μW input power.
• Predicted mode cooling by a factor of 1.9×10⁴ at 30 mW input power.

Conclusions:

• The designed table-top OAPA offers tunable operation between amplification and self-cooling regimes.
• The silicon torsional microresonator platform is suitable for realizing advanced OAPA functionalities.
• The OAPA shows promise for applications requiring sensitive transducers and quantum optical phenomena.