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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Fabrication and Testing of Microfluidic Optomechanical Oscillators
Published on: May 29, 2014
Observation of generalized optomechanical coupling and cooling on cavity resonance
Andreas Sawadsky1, Henning Kaufer1, Ramon Moghadas Nia2
1Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Leibniz Universität Hannover and Max-Planck Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein Institut), Callinstraße 38, D-30167 Hannover, Germany.
Abstract:
Optomechanical coupling between a light field and the motion of a cavity mirror via radiation pressure plays an important role for the exploration of macroscopic quantum physics and for the detection of gravitational waves (GWs). It has been used to cool mechanical oscillators into their quantum ground states and has been considered to boost the sensitivity of GW detectors, e.g., via the optical spring effect. Here, we present the experimental characterization of generalized, that is, dispersive and dissipative, optomechanical coupling, with a macroscopic (1.5 mm)2-size silicon nitride membrane in a cavity-enhanced Michelson-type interferometer. We report for the first time strong optomechanical cooling based on dissipative coupling, even on cavity resonance, in excellent agreement with theory. Our result will allow for new experimental regimes in macroscopic quantum physics and GW detection.
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