Hybrid confinement of optical and mechanical modes in a bullseye optomechanical resonator

Optomechanical cavities have proven to be an exceptional tool to explore fundamental and applied aspects of the interaction between mechanical and optical waves. Here we demonstrate a novel optomechanical cavity based on a disk with a radial mechanical bandgap. This design confines light and mechanical waves through distinct physical mechanisms which allows for independent control of the mechanical and optical properties. Simulations foresee an optomechanical coupling rate g₀ reaching 2π × 100 kHz for mechanical frequencies around 5 GHz as well as anchor loss suppression of 60 dB. Our device design is not limited by unique material properties and could be easily adapted to allow for large optomechanical coupling and high mechanical quality factors with other promising materials. Finally, our devices were fabricated in a commercial silicon photonics facility, demonstrating g₀/2π = 23 kHz for mechanical modes with frequencies around 2 GHz and mechanical Q-factors as high as 2300 at room temperature, also showing that our approach can be easily scalable and useful as a new platform for multimode optomechanics.