Silicon-nitride nanosensors toward room temperature quantum optomechanics
Year: 2021
Authors: Serra E., Borrielli A., Marin F., Marino F., Malossi N., Morana B., Piergentili P., Prodi G.A., Sarro P.M., Vezio P., Vitali D., Bonaldi M.
Autors Affiliation: Institute of Materials for Electronics and Magnetism, IMEM-CNR, Trento unit c/o Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Via alla Cascata 56/C,
IT-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy.
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application, Via Sommarive 14, IT-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy.
Department of Microelectronics, Delft University of Technology, Feldmannweg 17, 2628 CT Delft, The Netherlands.
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Firenze, Via Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy.
European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS), Via Carrara 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy.
CNR-INO, L.go Enrico Fermi 6, I-50125 Firenze, Italy.
INFN, Sezione di Firenze, Via Sansone 1, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy.
Physics Division, School of Science and Technology, University of Camerino, Via Madonna delle Carceri 9, I-62032 Camerino (MC), Italy.
INFN, Sezione di Perugia, via A. Pascoli, I-06123 Perugia, Italy.
Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Trento, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy.
Abstract: Micro- and nanomechanical resonators play a prominent part in many sensing and signal processing platforms due to their capability to pervasively couple with a wide variety of physical systems. Particularly relevant is their embedding in advanced optomechanical setups, which has recently pioneered optically cooled mechanical oscillators toward the quantum regime. A frequently adopted experimental scheme exploits a thin, highly tensioned Si3N4 nanomembrane where the membrane?s vibrations are dispersively coupled to the optical mode of a Fabry-Perot cavity. A significant effort has been done into realizing high-quality factor membranes, considering that low mechanical loss represents a benchmark to operate in the elusive quantum regime. In this article, we compare two state-of-the-art SiN resonators, realized exploiting the dilution of the material?s intrinsic dissipation and efficient solutions to fully isolate the membrane from the substrate. In particular, we examine and discuss the interplay between the edge and distributed dissipation and propose an analytical approach to evaluate the total intrinsic loss. Also, our analysis delves into the sensitivity of the devices to a point-like force and a uniformdensity force field. These results provide meaningful guidelines for designing new ultra-coherent resonating devices. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.
Journal/Review: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS
Volume: 130 (6) Pages from: 064503-1 to: 064503-17
More Information: Research was performed within the Project QuaSeRT funded by the QuantERA ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies implemented within the European Union´s Horizon 2020 Programme. The research has been partially supported by INFN (HUMOR project).KeyWords: optomechanics, membrane resonatorDOI: 10.1063/5.0055954