Optomechanical nonlinearity and bistability in dielectric metamaterials

Optical forces are extremely important in mesoscopic systems: they are increasingly exploited in various forms of optical tweezing, manipulation and binding, as well as for actuation of nanophotonic devices [1]. Here we introduce optomechanical dielectric metamaterials - a new paradigm for achieving strongly nonlinear, asymmetric and bistable optical properties via the mutual interaction of optical and mechanical responses to low intensity illumination.