Si N Nanobeam Optomechanical Crystals

The development of Si₃N₄ nanobeam optomechanical crystals is reviewed. These structures consist of a 350-nm thick, 700-nm wide doubly-clamped Si₃N₄ nanobeam that is periodically patterned with an array of air holes to which a defect region is introduced. The periodic patterning simultaneously creates a photonic bandgap for 980 nm band photons and a phononic bandgap for 4 GHz phonons, with the defect region serving to colocalize optical and mechanical modes within their respective bandgaps. These optical and mechanical modes interact dispersively with a coupling rate g₀/2π≈100 kHz, which describes the shift in cavity mode optical frequency due to the zero-point motion of the mechanical mode. Optical sidebands generated by interaction with the mechanical mode lie outside of the optical cavity linewidth, enabling possible use of this system in applications requiring sideband-resolved operation. Along with a review of the basic device design, fabrication, and measurement procedures, we present new results on improved optical quality factors (up to 4 × 10⁵) through optimized lithography, measurements of devices after HF acid surface treatment, and temperature dependent measurements of mechanical damping between 6 and 300 K. A frequency-mechanical quality factor product (f × Q_m) as high as ≈2.6 × 10¹³ Hz is measured.