Enhancement Mechanisms for Optical Force in integrated Optics

Dr. Michelle L. PovinelliStanford UniversityAbstract: We investigate the extension of optical micromanipulation to integrated optics. In particular, we consider whether propagating light signals can cause mechanical reconfiguration of a device. While such forces are intrinsically weak, we predict theoretically that significant displacements can be achieved using various enhancement mechanisms. These include the use of high-index materials, high-Q enhancement, and slow light in photonic crystals. Silicon optical waveguides have a considerable refractive index contrast with the surrounding air. We show that the strong confinement of light to silicon magnifies optical forces arising from overlap in the guided modes of neighboring waveguides. Silica microsphere resonators are known to have extremely high cavity quality factors. We show that the quality factor of the resonator magnifies the optical force due to modal overlap between two neighboring spheres. Thirdly, we investigate slow-light enhancement of optical forces using photonic-crystal devices. We show that slow-light velocities give rise to larger forces for the same amount of signal power, enhancing optomechanical coupling effects. In addition to being of fundamental interest, our work suggests that optical manipulation may ultimately provide a route to all-optical conformational control and switching.Biography:Dr. Michelle L. Povinelli is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University in the Ginzton Laboratory and the Department of Electrical Engineering. She received a PhD in Physics from MIT in 2004, an M. Phil. in Physics from the University of Cambridge in 1998, and a BA with Honors in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1997. She was awarded several graduate fellowships for her doctoral work, including the Lucent Technologies GRPW Fellowship, the NSF Graduate Fellowship, the MIT Karl Taylor Compton Fellowship, and the Churchill Fellowship. In 2006, she was selected as one of five national recipients of a $20,000 L'Oréal For Women in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship grant. She has co-authored twenty refereed journal articles and holds two US Patents.Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Place: SSL 150
Time: 11:00 AM â€" 12:00 PM

Location: Seaver Science Library (SSL) - 150

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Ericka Lieberknecht