Work

Uncooled low-noise optomechanical sensors on thin-film lithium niobate

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Optomechanical transduction harnesses the interaction between optical fields and mechanical motion to achieve sensitive measurement of weak mechanical quantities with inherently low noise. Lithium niobate combines low optical loss, strong piezoelectricity, high intrinsic f × Q_m factor, and low thermal conductivity, making it promising for exploring optomechanical platforms targeting thermal sensing applications. Here, we developed an integrated optomechanical platform on thin-film lithium niobate with precisely engineered optical, mechanical, and thermal fields within a compact 40 μm × 40 μm footprint. The platform integrates suspended microring resonators with ultrathin central membranes, reducing mechanical stiffness and effective mass while maintaining a high optical factor Qo of 10^6 and mechanical quality factor Qm of 1117, which increases to 5.1 × 10^4 after oscillation. The design suppresses thermal dissipation into the silicon substrate and enhances thermal sensitivity, achieving a temperature coefficient of frequency of −124 ppm/K and a noise-equivalent power of 6.2 nW/√Hz at 10 kHz at room temperature. This compact and scalable platform opens new opportunities for high-sensitivity thermal sensing, supports heterogeneous integration with infrared absorbers for uncooled infrared detection, and enables fully integrated, all-optical on-chip readout, paving the way toward large-format, low-noise infrared sensing arrays.

Source: Light Science & Applications

DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02506-z