Optomechanical device for actuating and/or detecting movement of a mechanical element, in particular for gravimetric detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10132957-B2
Application number	US-201414519390-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 21, 2014
Priority date	Oct 22, 2013
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

Optomechanical device for actuating and/or detecting movement of a mechanical element, in particular for gravimetric detection. It includes a support with a mechanical element anchored to the support which is designed to move relative to the element, and a device for actuating and/or detecting movement or of variations in frequency of movement of the element. A portion of the device is arranged beneath at least part of the element, between the element and the support. The device includes a fixed optical device with at least one optical waveguide arranged beneath all or part of the element at a determined distance from the element, and which is designed to propagate at least one optical wave having a given wavelength designed to interact with the element. The optical waveguide is at a determined distance from the mechanical element so that the evanescent field of the optical waveguide interacts with the mechanical element.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An optomechanical device comprising:
a support, and on the support:
at least one mechanical element which is anchored to the support and includes a portion which is designed to move relative to the support, and
a device for actuating the portion of the mechanical element and/or for detecting movement of the portion of mechanical element or frequency variations of said movement, wherein the actuation and/or detection device comprises an optical device:
which is fixed with respect to the support,
which comprises at least one optical wave guide and an optical resonator which is optically coupled to the at least one optical wave guide, wherein both the at least one optical wave guide and the optical resonator are fixed with respect to the support,
which is arranged beneath all or part of the portion of the mechanical element, between the portion of the mechanical element and the support, at a determined distance from the portion of the mechanical element,
and which is designed to propagate at least one optical wave which has a given wavelength, said optical wave being designed to interact with the mechanical element and cause movement of the portion of the mechanical element and/or be modified by movement of the portion of the mechanical element, and
wherein the optical device is at a determined distance from the mechanical element so that an evanescent field of the optical device interacts with the mechanical element,

wherein the mechanical element comprises a receiving zone, designed to receive one or more particles which can cause or modify movement of the mechanical element for the purposes of determining a physical property of the particle or of the particles from a signal supplied by the actuation and/or detection device.

2. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical element has either an element perpendicular to a plane of the layers from which the device is made, having an end anchored to the support and an end able to move in a plane parallel to the plane of the layers, or an element parallel to the plane of the layers, suspended to the support via at least two ends and able to move perpendicular to the plane of the layers.

3. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein said mechanical element forms a mechanical resonator with a given resonance frequency.

4. Optomechanical device according to claim 3 , comprising one optical device per mechanical element or one optical device for a group of mechanical elements with resonance frequencies which differ from each other.

5. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein the number of optical devices is less than or equal to the number of mechanical elements.

6. An optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein the optical resonator is in the form of a ring.

7. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical element comprises a substantially rectilinear beam, which has a first end anchored to the support, and a second end provided with a plate which forms the receiving zone.

8. Optomechanical device according to claim 7 , wherein the beam is substantially perpendicular to the support and the plate is substantially perpendicular to the beam.

9. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical element forms a mechanical resonator whose resonance frequency varies when the receiving zone receives the particle or particles.

10. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 wherein the receiving zone is designed to receive material particles.

11. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein the receiving zone comprises a material designed to absorb particles formed by photons in a predefined range of electromagnetic frequencies.

12. Optomechanical device according to claim 1 , wherein the optical waveguide is at a determined distance from the mechanical element so that the evanescent field of the optical waveguide interacts with the mechanical element.

13. An optomechanical device comprising:
a support, and on the support:
at least one mechanical element which is anchored to the support and includes a portion which is designed to move relative to the support, and
a device for actuating the portion of the mechanical element and for detecting movement of the portion of mechanical element or frequency variations of said movement, wherein the actuation and detection device comprises an optical device:
which is fixed with respect to the support,
which comprises at least one optical wave guide, which is arranged beneath all or part of the portion of the mechanical element between the portion of the mechanical element and the support, at a determined distance from the portion of the mechanical element,
and which is designed to propagate at least one optical wave which has a given wavelength, said optical wave being designed to interact with the mechanical element and cause movement of the portion of the mechanical element and the optical wave being modified by movement of the portion of the mechanical element, and
wherein the optical device is at a determined distance from the mechanical element so that an evanescent field of the optical device interacts with the mechanical element,

wherein the mechanical element comprises a receiving zone, designed to receive one or more particles which can cause or modify movement of the mechanical element for the purposes of determining a physical property of the particle or of the particles from a signal supplied by the actuation and/or detection device.

14. The optomechanical device according to claim 13 , wherein the optical device further comprises an optical resonator which is optically coupled to the at least one optical wave guide wherein both the at least one optical wave guide and the optical resonator are fixed with respect to the support.

Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique
• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Hentz Sébastien
• Duraffourg Laurent
• Jourdan Guillaume

Classifications

• G02B6/3536

  involving evanescent coupling variation, e.g. by a moving element such as a membrane which changes the effective refractive index (mode converters G02B6/14; adjustable lateral coupling between waveguides G02B6/283; electro- optical refractive index variations G02F1/0118) · CPC title

• G02B6/29338

  Loop resonators · CPC title

• G01D5/266

  by interferometric means (G01D5/353 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02B6/12007

  forming wavelength selective elements, e.g. multiplexer, demultiplexer · CPC title

• G01D5/35312

  using a Fabry Perot · CPC title