Efficient anchor loss suppression in coupled near-field optomechanical resonators

Abstract

Elastic dissipation through radiation towards the substrate is a major loss channel in micro- and nanomechanical resonators. Engineering the coupling of these resonators with optical cavities further complicates and constrains the design of low-loss optomechanical devices. In this work we rely on the coherent cancellation of mechanical radiation to demonstrate material and surface absorption limited silicon near-field optomechanical resonators oscillating at tens of MHz. The effectiveness of our dissipation suppression scheme is investigated at room and cryogenic temperatures. While at room temperature we can reach a maximum quality factor of 7.61k ($fQ$-product of the order of $10^{11}$~Hz), at 22~K the quality factor increases to 37k, resulting in a $fQ$-product of $2\times 10^{12}$~Hz.