title: A silicon electromechanical photodetector.
abstract: Optomechanical systems have enabled wide-band optical frequency conversion and multichannel all-optical radio frequency amplification. Realization of an on-chip silicon communication platform is limited by photodetectors needed to convert optical information to electrical signals for further signal processing. In this paper we present a coupled silicon microresonator, which converts near-IR optical intensity modulation at 174.2 MHz and 1.198 GHz into motional electrical current. This device emulates a photodetector which detects intensity modulation of continuous wave laser light in the full-width-at-half-maximum bandwidth of the mechanical resonance. The resonant principle of operation eliminates dark current challenges associated with convetional photodetectors. While the results presented here constitute a purely classical demonstration, the device can also potentially be extended to the quantum regime to realize a photon-phonon translator.
authors.affiliation: OxideMEMS Lab, Cornell University, Ithaca 14850, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Siddharth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tallur
authors.forename: Sunil A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bhave