title: Nonlinear dynamics and chaos in an optomechanical beam.
abstract: Optical nonlinearities, such as thermo-optic mechanisms and free-carrier dispersion, are often considered unwelcome effects in silicon-based resonators and, more specifically, optomechanical cavities, since they affect, for instance, the relative detuning between an optical resonance and the excitation laser. Here, we exploit these nonlinearities and their intercoupling with the mechanical degrees of freedom of a silicon optomechanical nanobeam to unveil a rich set of fundamentally different complex dynamics. By smoothly changing the parameters of the excitation laser we demonstrate accurate control to activate two- and four-dimensional limit cycles, a period-doubling route and a six-dimensional chaos. In addition, by scanning the laser parameters in opposite senses we demonstrate bistability and hysteresis between two- and four-dimensional limit cycles, between different coherent mechanical states and between four-dimensional limit cycles and chaos. Our findings open new routes towards exploiting silicon-based optomechanical photonic crystals as a versatile building block to be used in neurocomputational networks and for chaos-based applications.
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICN2, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Navarro-Urrios
authors.affiliation: Depto. Física, Universidad de la Laguna, La Laguna 38206, Spain.
authors.forename: Néstor E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Capuj
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICN2, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Martín F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Colombano
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICN2, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: P David
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: García
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICN2, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sledzinska
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICN2, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alzina
authors.affiliation: Nanophotonics Technology Center, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia 46022, Spain.
authors.forename: Amadeu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Griol
authors.affiliation: Nanophotonics Technology Center, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia 46022, Spain.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICN2, Bellaterra, Barcelona 08193, Spain.|Catalan Institute for Research and Advances Studies ICREA, Barcelona 08010, Spain.
authors.forename: Clivia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Sotomayor-Torres