Nanobeams rock out

In a new paper in Nature Communications, we present photonic crystal nanobeams that exhibit extremely strong coupling between light and motion. As a result, the optomechanical interaction is no longer linear, even for the tiny thermal mechanical fluctuations of the beams. This has many important consequences, including the fact that the produced light signals are distorted, similar to how an overdriven guitar amplifier converts the clean motion of a guitar string into a screaming rock sound. See also our press release.