Fully integrated graphene-based optomechanical systems

Graphene has been promising for modern nanophotonic and nanomechanical research, with many applications beyond the limits of conventional materials. Tunable electro-refraction, electro-absorption, all-optical modulation, and frequency-comb generation make it a powerful nanophotonic material. Similarly, strain-tunable graphene nanoresonators have opened new frontiers in studying nonlinear dynamics, quantum mechanics, and ultra-sensitive nanomechanical sensing. Optomechanical systems based on graphene, that harness both its optical and mechanical properties, have been a topic of research interest for novel quantum measurements and sensing applications. However, most of these systems are based on free-space optics or semi-integrated optics. While there have been recent efforts to fully integrate these systems on a single chip, numerous issues impede these efforts. We theoretically propose optical actuation (with forces in nN) and detection schemes (with sensitivity in fm/Hz^½) for graphene nanomechanical resonators integrated on silicon-photonic platforms, identify the limitations of these systems, and propose potential applications of these systems as on-chip optomechanical probes for hybrid optical modes.