Nanopillar metasurfaces uniting high optical reflectivity with ultracoherent nanomechanics
Abstract
Mechanically compliant mirrors are key components in cavity optomechanics. However, the requirements to achieve the best optical and mechanical performance are usually in direct competition. A high reflectivity for tightly focused beams entails thick reflectors, whereas ultracoherent flexural nanomechanics necessitates thin membranes. We eliminate this trade-off by introducing high-refractive-index nanopillar metasurfaces on top of a thin membrane. We pattern a 50 micrometer-diameter array of nanopillars to form a photonic crystal. The flat band behavior of guided resonances in the photonic crystal enables a reflectivity of 99.82(1)% for a tightly focused beam of 7 micrometer waist. The combination of two guided resonances creates a 100 nanometer-wide high-reflectivity band around 1550 nanometer. Simultaneously, the nanopillar patterning realizes a density-modulated phononic crystal that isolates an ultracoherent localized mechanical mode with a Q· f-product of 2· 1014Hz. The demonstrated nanopillar metasurfaces enable lightweight mirrors for room-temperature quantum optomechanics and for use as levitated mirrors or lightsails.
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BibTeX
@misc{jung2026nanopillar,
title = {{Nanopillar metasurfaces uniting high optical reflectivity with ultracoherent nanomechanics}},
author = {Alexander Jung and Anastasiia Ciers and Hannes Pfeifer and Albert Hansson and Johanna Örgård and Daniel Stachanow and Viktor A. Lilja and Philippe Tassin and Witlef Wieczorek},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.31452},
eprint = {2610.31452},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31452},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Nanopillar metasurfaces uniting high optical reflectivity with ultracoherent nanomechanics
AU - Alexander Jung
AU - Anastasiia Ciers
AU - Hannes Pfeifer
AU - Albert Hansson
AU - Johanna Örgård
AU - Daniel Stachanow
AU - Viktor A. Lilja
AU - Philippe Tassin
AU - Witlef Wieczorek
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.31452
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31452
AB - Mechanically compliant mirrors are key components in cavity optomechanics. However, the requirements to achieve the best optical and mechanical performance are usually in direct competition. A high reflectivity for tightly focused beams entails thick reflectors, whereas ultracoherent flexural nanomechanics necessitates thin membranes. We eliminate this trade-off by introducing high-refractive-index nanopillar metasurfaces on top of a thin membrane. We pattern a 50 micrometer-diameter array of nanopillars to form a photonic crystal. The flat band behavior of guided resonances in the photonic crystal enables a reflectivity of 99.82(1)% for a tightly focused beam of 7 micrometer waist. The combination of two guided resonances creates a 100 nanometer-wide high-reflectivity band around 1550 nanometer. Simultaneously, the nanopillar patterning realizes a density-modulated phononic crystal that isolates an ultracoherent localized mechanical mode with a Q· f-product of 2· 10^14Hz. The demonstrated nanopillar metasurfaces enable lightweight mirrors for room-temperature quantum optomechanics and for use as levitated mirrors or lightsails.
ER -