We propose an experiment for generating and detecting vacuum-induced dissipative motion. A high frequency mechanical resonator driven in resonance is expected to dissipate mechanical energy in quantum vacuum via photon emission. The photons are stored in a high quality electromagnetic cavity and detected through their interaction with ultracold alkali-metal atoms prepared in an inverted population of hyperfine states. Superradiant amplification of the generated photons results in a detectable radio-frequency signal temporally distinguishable from the expected background.
Electro-optic polymer-clad silicon slot waveguides have recently been used to build a new class of modulators, that exhibit very high bandwidths and extremely low drive voltages. A key step towards making these devices practical will be lowering optical insertion losses. We report on the first measurements of low-loss waveguides that are geometrically suitable for high bandwidth slot waveguide modulators: a strip-loaded slot waveguide. Waveguide loss for undoped waveguides of 6.5 ± 0.2 dB/cm was achieved with 40 nm thick strip-loading, with the full silicon thickness around 220 nm and a slot size of 200 nm, for wavelengths near 1550 nm.
We report on low-loss asymmetric strip-loaded slot waveguides in silicon-on-insulator fabricated with 248 nm photolithography. Waveguide losses were 2 dB/cm or less at wavelengths near 1550 nm. A 40 nm strip-loading allows low-resistance electrical contact to be made to the two slot arms. The asymmetric design suppresses the TE1 mode while increasing the wavelength range for which the TE0 mode guides. This type of waveguide is suitable for building low insertion-loss, high-bandwidth, low drive-voltage modulators, when coated with an electro-optic polymer cladding.
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