This thesis investigated single nanoparticle/molecule detections using a whispering
gallery mode (WGM) microcavity, with focuses on sensing with the cavity optomechanical oscillation (OMO).
The high quality (Q) factor and small mode volume properties of a WGM microcavity make it possible to establish a strong intracavity power density with a small
amount of input optical power. Such a high optical power density exerts a radiation
pressure that is sufficient to push the cavity wall moving outward. The dynamic
interaction between the optical field and the mechanical motion eventually results
in a regenerative mechanical oscillation of the WGM cavity, which is termed as the
optomechanical oscillation. With a high Q spherical microcavity, the observation of
OMO in heavy water is reported. To the best knowledge of the author, this is the
first demonstration of the cavity OMO in an aqueous environment.
Furthermore, by utilizing the properties of reactive sensing, cavity OMO, and
optical spring effect, we demonstrated a new sensing mechanism that improves the
WGM microcavity sensing resolution by several orders of magnitude. Finally, we
conducted the demonstration of in-vitro molecule sensing by detecting single bindings
of the 66 kDa Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) protein molecules at a signal-to-noise
ratio of 16.8. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/7819 |
| Date | 28 February 2017 |
| Creators | Yu, Wenyan |
| Contributors | Lu, Tao |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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