We have recently demontrated nanocavity optomechanical devices based on silicon photonics which can detect sources of torque with unprecedented sensitivity. These structures are currently being used to probe nanomagnetic phenomena and demomstrate magnetic field sensors with unique combination of spatial resolution, sensitivity and dynamic range.

Several projects are building on this success: creating sensors for detecting optical angular momentum (which is relevant to quantum and classical communication), performing multidimensional magnetometry, and going “beyond silicon” to improve device performance.