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Nature Photonics 3, 478–483 (1 August 2009) | doi:10.1038/nphoton.2009.137

Static and dynamic wavelength routing via the gradient optical force

Jessie Rosenberg , Qiang Lin & Oskar Painter

We propose and demonstrate an all-optical wavelength routing approach that uses a tuning mechanism based upon the optical gradient force in a specially designed nano-optomechanical system. The resulting mechanically compliant |[lsquo]|spiderweb|[rsquo]| resonator realizes seamless wavelength routing over a range of 3,000 times the intrinsic channel width, with a tuning efficiency of 309|[nbsp]|GHz|[nbsp]|mW|[minus]|1, a switching time of less than 200|[nbsp]|ns, and 100|[percnt]| channel quality preservation over the entire tuning range. These results indicate the potential for radiation pressure actuated devices to be used in a variety of photonics applications, such as channel routing|[sol]|switching, buffering, dispersion compensation, pulse trapping|[sol]|release and widely tunable lasers.