Wednesday  |  Conference Center A  |  05:00 PM–05:20 PM

#13358, Bistability and Irregular Oscillations in Pairs of Opto-thermal Micro-oscillators

The nonlinear dynamics of a pair of micron-sized clamped-clamped beams that are coupled using elastic bridges and driven into limit cycle oscillations using an external laser source are reported. The devices are fabricated on a Silicon-On-Insulator chip and are approximately 38-40 microns long, 1-2 microns wide and 205 nm thick. A He-Ne laser source and the Fabry-Perot cavity design of the devices result in a feedback loop causing opto-thermal excitation. The motion is detected by reflection of the laser into a high-speed photodetector and the frequency content is analyzed using a spectrum analyzer. Experimentally, different regimes of oscillations are observed such as quasi-periodic oscillations, synchronized oscillations and the existence of multiple stable states. The existence of these states is corroborated by numerical simulations of a corresponding lumped third-order ODE model of the system. The simulations reveal the qualitative behavior of the system and the different regimes of oscillations. Results of both the experiments and the numerical simulations show the existence of two stable states: synchronized and quasi periodic motion at high laser powers.

Aditya Bhaskar   Cornell University
Mark Walth   Cornell University
Richard Rand   Cornell University
Alan Zehnder   Cornell University