Uncooled low-noise thin-film optomechanical resonator for thermal sensing on lithium niobate

Uncooled low-noise thin-film optomechanical resonator for thermal sensing on lithium niobate | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Uncooled low-noise thin-film optomechanical resonator for thermal sensing on lithium niobate Yue Yu, Ran Yin, Ian Anderson, Yinan Wang, Jack Kramer, Chun-Ho Lee, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8537807/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Optomechanical transduction harnesses the interaction between optical fields and mechanical motion to achieve sensitive measurement of weak mechanical quantities with inherently low noise. Lithium niobate combines low optical loss, strong piezoelectricity, high intrinsic f × Q_m factor, and low thermal conductivity, making it promising for exploring optomechanical platforms targeting thermal sensing applications. Here, we developed an integrated optomechanical platform on thin-film lithium niobate with precisely engineered optical, mechanical, and thermal fields within a compact 40 μm × 40 μm footprint. The platform integrates suspended microring resonators with ultrathin central membranes, reducing mechanical stiffness and effective mass while maintaining a high optical factor Qo of 10^6 and mechanical quality factor Qm of 1117, which increases to 5.1 × 10^4 after oscillation. The design suppresses thermal dissipation into the silicon substrate and enhances thermal sensitivity, achieving a temperature coefficient of frequency of −124 ppm/K and a noise-equivalent power of 6.2 nW/√Hz at 10 kHz at room temperature. This compact and scalable platform opens new opportunities for high-sensitivity thermal sensing, supports heterogeneous integration with infrared absorbers for uncooled infrared detection, and enables fully integrated, all-optical on-chip readout, paving the way toward large-format, low-noise infrared sensing arrays. Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical physics/Quantum optics Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Optical techniques/Imaging and sensing Physical sciences/Optics and photonics/Applied optics/Integrated optics Optomechanics thermal sensing lithium niobate frequency noise Full Text Additional Declarations There is no conflict of interest Supplementary Files optomechanicalthermalsensoronTFLNSupplementary.pdf Supplementary Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: revise 09 Mar, 2026 Review # 1 received at journal 02 Feb, 2026 Review # 4 received at journal 25 Jan, 2026 Review # 3 received at journal 17 Jan, 2026 Review # 2 received at journal 16 Jan, 2026 Reviewer # 4 agreed at journal 11 Jan, 2026 Reviewer # 3 agreed at journal 08 Jan, 2026 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 08 Jan, 2026 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 08 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Jan, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 07 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 07 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 07 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8537807","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":571237629,"identity":"d2efe7cc-d22b-4545-91d4-ed34601e0b37","order_by":0,"name":"Yue Yu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCAx8MbOQMGBiYGRgKwAIGhHQwPpxRkGYM0WJAnBZmY54PhxM3EK3F4EaOmTSPweH07ey9jw2ALkxsYG/eJkFIi+Qcg/TcnT3HjRNnGKQlNvAcKyOoReKNgXXuhhtpzIeB1iU2SABFCGrhMWBON7j/jPnwH4P/iQ3ybwhqMTbkMXBOMLjBxpzMYHAAaAsPfi2SZ54VPgR6wXBnTxqzYY9BsnEbT1qxBT4tfMeTNxz48MdG3pz9GLPEjwo72X72wxtv4NOicCEBVcCxDZ9yEJDvP4AqYE9IxygYBaNgFIw8AACHtkzOubMPEAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of California, Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yue","middleName":"","lastName":"Yu","suffix":""},{"id":571237630,"identity":"8f62aee0-00b9-4fa8-b0ab-43a3cfc335a5","order_by":1,"name":"Ran Yin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of California, Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ran","middleName":"","lastName":"Yin","suffix":""},{"id":571237631,"identity":"e80cade9-0809-48c9-8df5-6d3ec05e3021","order_by":2,"name":"Ian Anderson","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ian","middleName":"","lastName":"Anderson","suffix":""},{"id":571237632,"identity":"5248de0a-b2ca-4f99-bb00-fa26561fb38c","order_by":3,"name":"Yinan Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yinan","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":571237633,"identity":"b18c80fe-12f0-43a5-9dc3-60b13f452b91","order_by":4,"name":"Jack Kramer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Texas at Austin","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jack","middleName":"","lastName":"Kramer","suffix":""},{"id":571237634,"identity":"f649a010-69fc-4b21-9134-5413b6325c0d","order_by":5,"name":"Chun-Ho Lee","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"UC berkeley","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chun-Ho","middleName":"","lastName":"Lee","suffix":""},{"id":571237635,"identity":"02201d1d-e9f5-436d-be33-53d879253c2c","order_by":6,"name":"Xinyi Ren","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of California, Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xinyi","middleName":"","lastName":"Ren","suffix":""},{"id":571237636,"identity":"e1f9952a-6f80-402f-9e80-1768cc97983e","order_by":7,"name":"Zaijun Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zaijun","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":571237637,"identity":"b156ad7e-8a2c-498d-a5da-41dd7d9b370b","order_by":8,"name":"Michelle L. 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