Research progresses of micro-/nano-opto-mechanical sensors

Micro-/nano-Opto-mechanical sensors, which are achieved by exploiting the mutual coupling and resonance enhancement between mechanical motion and optical response, have the advantages of miniaturisation, high sensitivity and low detection thresholds. Such kind of sensors can detect physical-mechanical motion and molecular vibrations ranging from millimetre to nanometre scale, and offer novel strategies for practical applications of precise sensing. Versatile micro-/nano-opto-mechanical sensor can detect many variable parameters, such as force, displacement, mass, acoustics, chemistry and thermal characteristics. This review introduces some recently reported important research progress in opto-mechanical sensors, of which three aspects are summarized, i.e., passive opto-mechanical sensors, electro-opto-mechanical sensing platforms and mid-infrared molecular vibration sensing. Furthermore, this review briefly presents the configuration, application and integration of opto-mechanical sensors. Finally, the prospects of micro-/nano-opto-mechanical sensors are also discussed.