Extreme-Aspect-Ratio Nanotechnology: New Dimensions in Sensing and Propulsion

Abstract

For the past half century, Moore’s Law has steered nanotechnology towards miniaturization of components in all three dimensions: x, y, and z. As we approach its limits in 2025, our lab is exploring a new kind of nanotechnology whose components extend to large distances in x and y dimensions while remaining nanoscale in the z dimension. These extreme-aspect-ratio nanostructures, with their unique combination of macro- and nano-features, exhibit properties not found in smaller scale counterparts. Their novel optical and acoustic characteristics open new avenues for applications, from quantum sensing to unmanned interstellar missions that aim to reach our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri, in 20 years instead of the 10,000 years possible today. Initiatives like $100M Starshot Breakthrough envision combining thin reflectors and powerful lasers with the aim to accelerate light-sails and their payloads to a fifth of the speed of light. We will examine the opportunities arising from the integration of advanced nanofabrication and high-power optomechanical experiments, including our efforts to stably levitate objects over 50,000 times more massive than anything levitated with laser light to date. This delicate balance between gravity and light with massive objects will likely facilitate new insights into propulsion and fundamental physics. Simultaneously we show how strain combined with high-aspect-ratios acoustics can allow for ultra-low mechanical dissipations in room-temperature environments. The pursuit of this nanotechnology will require a convergence of novel insights into light-matter interactions, innovative structural engineering, and advanced material science to explore new fields of optomechanics.