Contributor info: Dr Ludovic Bellon

Basile Pottier, Ludovic Bellon

SciPost Phys. 10, 120 (2021) · published 28 May 2021 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We report a thermo-optical bistability observed in silicon micro-cantilevers irradiated by a laser beam with mW powers: reflectivity, transmissivity, absorption, and temperature can change by a factor of two between two stable states for the same input power. The temperature dependency of the absorption at the origin of the bistability results from interferences between internal reflections in the cantilever thickness, acting as a lossy Fabry-Pérot cavity. A theoretical model describing the thermo-optical coupling is presented. The experimental results obtained for silicon cantilevers irradiated in vacuum at two different visible wavelengths are in quantitative agreement with the predictions of this model.

Salambô Dago, Benjamin Besga, Raphaël Mothe, David Guéry-Odelin, Emmanuel Trizac, Artyom Petrosyan, Ludovic Bellon, Sergio Ciliberto

SciPost Phys. 9, 064 (2020) · published 5 November 2020 | Toggle abstract · pdf

We present a detailed theoretical and experimental analysis of Engineered Swift Equilibration (ESE) protocols applied to two hydrodynamically coupled colloids in optical traps. The second particle disturbs slightly (10% at most) the response to an ESE compression applied to a single particle. This effect is quantitatively explained by a model of hydrodynamic coupling. Then we design a coupled ESE protocol for the two particles, allowing the perfect control of one target particle while the second is enslaved to the first. The calibration errors and the limitations of the model are finally discussed in detail.