Surface-plasmon-polariton–assisted dissipative backaction cooling and amplification

We evaluate a method, based on the near-field properties of surface-plasmon polaritons, to significantly enhance the dissipative optomechanical backaction mechanism. Although the large momentum of the surface-plasmonpolariton modes leads to the enhanced sensitivity of the scattering to the mechanical displacement, the overall efficiency will not improve unless an optical antenna efficiently couples the plasmonic modes to the far field. The predicted improvements in both efficiency and bandwidth make this approach uniquely suitable for many new applications.