Cavity optomechanics with a functionalized silicon nitride membrane

The optomechanical handling of objects with dimensions from nanoscale to mascroscopic scale is a very active research area. An important component of the research effort is the sarch for new materials and new optomechanical processes. We investigate the optomechanical properties of a cavity containing, as a mirror, a multilayer membrane composed by tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3), silver and silicon nitride. We observe phohermal cooling of the fundamental mode of the membrane, through the modification of the effective damping rate and the frequency of the membrane acoustic motion. Variation of the optomechanical parameters leads the system into a nonlinear dynamics regime, corresponding to heating and self-oscillations.