Integrated optomechanical ultrasonic sensors with nano-Pascal-level sensitivity

Xuening Cao; Hao Yang; Min Wang; Zhi-Gang Hu; Zu-Lei Wu; Yuanlei Wang; Jian-Fei Liu; Xin Zhou; Jincheng Li; Chenghao Lao; Qi-Fan Yang; Bei-Bei Li

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02238-0

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Integrated optomechanical ultrasonic sensors with nano-Pascal-level sensitivity

Original Articles

- Integrated optomechanical ultrasonic sensors with nano-Pascal-level sensitivity
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 6, Pages: 1946-1957(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
  2.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  3.State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics and Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  4.School of Space and Earth Sciences, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
  5.Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Shanxi 030006, China
  6.Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Guangdong 523808, China
- Author bio：
  
  Bei-Bei Li (libeibei@iphy.ac.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02238-0
  CLC：
- Received：18 September 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-02-03，
  
  Accepted：09 February 2026，
  
  Online First：16 March 2026，
  
  Published：30 June 2026
- Accepted：
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Cao, X. N. et al. Integrated optomechanical ultrasonic sensors with nano-Pascal-level sensitivity. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1946-1957 (2026).
DOI：

Cao, X. N. et al. Integrated optomechanical ultrasonic sensors with nano-Pascal-level sensitivity. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1946-1957 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02238-0.

摘要

Abstract

Ultrasonic sensors are widely used for object detection and localization in underwater and biological settings. The operational range and spatial resolution are inherently limited by sensor sensitivity

in which conventional piezoelectric transducers have been overwhelmed by advanced photonic sensors. Here

we demonstrate an optomechanical ultrasonic sensor integrated into a photonic platform

which comprises a suspended SiO

membrane embedded with a high-

microring resonator. By exploiting simultaneous optical and

mechanical resonances

the sensor achieves a record low noise-equivalent pressure (NEP) of 218 nPa Hz

−1/2

at 289 kHz in air and 9.6 nPa Hz

−1/2

at 52 kHz in water. We demonstrate its versatility through photoacoustic gas spectroscopy in air and underwater ultrasound imaging

achieving a minimum detectable C

concentration of 2.9 ppm (integration time 1 s) and an imaging resolution of 1.89 mm

respectively. Our work represents a significant advancement in compact CMOS-compatible ultrasound sensing

unlocking new possibilities in biomedical imaging

environmental monitoring

industrial testing

and underwater communications.

关键词

Keywords

references

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