Photostriction Actuation Of Silicon-Germanium Bilayer Cantilevers

This work presents a study of photostriction-based optical actuation in bilayer cantilevers made of silicon and germanium thin-films and follows previous work in this area on silicon cantilevers. This experimental and theoretical study examines the role of the silicon-germanium heterojunction in optical actuation. It is shown that the germanium layer dominates the mechanical response of the device, which can be exploited to achieve enhanced optical actuation in cantilevers. Published under license by AIP Publishing.