Editorial for special issue on nano-optomechanics

Editorial for special issue of the Journal of Optics on nanooptomechanics is discussed. The authors state that the quest to measure displacements with ever greater precision using electromagnetic fields and the related drive to harness radiation pressure forces have spawned the field of optomechanics, which aims to control the motional state of mechanical resonators via optical or microwave electromagnetic fields. Typical optomechanical setups are equivalent to a Fabry-Perot optical cavity where one of the end mirrors is mechanically compliant so that its motion is coupled to the intra-cavity field via radiation pressure. Analogously, microwave electromechanical setups usually involve a resonant superconducting circuit with a compliant capacitor electrode.