  A fully on-fiber optomechanical cavity is fabricated by patterning a
suspended metallic mirror on the tip of an optical fiber. Optically induced
self-excited oscillations of the suspended mirror are experimentally
demonstrated. We discuss the feasibility of employing on-fiber optomechanical
cavities for sensing applications. A theoretical analysis evaluates the
sensitivity of the proposed sensor, which is assumed to operate in the region
of self-excited oscillations, and the results are compared with the
experimental data. Moreover, the sensitivity that is obtained in the region of
self-excited oscillations is theoretically compared with the sensitivity that
is achievable when forced oscillations are driven by applying an oscillatory
external force.
