Photonic Micro-Electromechanical Systems Vibrating atX-band (11-GHz) Rates

Abstract

We report on an opto-mechanical resonator with vibration excited by compressive radiation pressure via stimulated Brillouin scattering [SBS]. We experimentally excite a mechanical whispering-gallery mode (WGM) from an optical WGM and detect vibration via the red Doppler shifted (Stokes) light it scatters. We numerically solve the stress-strain equation to calculate the circumferentially circulating mechanical WGM and reveal mechanical WGMs with a variety of transverse shapes. Frequency in our device is limited by the shortest optical wavelength it can transmit, irrespective of device size.

Brillouin cavity optomechanics with microfluidic devices

“…Simultaneously, electrostrictive pressure is generated by the two optical signals, which amplifies the acoustic wave. Optical spectrum analysis reveals the optical pump and Stokes signals, as shown previously in Tomes and Carmon 11 . The resulting beat note between pump and Stokes signals measured on an electrical spectrum analyser is representative of the high-frequency acoustic wave.…”

“…1d,e) while supporting a considerable overlap between the optical and mechanical modes. The acoustic modes are optically excited by means of forward 10,12,13 and backward 9,11 SBS, that is, F-SBS and B-SBS, respectively.…”

“…Subsequently, the platforms for Brillouin scattering were extended from bulk materials and fibres, to droplets 6 , nanospheres 7 , photonic-crystal fibres 8 and crystalline resonators 9,10 . The recent demonstration of Brillouin scattering in microspheres 11 was followed by the Brillouin cooling 12 and excitation 10,13 of their vibrational modes as well; which indicates that Brillouin effects can serve as a general mechanism for actuating (and interrogating) vibration in various types of micromechanical resonators. In separate research on optofluidic devices 14,15 , the motion of liquids has been used to control light, but light has rarely been used to actuate a fluid 16 .…”

Microwave synthesizer using an on-chip Brillouin oscillator

“…An ultra-high-Q planar silica-on-silicon disk resonator 15 is used for cascaded Brillouin oscillation and microwave generation. Microcavity-based Brillouin lasers have only recently been demonstrated [41][42][43] . The present devices are silicon-chip based and they feature very high coherence and high quantum efficiency 15,44 .…”

Opto-acoustic phenomena in whispering gallery mode resonators

“…Such characteristics have made it a very suitable platform for investigating various nonlinear optical processes. Stimulated Raman, Brillouin scattering, third harmonic generation and four-wave mixing have been successfully demonstrated in WGM resonators made of fused silica in the past decade [18][19][20][21][22] . Potential applications of silica WGM resonator based SBS ranging from Brillouin cooling, [23] microwave synthesizer, [24] low-noise laser, [25] light storage, [26] slow and fast light [27] have been recently demonstrated.…”