Enhanced acousto-optic interactions in a one-dimensional phoxonic cavity

Abstract

We report on the occurrence of strong nonlinear acousto-optic interactions in a one-dimensional model phoxonic cavity that supports, simultaneously, photonic and phononic localized resonant modes, by means of rigorous electrodynamic and elastodynamic calculations. We show that these interactions can take place when photons and phonons of long lifetime are confined in the same region of space and lead to enhanced modulation of light by acoustic waves through multiphonon exchange mechanisms. © 2010 The American Physical Society.