EurekAlert August 19, 2019
In their review article an international team of researchers (Australia, USA – Yale University, University of Illinois) outlines the rich physics that emerges from such a fundamental interaction as that between light and sound, which is found in all states of matter. The paper outlines the rich physics that emerges from such a fundamental interaction. The big advance here is in the simultaneous control of light and sound waves on small scales. According to the researchers there are barriers to overcome before this chip-scale integrated system can be deployed commercially, but the payoff in terms of size, weight and power will be worth the effort. Some of the challenges are to develop an architecture that integrates microwave and radio frequency processors with optical-acoustic interactions, reducing interference in the system caused by unwanted light scattering that deteriorates the signal-to-noise ratio and finding materials that are elastic and inelastic enough to contain the light and sound waves while allowing them to interact is one suggested avenue…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Conceptual illustration of integrated circuit incorporating stimulated Brillouin scattering devices. Credit: Nature Photonics, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0498-z