Unifying Brillouin scattering and cavity optomechanics

Raphaël Van Laer, Roel Baets, and Dries Van Thourhout
Phys. Rev. A 93, 053828 – Published 20 May 2016

Abstract

So far, Brillouin scattering and cavity optomechanics have been mostly disconnected branches of research, although both deal with photon-phonon coupling. This begs for the development of a broader theory that contains both fields. Here, we derive the dynamics of optomechanical cavities from that of Brillouin-active waveguides. This explicit transition elucidates the link between phenomena such as Brillouin amplification and electromagnetically induced transparency. It proves that effects familiar from cavity optomechanics all have traveling-wave partners, but not vice versa. We reveal a close connection between two parameters of central importance in these fields: the Brillouin gain coefficient and the zero-point optomechanical coupling rate. This enables comparisons between systems as diverse as ultracold atom clouds, plasmonic Raman cavities, and nanoscale silicon waveguides. In addition, back-of-the-envelope calculations show that unobserved effects, such as photon-assisted amplification of traveling phonons, are now accessible in existing systems. Finally, we formulate both circuit- and cavity-oriented optomechanics in terms of vacuum coupling rates, cooperativities, and gain coefficients, thus reflecting the similarities in the underlying physics.

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  • Received 12 March 2015
  • Revised 10 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.93.053828

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Raphaël Van Laer*, Roel Baets, and Dries Van Thourhout

  • Photonics Research Group, Ghent University–imec, Belgium and Center for Nano- and Biophotonics, Ghent University, Belgium

  • *raphael.vanlaer@intec.ugent.be

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 5 — May 2016

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