Controlling phonons and photons at the wavelength-scale: silicon
photonics meets silicon phononics
release_566vp6oonffuzixvssc7toubfe
by
Amir H. Safavi-Naeini, Dries Van Thourhout, Roel Baets, Raphaël Van
Laer
2018
Abstract
Radio-frequency communication systems have long used bulk- and
surface-acoustic-wave devices supporting ultrasonic mechanical waves to
manipulate and sense signals. These devices have greatly improved our ability
to process microwaves by interfacing them to orders-of-magnitude slower and
lower loss mechanical fields. In parallel, long-distance communications have
been dominated by low-loss infrared optical photons. As electrical signal
processing and transmission approaches physical limits imposed by energy
dissipation, optical links are now being actively considered for mobile and
cloud technologies. Thus there is a strong driver for wavelength-scale
mechanical wave or "phononic" circuitry fabricated by scalable semiconductor
processes. With the advent of these circuits, new micro- and nanostructures
that combine electrical, optical and mechanical elements have emerged. In these
devices, such as optomechanical waveguides and resonators, optical photons and
gigahertz phonons are ideally matched to one another as both have wavelengths
on the order of micrometers. The development of phononic circuits has thus
emerged as a vibrant field of research pursued for optical signal processing
and sensing applications as well as emerging quantum technologies. In this
review, we discuss the key physics and figures of merit underpinning this
field. We also summarize the state of the art in nanoscale electro- and
optomechanical systems with a focus on scalable platforms such as silicon.
Finally, we give perspectives on what these new systems may bring and what
challenges they face in the coming years. In particular, we believe hybrid
electro- and optomechanical devices incorporating highly coherent and compact
mechanical elements on a chip have significant untapped potential for
electro-optic modulation, quantum microwave-to-optical photon conversion,
sensing and microwave signal processing.
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