Oct 11 2022Reviewed by Skyla Baily A novel technique to successfully capture light and sound waves with the use of multilayer silicon nitride waveguides was developed by researchers from the University of Twente. The study efficiently demonstrated that manipulating light with sound in large-scale circuits is feasible and well-suited to existing production methods. Their study was published in the journal Science Advances.
Stimulated Brillouin Scattering—Manipulating Light With Sound In the development of new quantum optics, sensors, and telecommunication techniques, the amplifying, filtering, and processing of optical signals are necessary. One method to perform this successfully is by employing a coherent optomechanical interaction technique known as stimulated Brillouin scattering.
Even though Brillouin scattering has been studied extensively in the last few years, it could never be implemented reliably on a chip suitable for use in our daily lives. Trapping the soundwave in a waveguide long enough to be effective, has proven to be very difficult. ‘Acoustic leakage’ is a big problem in traditional silicon-based platforms preventing strong Brillouin interactions. And alternative materials are often unstable, fragile, or even toxic.
We demonstrated an RF cancellation notch filter, and the results show great potential for future stimulated Brillouin scattering on a silicon nitride chip. Marpaung states, “Our research makes integration of stimulated Brillouin scattering in large circuits possible.