Optoacoustics — Advances in high-frequency optomechanics and Brillouin scattering

Guest Editors Birgit Stiller, Paulo Dainese, and Ewold Verhagen worked in collaboration with APL Photonics Editor Benjamin Eggleton on this Special Topic. The interaction of light waves with mechanical vibrations at the micro- and nanoscale offers a unique link between two different physical domains. It bridges frequencies from MHz to THz and allows exploiting physical phenomena between electro-magnetic and mechanical waves. These phenomena have been traditionally studied in the research fields of cavity optomechanics and Brillouin scattering, that recently merge together investigating high-frequency mechanical and acoustic waves. In this collection, we aim to showcase the diverse fundamental and applied research activities in both optomechanics and Brillouin scattering and to highlight the current merging of the two fields.

Guest Editors: Birgit Stiller, Paulo Dainese, and Ewold Verhagen