We report a theoretical study of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) in general anisotropic media, incorporating the effects of both acoustic strain and local rotation in all calculations. We apply our general theoretical framework to compute the S
BS gain for layered media with periodic length scales smaller than all optical and acoustic wavelengths, where such composites behave like homogeneous anisotropic media. We theoretically predict that a layered medium comprising nanometre-thin layers of silicon and As$_2$S$_3$ glass possesses a bulk SBS gain of $1.28 times 10^{-9} , mathrm{W}^{-1} , mathrm{m}$. This is more than 500 times larger than the gain coefficient of silicon, and substantially larger than the gain of As$_2$S$_3$. The enhancement is due to a combination of roto-optic, photoelastic, and artificial photoelastic contributions in the composite structure.
We present a rigorous procedure for evaluating the photoelastic coefficients of a layered medium where the periodicity is smaller than the wavelengths of all optical and acoustic fields. Analytical expressions are given for the coefficients of a comp
osite material comprising thin layers of optically isotropic materials. These coefficients include artificial contributions that are unique to structured media and arise from the optical and mechanical contrast between the constituents. Using numerical examples, we demonstrate that the acousto-optic properties of layered structures can be enhanced beyond those of the constituent materials. Furthermore, we show that the acousto-optic response can be tuned as desired.
Silicon is an ideal material for on-chip applications, however its poor acoustic properties limit its performance for important optoacoustic applications, particularly for Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS). We theoretically show that silicon inve
rse opals exhibit a strongly improved acoustic performance that enhances the bulk SBS gain coefficient by more than two orders of magnitude. We also design a waveguide that incorporates silicon inverse opals and which has SBS gain values that are comparable with chalcogenide glass waveguides. This research opens new directions for opto-acoustic applications in on-chip material systems.
We compute the SBS gain for a metamaterial comprising a cubic lattice of dielectric spheres suspended in a background dielectric material. Theoretical methods are presented to calculate the optical, acoustic, and opto-acoustic parameters that describ
e the SBS properties of the material at long wavelengths. Using the electromagnetic and strain energy densities we accurately characterise the optical and acoustic properties of the metamaterial. From a combination of energy density methods and perturbation theory, we recover the appropriate terms of the photoelastic tensor for the metamaterial. We demonstrate that electrostriction is not necessarily the dominant mechanism in the enhancement and suppression of the SBS gain coefficient in a metamaterial, and that other parameters, such as the Brillouin linewidth, can dominate instead. Examples are presented that exhibit an order of magnitude enhancement in the SBS gain as well as perfect suppression.
Using full opto-acoustic numerical simulations, we demonstrate enhancement and suppression of the SBS gain in a metamaterial comprising a subwavelength cubic array of dielectric spheres suspended in a dielectric background material. We develop a gene
ral theoretical framework and present several numerical examples using technologically important materials. For As$_2$S$_3$ spheres in silicon, we achieve a gain enhancement of more than an order of magnitude compared to pure silicon, and for GaAs spheres in silicon, full suppression is obtained. The gain for As$_2$S$_3$ glass can also be strongly suppressed by embedding silica spheres. The constituent terms of the gain coefficient are shown to depend in a complex way on the filling fraction. We find that electrostriction is the dominant effect behind the control of SBS in bulk media.
