Coherent coupling between radio frequency, optical, and acoustic waves in piezo-optomechanical circuits

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel platform integrating optical, acoustic, and radio frequency waves in piezo-optomechanical circuits, demonstrating coherent control and interference effects in GaAs for advanced signal transduction.

Contribution

It introduces a new cavity optomechanical platform combining localized photons and phonons with waveguides, enabling manipulation via electrical and optical means in GaAs.

Findings

Demonstrated acoustic wave interference effect similar to atomic coherent population trapping

Achieved complete cancellation of mechanical motion through optical and electrical control

Enabled dual-channel manipulation of cavity optomechanical systems

Abstract

The interaction of optical and mechanical modes in nanoscale optomechanical systems has been widely studied for applications ranging from sensing to quantum information science. Here, we develop a platform for cavity optomechanical circuits in which localized and interacting 1550 nm photons and 2.4 GHz phonons are combined with photonic and phononic waveguides. Working in GaAs facilitates manipulation of the localized mechanical mode either with a radio frequency field through the piezo-electric effect, or optically through the strong photoelastic effect. We use this to demonstrate a novel acoustic wave interference effect, analogous to coherent population trapping in atomic systems, in which the coherent mechanical motion induced by the electrical drive can be completely cancelled out by the optically-driven motion. The ability to manipulate cavity optomechanical systems with equal facility through either photonic or phononic channels enables new device and system architectures for signal transduction between the optical, electrical, and mechanical domains.