An optomechanical crystal to study interactions among colocalized photons and phonons
A photon is the quantum particle of light and electromagnetic radiation. A phonon is its equivalent when it comes to mechanical vibrations of matter and heat transmission. Although it might seem surprising, electromagnetic radiation and mechanical vibrations of matter interact and exchange energy at the nanometric scale. This phenomenon has only been described in recent years, and the experimental basis to study such interactions with precision is still being established. Researchers from the Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia's (ICN2) Phononic and Photonic nanostructures (P2N) Group, led by the ICREA Research Professor Clivia Sotomayor-Torres, publish today an article in Nature Communications presenting a silicon 1D Optomechanical crystal built up so that it allows to localize in a stable way both phonons and photons. Dr. Jordi Gomis-Bresco and Dr. Daniel Navarro-Urrios are the first authors of the work.