Acousto-optic interaction in photonic crystals with defects

Abstract

The acousto-optic (AO) effects of photonic crystals (PCs) were studied. Both the PCs’ periodicity and their index distribution could be modulated instantly by the propagating acoustic wave. As a consequence, the PCs’ band structure becomes tunable. In addition to band gap shift in an ideal PC, AO frequency modulation was observed in a PC with single defect, which is quite different from normal AO tunable filters and gives rise to some interesting applications. Furthermore, in dual-defect situation, synchronized and desynchronized modulations were realized at different acoustic wavelengths. Interesting phenomena such as dual frequency sweeping and dual frequency Q-switching were demonstrated.