Phoxonic crystals and cavity optomechanics

Phoxonic crystals are dual phononic/photonic crystals exhibiting simultaneously band gaps for both types of excitations. Therefore, they have the ability to confine phonons and photons in the same cavity and in turn allow the enhancement of their interaction. In this paper, we review some of our theoretical works on cavity optomechanical interactions in different types of phoxonic crystals, including two-dimensional, slab, and nanobeam structures. Two mechanisms are behind the phonon–photon interaction, namely the photoelastic and the moving interface effects. Coupling rates of a few MHz are obtained with high-frequency phonons of a few GHz. Finally, we give some preliminary results about the optomechanical interaction when a metallic nanoparticle is introduced into the cavity, giving rise to coupled photon–plasmon modes or, in the case of very small particles, to an enhancement of the electric field at the position of the particle