Stimulated Brillouin scattering enhancement in silicon inverse opal waveguides

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 inverse 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. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America