Active photonic crystals based on surface acoustic waves

Abstract
An active photonic crystal (PC) based on the modulation of a one-dimensional cavity resonator by electrically-generated surface acoustic waves is described. The high nonthermal population of surface modes combined with the enhanced Brillouin scattering in the cavity increases the intensity of the scattered light to values comparable to the excitation intensity. This process is employed to switch and modulate light beams in PCs.