Integrated piezoelectrically driven acousto-optic modulator

This paper presents a new type of acousto-optic modulator based on the conjunction of a piezoelectric contour mode resonator (CMR) with a photonic whispering gallery mode resonator (WGMR). The monolithic device fabricated in aluminum nitride (AlN) exhibits the coupling of piezoelectrically-generated lateral vibrations into a traveling-wave photonic ring resonator in a fully-integrated platform with electrodes directly patterned on the CMR body. We demonstrate the optical sensing of a piezoelectrically actuated mechanical mode at 654 MHz, enabling new possibilities for MEMS-based RF-photonics applications or new degrees of control of phonon-photon interactions in the field of optomechanics.