Radio-Frequency-to-Optical Conversion using Acoustic and Optical Whispering Gallery Modes

Abstract: Whispering gallery modes (WGMs), circulating modes near the surface of a spheroidal material, have been known to exhibit high quality factors for both acoustic and electromagnetic waves. Here, we report an electro-optomechanical system, where the overlapping WGMs of acoustic and optical waves along the equator of a dielectric sphere strongly couple to each other. The triple-resonance phase-matching condition provides a large enhancement of the Brillouin scattering only in a single sideband, and conversion from the input radio-frequency signal exciting the acoustic mode to the output optical signal is observed.