Oliver B. Wright

Detection of ultrafast phenomena by use of a modified Sagnac interferometer.

We describe a time-division interferometer based on the Sagnac geometry for monitoring ultrafast changes in the real and the imaginary components of the refractive index as well as phase changes that are due to surface displacement. Particular advantages of this interferometer are its simple common-path design and operation at normal incidence with a microscope objective for both pumping and probing. Operation is demonstrated by detection of temperature changes and coherent phonon generation in a gold film.

Scanning ultrafast Sagnac interferometry for imaging two-dimensional surface wave propagation

We describe an improved two-dimensional optical scanning technique combined with an ultrafast Sagnac interferometer for delayed-probe imaging of surface wave propagation. We demonstrate the operation of this system, which involves the use of a single focusing objective, by monitoring surface acoustic wave propagation on opaque substrates with picosecond temporal and micron lateral resolutions. An improvement in the lateral resolution by a factor of 3 is achieved in comparison with previous setups for similar samples.

Reciprocity in reflection and transmission: What is a ‘phonon diode’?

Abstract The newly popular topic of ‘phonon diodes’ is discussed in the context of a broader issue of reciprocity in reflection/transmission ( R – T ) of waves. We first review a theorem well known in electromagnetism and optics but underappreciated in acoustics and phonon physics, stating that the matrix of R – T coefficients for properly normalized amplitudes is symmetric for linear systems that conform to power conservation and time reversibility for wave fields. It is shown that linear structures hitherto proposed for ‘acoustic diodes’ in fact do obey R – T reciprocity, and thus should not strictly be called diodes or isolators. We also review examples of nonlinear designs violating reciprocity, and conclude that an efficient acoustic isolator has not yet been demonstrated. Finally, we consider the relationship between acoustic isolators and ‘thermal diodes’, and show that ballistic phonon transport through a linear structure, whether an acoustic diode or not, is unlikely to form the basis for a thermal diode.

Ultrafast Vibrations of Gold Nanorings

We investigate the vibrational modes of gold nanorings on a silica substrate with an ultrafast optical technique. By comparison with numerical simulations, we identify several resonances in the gigahertz range associated with axially symmetric deformations of the nanoring and substrate. We elucidate the corresponding mode shapes and find that the substrate plays an important role in determining the mode damping. This study demonstrates the need for a plasmonic nano-optics approach to understand the optical excitation and detection mechanisms for the vibrations of plasmonic nanostructures.

Acoustic generation in crystalline silicon with femtosecond optical pulses

Volume contraction in bulk silicon crystals is observed on excitation with femtosecond visible optical pulses. The surface deformation and generated acoustic strain are measured using detection based on both probe beam reflectivity changes and probe beam deflection. The contraction is explained by the dominant electronic contribution to the strain from excitation of electron‐hole pairs, which swamps the thermoelastic expansion.

Vibrational dynamics of force microscopy: Effect of tip dimensions

The dynamics of a vibrating cantilever with an attached tip in contact with a solid is treated analytically. The tip length is shown to be crucial in determining the resonant response. The finite tip size changes the boundary conditions for the flexural motion, rendering the cantilever-tip-sample combination more rigid and implicating both the normal and lateral stiffnesses of the sample in the analysis. This is confirmed in an experiment with a silica sample, a sapphire tip, and a silicon cantilever. The theory has implications in the field of quantitative analysis with atomic ac force microscopy.

Laser picosecond acoustics in isotropic and anisotropic materials

We present experimental results concerning the laser generation of picosecond acoustic pulses and their propagation in isotropic and anisotropic materials. We make use of a conventional reflectance detection technique as well as interferometric detection to probe the real and imaginary changes in reflectance. We also demonstrate the detection of transverse acoustic waves by mode conversion at an interface between an isotropic polycrystalline film and an anisotropic substrate.

Fundamentals of picosecond laser ultrasonics

The aim of this article is to provide an introduction to picosecond laser ultrasonics, a means by which gigahertz-terahertz ultrasonic waves can be generated and detected by ultrashort light pulses. This method can be used to characterize materials with nanometer spatial resolution. With reference to key experiments, we first review the theoretical background for normal-incidence optical detection of longitudinal acoustic waves in opaque single-layer isotropic thin films. The theory is extended to handle isotropic multilayer samples, and is again compared to experiment. We then review applications to anisotropic samples, including oblique-incidence optical probing, and treat the generation and detection of shear waves. Solids including metals and semiconductors are mainly discussed, although liquids are briefly mentioned.

Waveguide ultrasonic force microscopy at 60 MHz

We present measurements using ultrasonic force microscopy at ∼60 MHz, operating in a “waveguide” mode in which the cantilever base is vibrated and flexural ultrasonic vibrations are launched down the cantilever without exciting any particular cantilever resonance. The nonlinearity of the tip-sample force-distance curve allows the conversion of a modulated ultrasonic frequency into a low frequency vibration of the cantilever, detected in a conventional atomic force microscope. Images of Ge quantum dots on a Si substrate show contrast related to elasticity and adhesion differences, and this is interpreted with the Johnson–Kendall–Roberts model of the force-distance curve.

Broadband evolution of phononic-crystal-waveguide eigenstates in real- and k-spaces

Control of sound in phononic band-gap structures promises novel control and guiding mechanisms. Designs in photonic systems were quickly matched in phononics, and rows of defects in phononic crystals were shown to guide sound waves effectively. The vast majority of work in such phononic guiding has been in the frequency domain, because of the importance of the phononic dispersion relation in governing acoustic confinement in waveguides. However, frequency-domain studies miss vital information concerning the phase of the acoustic field and eigenstate coupling. Using a wide range of wavevectors k, we implement an ultrafast technique to probe the wave field evolution in straight and L-shaped phononic crystal surface-phonon waveguides in real- and k-space in two spatial dimensions, thus revealing the eigenstate-energy redistribution processes and the coupling between different frequency-degenerate eigenstates. Such use of k-t space is a first in acoustics, and should have other interesting applications such as acoustic-metamaterial characterization.