Optomecanics and nanostructures
Head : Dr. B.Besga and Dr. J.Margueritat
Members: B.Mahler, J.Houel
Matter vibrates at all scales! We are interested in the interaction of these vibrations (from 100 MHz to 10 THz) with photons.
On the one hand, we characterize the spontaneous vibrations of matter using inelastic light spectroscopy (Raman, low frequency Raman and Brillouin). We can thus characterize mechanical properties of a bulk material by studying the propagation of acoustic waves in or on the surface of a material. When the scale is reduced to dimensions smaller than the acoustic wavelength, typically for a 100 nanometer nanoparticle, the acoustic waves are confined and the vibrations modes of a nanoparticle as a whole can be observed, allowing deductions to be made about its size, shape, composition, surface state or direct environment.
On the other hand, these vibrations can be enhanced and controlled by optical stimuli, which will then allow us to detect them directly with interferometric measurements at very low frequency in order to understand and use the interaction of these vibrations with intrinsic properties of materials like exciton luminescence.
Some recent publications :
JPCC (2022)