The convergence of cavity optomechanics and Brillouin scattering

Book chapter, 2022

Cavity optomechanics and Brillouin scattering have historically developed as separate fields of study, focused on distinct optoacoustic interaction effects, and realized in different physical platforms. These gaps are now closing rapidly, as researchers embrace the fundamental similarities between the two fields. Both fields study the three-wave mixing between electromagnetic and acoustic waves. Here, we review this convergence by showing how optoacoustic platforms increasingly blur the traditional distinctions between cavity optomechanics and Brillouin scattering. We discuss how the theoretical formalisms used by the two communities can be directly mapped between each other in both waveguides and cavities.