Son et Lumière : phononics and photonics at the nanoscale

Recent progresses in the understanding and the control of phonons and photons in nanostructures, as well as their interactions, have stimulated the development of two new and very promising fields of research: nanophononics and nanophotonics. Although significant advances have been achieved, several fundamental questions remain open. Nanophotonics and nanophononics have been developed within different communities, whose researchers do usually not attend the same conferences. The main objective of “Son et Lumiere” is to bring them together. Its core thematic focus is on photons and coherent phonons in sub-micron structures, as well as their interactions and control. The generation and the coherent control of these excitations have led to the development of new acousto-optic devices such as the microcavities, and phononic crystals, which will also be addressed in the school. From the understanding of the photonic and phononic interactions at the nanoscale one also expects the emergence of other functionalities. This includes, for instance, the control of charge carriers, magnetic properties, nano-mechanical resonators, as well as new possibilities for manipulating heat conduction and thermal exchange, both being key points for the further miniaturization of nanodevices. The size reduction and the increase of the operation frequency of opto-mechanical devices also rely on the same problematics.

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