Integrated cavity acousto-optics for frequency domain optical computing and frequency comb generation

An optical computation system, the system comprising:

• a substrate;
• an optical layer coupled to a first portion of the substrate, the optical layer comprising:
• a free-standing portion suspended shaped and positioned to define a gap between the free-standing portion of the optical layer and the substrate;
• a rib waveguide comprising a photonic crystal formed in the free-standing portion;
• and
• a piezoelectric transducer mechanically coupled to the free-standing portion, wherein an actuation of the piezoelectric transducer generates an acoustic wave localized in the substrate;
• a controller comprising a memory and one or more processors, wherein the controller is operably connected to the piezoelectric transducer, wherein the memory comprises computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, if executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform:
• inputting, with light from a light source, an optical signal to the rib waveguide during the actuation of the piezoelectric transducer;
• and
• outputting an output signal based on an interaction of the optical signal and the acoustic wave in the photonic crystal, wherein the output signal corresponds to a result of a matrix operation applied to one or more frequency-space components of the optical signal.