Articles you may be interested inSimultaneous sensing of light and sound velocities of fluids in a two-dimensional phoXonic crystal with defects Improving surface acousto-optical interaction by high aspect ratio electrodes This study presents acousto-optic interaction of optical waves in a two-dimensional phoxonic crystal with a line defect. Because of dual photonic and phononic band gaps generated in the phoxonic crystal, optical waves and acoustic modes can be guided and amplified, respectively, along the line defect that serves simultaneously as an optical waveguide and acoustic wave cavity. By means of finite-element analysis, we show that the confinement of the optical waves and acoustic modes in the same region of space (i.e., in the defect) leads to enhanced modulation of the optical waves by an acoustic cavity mode, and obvious shifts in eigenfrequencies and transmission peaks are observed. Stronger acousto-optic interaction is caused by the amplified acoustic fields and by the long-lifetime interaction of photons and phonons in the line defect. V C 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.