2.4 Brillouin scattering

Abstract

Brillouin scattering of light originates from the interaction of an incident radiation with thermal acoustic vibrations in matter and probes the long-wavelength acoustic phonons. In this chapter, calculations of the sound velocities and scattered intensities for the most commonly investigated vibrational modes in bulk condensed matter are presented. Tables list the geometries for longitudinal and transverse acoustic modes in the eleven Laue classes. The current state of the art for Brillouin spectroscopy is also briefly summarized. Keywords: Brillouin scattering; elastic waves; electro-optic effect; scattering cross section