Acoustically tunable optical transmission through a subwavelength hole with a bubble

Efficient manipulation of light with sound in subwavelength-sized volumes is important for applications in photonics, phononics, and biophysics, but remains elusive. We theoretically demonstrate the control of light with MHz-range ultrasound in a subwavelength, 300-nm-wide water-filled hole with a 100-nm-radius air bubble. Ultrasound-driven pulsations of the bubble modulate the effective refractive index of the hole aperture, which gives rise to spectral tuning of light transmission through the hole. This control mechanism opens up novel opportunities for tunable acousto-optic and optomechanical metamaterials, and all-optical ultrasound transduction.