Open Nanoacoustic Resonators Based on SrTiO${}_3$/YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{7-x}$ Superlattices

Abstract

We report the design and experimental demonstration of an open nanophononic cavity based on a hybrid oxide superlattice composed of SrTiO${}_3$ (STO) and YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{7-x}$ (YBCO), combined with a metallic Ni transducer for coherent phonon generation. The STO/YBCO periodic stack acts as an acoustic distributed Bragg reflector supporting confined longitudinal acoustic phonons in the sub-THz regime, while the Ni layer enables efficient ultrafast optical excitation and detection by time-domain Brillouin scattering. Transient reflectivity measurements reveal confined acoustic dynamics and a well-defined cavity resonance, in agreement with transfer-matrix calculations of acoustic reflectivity and mode profiles. These results demonstrate phonon confinement in multifunctional oxide heterostructures and establish complex oxide superlattices as a platform for hybrid nano-acoustic resonators and ultrafast phonon control of correlated electronic phases.