Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy as a versatile probe of hypersound in diverse materials systems

An overview of the inelastic laser light scattering technique of Brillouin spectroscopy and its application to the study of hypersound in a diverse set of materials systems will be presented. In particular, results obtained from recent Brillouin scattering experiments on natural gastropod mucus, layered high temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, biotite micas, and satellite tobacco mosaic virus crystals will be highlighted. Collectively, these results demonstrate the utility of Brillouin light scattering spectroscopy as a sensitive non-destructive probe of hypersound velocity and attenuation in the vicinity of structural phase transitions, the influence of chemical composition and incommensurate structure on material elasticity, and of phonon dynamics in challenging materials classes.