In the eighties, in the corporate research labs at the Foxboro Company, we were fabricating and optically (laser) exciting near-identical silicon microstructures. Even moreso, we were optically exciting piezoelectric quartz tuning forks -- which produced electrical power from optical energy.
It's amazing how many times the wheel is re-invented...
Based on my experience working with engineers: "It's beneath me to use some other moron's inferior wheel. Clearly, the wheel I create will be far better!"