Dynamics of a Wave Packet of Whispering-Gallery-Mode Type in an Optical Waveguide in the Presence of a Traveling Refractive-Index Wave

It is demonstrated that strong ultrafast modulation of a tunneling wave packet of the whispering-gallery-mode type can be implemented in a cylindrical optical waveguide exhibiting spatiotemporal inhomogeneity induced by a travelling refractive-index wave. The corresponding optical waveguides can be used for efficient generation of picosecond and subpicosecond laser pulses.     

Dispersion modified slot optical waveguides

Advent of slot waveguide structures had opened a new era where light can be confined in low index slot guarded by high index slabs. Already in use SOI slot waveguides (contrast ratio is 2.42) have two distinct properties over the conventional waveguides, i.e. high E-field amplitude, optical power, optical intensity in low index materials, and strong E-field confinement localized to nanometer-size low index regions. We hereby propose a low refractive index contrast ratio slot waveguide structure (ratio is 1.18) comprising of commercially available glass material. Novelty lies in showing high E-field amplitude, optical power, optical intensity, and strong E-field confinement in low index slot regions despite of lowest ever reported contrast ratio. A systematic numerical study on the higher order dispersion characteristics of the widely studied SOI-based slot structure and of our proposed low refractive index contrast slot structure is carried out. It has been demonstrated that low refractive index contrast ratio slot optical waveguide GVD properties are quite different than SOI slot optical waveguide. The less normal dispersion existing in this kind of waveguide could have an impact on their applications in various nonlinear or linear applications.     

Guided and semileaky modes in anisotropic optical waveguides of the LiNbO3 type

Light propagation in anisotropic optical waveguides formed by an isotropic or a uniaxial layer onto a uniaxial substrate is studied theoretically. Special attention is paid to semileaky modes which are lossy due to the radiation of energy into the substrate. Both their propagation constants and loss coefficients are calculated numerically for waveguide parameters close to As-S glass layer onto LiNbO₃ substrate and to LiNbO₃ out-diffused and in-diffused waveguides.     

Generation of a sequence of frequency-modulated pulses in longitudinally inhomogeneous optical waveguides

The conditions for the generation and efficient amplification of frequency-modulated soliton-like wave packets in longitudinally inhomogeneous active optical waveguides have been studied. The possibility of forming a sequence of pico- and subpicosecond pulses from quasi-continuous radiation in active and passive optical waveguides with the group-velocity dispersion (GVD) changing over the waveguide length is considered. The behavior of a wave packet in the well-developed phase of modulation instability with a change in the waveguide inhomogeneity parameters has been investigated based on the numerical analysis.     

Protection of phosphate glass by BK7 glass film in ion-exchange processing

Surface corrosion of phosphate glass during ion-exchange processing for optical waveguide fabrication is studied, and a protection method by using BK7 glass film is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. The protection coating processing is described and optical microscope and atomic force microscope observations are presented. Characteristics of the planar waveguide were measured also to show the protection coating would not introduce influence to waveguide formation in the phosphate glass. Experimental results show that the method can serve an effective protection, and will improve the performance of rare-earth-doped active phosphate glass optical waveguides.     

Numerical study of an ion-exchanged glass waveguide using both two-dimensional and three-dimensional models

A numerical study is carried out to compare the two-dimensional (2-D) case and three-dimensional (3-D) case for the modelling of an ion-exchanged glass waveguide. It is shown that different waveguide widths on the photomask correspond to different ion concentration distributions after an annealing process. A numerical example is presented of two waveguide sections with different widths indicates that due to the abrupt change of the waveguide width, a 3-D theoretical model is required for an accurate prediction of the parameters of ion-exchanged glass waveguides. The good agreement between the modelled and measured results proves that the developed 3-D numerical model can be beneficially utilized in the generalized design of optical devices based on ion-exchange waveguides.     

掺半导体玻璃波导特性研究

利用离子交换技术制成了单模和多模掺CdSxSe_1-x半导体玻璃波导。通过对波导参数的测量得出这种波导的折射率剖面满足费米函数分布。同时,对这种K⁺—Na⁺离子交换技术得到的单模波导在0.5145μm波长下输入—输出功率的测量,观测到它的功率限制作用。并得到在Ar⁺激光0.5145μm波长下吸收系敲是4cm^-1。在这篇文章中,我们对波导的光功率限制起源于热效应进行了分析和讨论。     

Scaling of optical forces in dielectric waveguides: rigorous connection between radiation pressure and dispersion

We show that eigenmodes of dielectric optical waveguides exert surface dilation forces on waveguide boundaries owing to radiation pressure, and we develop an exact scaling law relating modal dispersion of an arbitrary dielectric waveguide to the magnitude of optical forces generated by radiation pressure. This result points to highly dispersive waveguides as an optimal choice for the generation of large optical forces in nano-optomechanical systems. Exact agreement with ab initio calculations is demonstrated.     

Excitation of terahertz surface polaritons in a cylindrical waveguide by femtosecond laser pulses

Generation of terahertz surface polaritons in homogeneous round cross-section plasma waveguides upon nonlinear optical rectification of femtosecond laser pulses is analyzed theoretically. It is assumed that nonlinear polarization inducing a surface electromagnetic wave is formed at the waveguide boundary in a thin layer of the nonlinear dielectric that surrounds the waveguide. The efficiency of the femtosecond radiation conversion into surface polaritons is studied as a function of the waveguide radius and duration of the exciting laser pulse.     

Strong field localization in subwavelength metal-dielectric optical waveguides

Detailed calculations of eigenmodes of waveguiding structures made of silver and glass and containing coaxial cables with a nanoscale cross section of different configurations are conducted. In particular, the study focuses on optical coaxial waveguides with the core made in the form of a thin metallic cylinder filled with a dielectric. We show that these waveguides support relatively low-loss propagation of radiation that is strongly localized in the central region, has phase velocity approaching the speed of light and predominant electric-field orientation (dipole type). Optical characteristics of such waveguides are compared with those of coaxial-type waveguides containing a continuous central filament made of metal and with a multilayer structure. Using numeric modeling, we established that the proposed type of the waveguide enables the transmission of an optical image with relatively low losses with a submicron resolution over a distance considerably longer than its cross section. A typical propagation length in the waveguides based on silver and glass with the refractive index of about 1.5 at a wavelength of 500 nm is about 1700 nm.     

Direct laser-writing of dielectric-loaded surface plasmon–polariton waveguides for the visible and near infrared

We demonstrate flexible and low-cost fabrication of dielectric-loaded surface plasmon–polariton waveguides. The waveguide structures are fabricated by two-photon polymerization of commercially available, spin-coatable epoxy-based UV-lithographic resist on a metal covered glass slide. The excitation and guiding properties of the plasmonic waveguides are investigated in the far-field at a wavelength of 632.8 nm by imaging the leakage radiation from the waveguide modes. The optimum bending radius for right angle bends is measured to 6 μm providing a transmission of up to 70%. The functionality of more complex Y-splitters is demonstrated.     

Multimode reverse-symmetry waveguide sensor for broad-range refractometry

A sensor design that uses a grating-coupled multimode planar optical waveguide for absolute detection of the refractive indices of liquids or gases is presented. The waveguide consists of a simple 50-microm-thick, free-standing glass plate with air beneath it and the sample to be analyzed on top of it. This design offers a simple alternative to the well-known monomode waveguides, and, owing to its so-called reverse-symmetry configuration, a large detection range can be obtained.     

Infrared Optical Fiber Sensors

Notably improved performance as well as extended application areas is expected in the technology of optical fiber sensors using infrared fibers that transmit radiation in a wavelength range beyond 2 μm. Measurement of infrared radiation is particularly important in thermometry and spectrometry. In these areas, the use of infrared fibers has been studied extensively not only as a transmission waveguide but also as a sensor chip. Of various infrared fibers, fluoride glass fibers exhibit the lowest transmission loss and hence are useful for remote sensing that requires light transmission over a long distance. The wide transmission range of chalcogenide glass fibers and halide crystalline fibers is valuable for thermometry in a low temperature range and for spectrometry of various molecules. Hollow waveguides are useful as a capillary flow cell that realizes fast-response spectrometry. The advantages and disadvantages of infrared fibers must be considered carefully in the development of fiber sensors. In this paper, the progress of infrared optical fiber sensors is reviewed with particular interest in thermometry and spectroscopy.     

Surface electromagnetic waves at the interface between a homogeneous medium and a system of coupled waveguides

An analysis is made of the experimental investigations of the surface waves existing at the interface between a homogeneous medium and a periodically stratified medium that represents a bounded system of coupled waveguides. It is shown that, in all cases of the observation of surface waves, the bounded system of coupled waveguides has its own spectrum of guided modes and a spectrum of leaky modes that become surface waves of the system. It is also demonstrated that a biosensor can successfully operate when two surface waves serve as leaky modes of a Bragg waveguide in which the periodic system of waveguides is used as a distributed Bragg mirror of this waveguide. A structure supporting surface waves is designed on the basis of ten pairs of Nb₂O₅-SiO₂ layers and implemented experimentally. The surface waves are detected with a K8 glass prism according to the Kretschmann scheme.     

Polymer waveguide module for visible wavelength division multiplexing plastic optical fiber communication

We report a polymer waveguide module that provides bidirectional communication over a single plastic optical fiber (POF) with dual visible wavelength LEDs. The module is constructed using light-induced self-written waveguides, which enables a three-dimensional optical circuit for visible wavelength division multiplexing to be fabricated by an extremely simple process. We demonstrated 250 Mbits/s communication using a pair of these modules that each contained one green (lambda = 495 nm) and one red (lambda = 650 nm) LEDs by measuring the bit error rates. The results indicate that the system could transmit over more than 20 m of POF in full duplex mode.     

Directly laser-written integrated photonics devices including diffractive optical elements

Femtosecond laser-written integrated devices involving Fresnel Zone Plates (FZPs) and waveguide arrays are demonstrated as built-in optical couplers. These structures were fabricated in borosilicate glass using a direct laser writing technique. The optical properties of these integrated photonic structures were investigated using CW lasers and high-resolution CCDs. For a single FZP coupled to a single waveguide, the overall coupling efficiency was 9%. A multiplexed optical coupler composed of three FZP layers was demonstrated to couple three waveguides simultaneously in a waveguide array. Structures of this type can be used as platforms for multichannel waveguide coupling elements or as microfluidic sensors that require higher light collecting efficiency.     

Er3+-Yb3+共掺磷酸盐玻璃光波导的FD-BPM分析

阐述了三维波导结构的FD-BPM原理,并用FD-BPM法模拟了波长为1.54μm和0.98μm的高斯光束在Er³⁺-Yb³⁺共掺磷酸盐玻璃光波导内光场分布.与沟道光波导相比,掩埋型光波导内的泵浦光和信号光的散射都非常小,光场分布非常均匀.研究结果表明,掩埋型光波导是制作Er³⁺-Yb³⁺共掺磷酸盐玻璃光波导激光器和放大器的理想波导.     

Waveguide trapping of hollow glass spheres

Microparticles can be trapped and propelled by the evanescent field of optical waveguides. As the evanescent field only stretches 100-200?nm from the surface of the waveguide, only the lower caps of the microparticles interact directly with the field. This is taken advantage of by trapping hollow glass spheres on waveguides in the same way as solid glass spheres. For the chosen waveguide, numerical simulations show that hollow microspheres with a shell thickness above 60?nm can be stably trapped, while spheres with thinner shells are repelled. The average refractive index of the sphere-field intersection volume is used to explain the result in a qualitative way.     

Theoretical analysis of bragg electrostrictive mixing in optical waveguides

A theoretical analysis of electrostrictive mixing in optical waveguides using the power balance approach is presented. The high optical power densities attainable in optical waveguides provide a means to make this effect appreciable to generate acoustic surface waves of the Rayleigh type. The tensor property of the acoustic wave and the transverse field distributions of the optical and acoustic waves are included in the analysis. Numerical calculation for a tellurite glass, fused quartz waveguide structure indicates a possibility for cw operation.     

Surface optical Bloch oscillations in semi-infinite waveguide arrays

We predict that surface optical Bloch oscillations can exist in semi-infinite waveguide arrays with a linear index variation, if the array parameters close to the boundary are appropriately perturbed. The perturbation is such that the surface states obtain the Wannier-Stark ladder eigenvalues of the unperturbed infinite array. The number of waveguides, whose parameters need to be controlled, decreases with increasing ratio of index gradient over coupling. The configuration can find applications as a "matched" termination of waveguide arrays to eliminate the distortion of Bloch oscillations due to reflection on the boundaries.