Novel optical devices based on the tunable refractive index of magnetic fluid and their characteristics

As a new type of functional material, magnetic fluid (MF) is a stable colloid of magnetic nanoparticles, dressed with surfactant and dispersed in the carrier liquid uniformly. The MF has many unique optical properties, and the most important one is its tunable refractive index property. This paper summarizes the properties of the MF refractive index and the related optical devices. The refractive index can be easily controlled by external magnetic field, temperature, and so on. But the tunable refractive index of MF has a relaxation effect. As a result, the response time is more than milliseconds and the MF is only suitable for low speed environment. Compared with the traditional optical devices, the magnetic fluid based optical devices have the tuning ability. Compared with the tunable optical devices (the electro-optic devices (LiNbO₃) of more than 10 GHz modulation speed, acoustic-optic devices (Ge) of more than 20 MHz modulation speed), the speed of the magnetic fluid based optical devices is low. Now there are many applications of magnetic fluid based on the refractive index in the field of optical information communication and sensing technology, such as tunable beam splitter, optical-fiber modulator, tunable optical gratings, tunable optical filter, optical logic device, tunable interferometer, and electromagnetic sensor. With the development of the research and application of magnetic fluid,a new method, structure and material to improve the response time can be found, which will play an important role in the fields of optical information communication and sensing technology.     

Pulse Generation by Mode-Beating in a Dual-Wavelength Injection-Locked Laser

Generating of repetition-rate tunable optical pulses is achieved by mode-beating within a CW-operated Fabry-Perot laser. The repetition-rate was tunable from 6GHz to 32GHz and may be synchronized by a low frequency (500MHz) optical input.     

Adiabatically tunable optical delay lines and their performance limitations

A simple tunable optical delay line based on adiabatic zone folding in coupled resonator lines is proposed, and its performance is analyzed. The results, valid for all adiabatically tunable optical buffers based on resonators, indicate that, while at low to medium bit rates the performance is improved substantially compared with that of the fixed delay lines, this improvement vanishes for high bit rates and large storage capacities.     

基于热膨胀效应的可调光功率分束器设计

可调光功率分束器是集成光子系统中的重要功能器件,其光功率输出具有动态可调控特性,诸多光子系统对其有着广泛需求.本文基于空隙槽型Y分支波导结构,利用热膨胀效应,提出了一种新型可调光功率分束器实现方法,通过调控温度来改变分支处空隙槽的宽度,以实现其分支波导的光功率输出的动态变化.采用有限元方法,对其热膨胀形变和光学性能进行了模拟分析.其模拟结果表明,该器件能实现大范围光分束调控,且对波长和偏振态依赖性低;同时,该器件具有结构简单、易于设计和制作、易于调控等优点,这种新型器件在各种光子系统中具有重要应用前景.     

Long-distance fiber Bragg grating sensor system with a high optical signal-to-noise ratio based on a tunable fiber ring laser configuration

A novel tunable fiber ring laser configuration with a combination of bidirectional Raman amplification and dual erbium-doped fiber (EDF) amplification is proposed for realizing high optical signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), long-distance, quasi-distributed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing systems with large capacities and low cost. The hybrid Raman-EDF amplification configuration arranged in the ring laser can enhance the optical SNR of FBG sensor signals significantly owing to the good combination of the high gain of the erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) and the low noise of the Raman amplification. Such a sensing system can support a large number of FBG sensors because of the use of a tunable fiber Fabry-Perot filter located within the ring laser and spatial division multiplexing for expansion of sensor channels. Experimental results show that an excellent optical SNR of approximately 60 dB has been achieved for a 50 km transmission distance with a low Raman pump power of approximately 170 mW at a wavelength of 1455 nm and a low EDFA pump power of approximately 40 mW at a wavelength of 980 nm, which is the highest optical SNR achieved so far for a 50 km long FBG sensor system, to our knowledge.     

Tunable-optical-filter-based white-light interferometry for sensing

We describe tunable-optical-filter-based white-light interferometry for sensor interrogation. By introducing a tunable optical filter into a white-light interferometry system, one can interrogate an interferometer with either quadrature demodulation or spectral-domain detection at low cost. To demonstrate the feasibility of effectively demodulating various types of interferometric sensor, experiments have been performed using an extrinsic Fabry-Perot tunable filter to interrogate two extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric temperature sensors and a diaphragm-based pressure sensor.     

Manipulating optical tamm state in one dimensional magnetophotonic crystal by anisotropic materials

Based on transfer matrix method a tunable optical tamm state is revealed in a one dimensional heterogeneous photonic crystal by using anisotropic materials with arbitrary optical axis. Such a tunable effect originates from the optical axis-dependent permittivity of the anisotropic materials, which leads to obvious changes in the dispersion relation and transmission spectrum. Our results provide a new pathway for engineering the tamm state and are attractive for tunable electro-optical devices.     

Light propagation in highly birefringent photonic liquid crystal fibers

Photonic liquid crystal fibers have already been demonstrated as a promising perspective for creation of new classes of dynamically tunable optical fiber devices. By combining different geometries of photonic crystal fibers with a variety of different liquid crystals it is possible to obtain a new generation of fibers with dynamically tunable properties, e.g., transmission spectra, attenuation or dispersion. In this paper, tunable birefringence in a commercially available highly birefringent Blazephotonics PM-1550-01 photonic crystal fiber selectively filled with a low birefringence liquid crystal has been experimentally demonstrated. Theses experimental results have been compared with simulations based on the multipole method.     

基于600—2000 nm抽运源的太赫兹相干光源的最新进展

最近几年,紧凑型、便携式、低廉、可调谐的太赫兹波源由于具有广泛的应用前景因而成为太赫兹领域的研究焦点.波长为600—2000 nm范围的近红外光源由于具有体积紧凑、价格低廉、频率可调谐和工作稳定的特点,所以频繁被选为太赫兹波产生的抽运源.本文着重从双波长可调谐抽运源、内腔光参量振荡器太赫兹发生器两个方面进行了较系统的阐述.分析表明,近红外相对中红外双波长抽运光源由于具有更紧凑的结构而成为研究热点;差频和非线性级联过程由于具有调谐范围宽的特点而成为产生太赫兹辐射的重要手段. 关键词： 太赫兹辐射 近红外波段 调谐宽度 非线性级联过程     

一种基于全息光处理器的可调光编码/解码器设计

提出了一种基于全息光处理器的可调光编码-解码器的实现方案.这种新结构的可调光编码/解码器减小了硬件实现的复杂性,降低了成本和功耗,便于集成.     

Compact interrogator for fiber optic Bragg sensors based on an acousto-optic filter formed by photonic crystal rows of air holes

Fiber optic sensors are typically used with expensive tunable lasers or optical spectrum analyzers for wavelength interrogation. We propose to replace the tunable laser by a broadband optical source incorporated with a novel thin linewidth acousto-optic tunable filter. It utilizes optical beam expanders constituted by photonic crystal rows of air holes in LiNbO(3) waveguide. A new design is numerically studied for a short structure (with 32 photonic crystal rows) by a two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. Extrapolation of these results to larger structure sizes (about 1 cm) demonstrates the possibility to develop compact interrogators with 0.4 pm wavelength resolution and 40 nm tunable range around 1550 nm.     

A new type of small size acousto-optic tunable filter with super narrow optical linewidth

The new concept of the creation of an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) with super-resolution and small size is discussed. The advantage of the device is based on the use of a novel type of multi reflector beam expander that produces a highly collimated optical beam (angular spread about 100 ppm), tilted with a change in optical wavelength. The proposed AOTF, 1 cm in length, can have an optical linewidth about 0.1 nm and up to 400 tunable channels at a wavelength of 1540 nm. It can be utilized as a tunable filter for dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) in fiber optic networks and as a small-sized tunable optical spectrometer, for example, in sensors of gases, liquids and solids. The acousto-optic tunable filter can be developed by known technology developed for the creation of integrated optics and microelectronics devices. Received: 28 April 2001 / Revised version: 22 August 2001 / Published online: 2 November 2001     

Widely tunable ring-cavity tellurite fiber Raman laser

We report a widely tunable ring-cavity tellurite fiber Raman laser covering the S+C+L+U band. A tunable range (1495-1600 nm, limited by the tunable optical bandpass filter) over 100 nm is obtained by using a single-mode tellurite fiber with high Raman gain coefficients (55 W(-1)km(-1)) and large Raman shift (~22.3 THz) as the gain medium. Furthermore, the free-running 1665 nm Raman fiber laser is achieved from the ring cavity by removing the tunable optical bandpass filter, which shows that such a tellurite fiber has potential for constructing a widely tunable fiber Raman laser covering the S+C+L+U band. A high optical signal-to-noise ratio of over 60 dB for almost all of the tunable range is also demonstrated.     

Stimulated photoluminescence of CdTe

Emission spectra of CdTe at low temperature under high intensity optical pumping by means of a tunable dye laser are reported.We show that the optical gain process is enhanced when a high exciton density is achieved by means of quasi-resonant pumping. The mechanism responsible for the amplification process is found to be the well-known exciton-exciton scattering.     

用于OADM的集成声光可调谐滤波器的性能分析

利用模式耦合理论分析了声光模式转换.并对声光可调谐滤波器的滤波带宽、调谐范围、驱动功率等性能参数进行了分析计算.设计制作滤波器时,首先在保证滤波带宽的前提下,考虑调谐范围、驱动功率以及加工工艺的要求.对其应用于OADM中存在的旁瓣和串扰问题进行了初步讨论.设计完成中心波长在1.55 μm,滤波带宽为1.2 nm左右,波长调谐范围大于150 nm,低驱动功率的IAOTF.     

Excitation of Surface Waves in Plane-Layered Structures and Development of Optical Modulators

An original theoretical method for the study of reflection of a plane electromagnetic wave from a plane-layered structure consisting of anisotropic films is used to develop optical modulators and tunable sensors. Relatively low switching voltages of modulators allow applications of such units in modern ICs and make it possible to construct high-rate optical channels for data transmission that connect fragments of a single IC or remote devices.     

Compact, single-frequency, doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator pumped in an achromatic phase-adapted double-pass geometry

We report on a nested-cavity, doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator (NesCOPO) architecture for widely tunable, mid-IR, single-frequency generation. By use of an achromatic phase-adapted double-pass pumping scheme, this new, low-threshold, semimonolithic architecture only requires two free-standing cavity mirrors and a nonlinear crystal with a mirror coating deposited on its input facet while the other facet is antireflection coated. It is thus as simple and compact as any basic linear optical parametric oscillator cavity, is easily tunable, and displays low sensitivity to mechanical vibrations. Using a high-repetition-rate (4.8?kHz) microlaser as the pump source of the NesCOPO, we demonstrate a compact source that provides pulsed, stable single-frequency output over a wide spectral range (3.8-4.3?μm) with a high peak power (up to 50?W), which are properties well suited for practical gas sensing applications.     

Broadly wavelength tunable bandpass filters based on long-range surface plasmon polaritons

We report a new kind of broadly tunable optical bandpass filters based on unusual properties of long-range surface plasmon polaritons. A 0.004 variation in the refractive index of the dielectric medium translates into 210 nm of bandpass tuning at telecom wavelengths. The tuning mechanism reported here may be used to create compact and widely tunable optical systems and other plasmonic components with broadly tunable optical response.     

基于薄膜滤光片的新型可重构光分插复用器

研制了一种基于窄带薄膜滤光片的可重构的光分插复用器(ROADM).它由三个单芯光纤准直器、一对三端口光环形器、一对全反射镜和一片特别设计的角度调谐窄带多腔薄膜滤光片组成.通过步进电机的推动调制角度调谐滤光片的倾斜入射角度,从而实现了可选择波长上下路.对该可重构的光分插复用器进行了实验研究,并对该器件的串扰特性进行了详细的分析与计算.实验中得到的上下路信道隔离度大于34 dB,可调谐范围大于26nm,与理论计算结构相符.该种新型的ROADM具有结构简单、可调谐范围大、隔离度高、低偏振相关损耗、成本低等特点,可广泛应用于各种密集波分复用(DWDM)光网络.     

Low power penalty tunable slow light using vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser amplifier

A tunable slow light of 2.5-Gb/s pseudo-random binary sequence signal using a 1550-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is experimentally demonstrated. The influences of the bias current and the gain saturation on the slow light are investigated. With bias current increasing, tunable optical group delay up to 98 ps is obtained at room temperature. Demonstration of the time delay between 16 and 24 ps by signal intensity change is reported. Under an appropriate bias current, by tuning the input signal to track the peak gain wavelength of the VCSEL, slow light of a power penalty as low as 1 dB is achieved. With such a low power penalty, the VCSEL has a great potential application as a compact optical buffer.