Polychromatic intensity point spread function of a birefringent lens

We study the intensity point spread function (IPSF) of a uniaxial birefringent lens sandwiched between two linear polarizers under broadband illumination having flat-top spectral profile. The optic axis of the birefringent crystal is perpendicular to the lens axis. For monochromatic input illumination, a low-power birefringent lens offers enhanced resolution under parallel-polarizers configuration and apodization under crossed-polarizers configuration with a single focus as well. At a relatively high value of birefringence parameter, the proposed system behaves as a double-focus lens. The present communication uses a novel technique to study the effect of polychromatic illumination on the imaging characteristics of birefringent lenses. The studies reveal that the imaging characteristics of the low-power birefrigent lens does not deteriorate considerably under polychromatic illumination. However, for a polychromatic beam with large bandwidth, the imaging behavior of the system having high birefringence parameter deviates appreciably from that under strictly monochromatic illumination. The said system even loses its inherent bi-focal nature due to depolarization of polarized polychromatic light upon passage through the birefringent crystal.     

Evaluation of polychromatic image quality of a birefringent lens by means of optical transfer function

Polychromatic or white-light optical transfer function (OTF) is put forward as a criterion to evaluate the performance of a uniaxial birefringent lens sandwiched between two linear polarizers. The optic axis of the birefringent crystal is perpendicular to the lens axis. The results show that the same system may be adapted for both enhanced resolution and apodization just by rotating any of the polarizers included in the system even under broadband illumination. The proposed system may also be exploited for image processing applications under polychromatic input illumination.     

Temperature sensing using the spectral interference of polarization modes in a highly birefringent fiber

The spectral interference of polarization modes in a highly birefringent (HB) fiber to measure temperature is analyzed theoretically and experimentally. A tandem configuration of a birefringent delay line and a sensing HB fiber is considered and the spectral interferograms are modelled for the known birefringence dispersion of the HB fiber under test. As the delay line, a birefringent quartz crystal of a suitable thickness is employed to resolve a channeled spectrum. The channeled spectra are recorded for different temperatures and the polarimetric sensitivity to temperature, determined in the spectral range from 500 to 850 nm, is decreasing with wavelength. It is demonstrated that the temperature sensing is possible using the wavelength interrogation, i.e., the position of a given interference maximum is temperature dependent. The temperature sensitivity of the HB fiber under test is −0.25 nm/K and the resolution is better than 0.5 K.     

侧向压力对微结构光纤双折射的影响

采用全矢量有限元方法,理论上分析侧向压力对高双折射微结构光纤双折射特性的影响,与其他报道中采用流体静压力来研究微结构光纤的双折射变化有所不同。研究结果表明,在波长600~1700 nm范围内,沿微结构光纤慢轴和快轴的侧向压力所引起的光纤相双折射和模双折射的变化并不一致。此外,沿微结构光纤的慢轴和快轴的侧向压力对微结构光纤的相双折射压力灵敏度和模双折射压力灵敏度的影响也不同。该研究结果对于微结构光纤的设计、微结构光纤传感器尤其是多维光纤传感器具有很大的指导意义。     

V型高双折射光子晶体光纤超连续谱产生的实验研究

高非线性高双折射光子晶体光纤是超连续谱产生的最有效介质之一, 因此本文选取V型光子晶体光纤作为研究对象. 通过多极理论数值模拟的结果, 确定V型光纤具有高双折射、高非线性等特性. 通过实验手段, 发现入射光中心波长和光纤的双折射效应对产生的超连续谱有很大的影响: 当入射光波长处于光子晶体光纤大的反常色散区时, 脉冲相对展得比较宽, 长轴要比短轴方向的超连续谱更宽, 频谱成分更加丰富. 在同一波长下光偏振方向越接近45°时, 超连续谱谱宽范围越大. 随着入射脉冲功率的增加, 超连续谱展得越宽, 但是当功率比较大时会达到功率饱和. 关键词： 光子晶体光纤 高双折射 多极理论 超连续谱     

Self‐phase‐locked degenerate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator based on BiB3O6

A self‐phase‐locked degenerate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on the birefringent nonlinear material, bismuth triborate, BiB₃O₆, synchronously‐pumped by a Kerr‐lens‐mode‐locked Ti:sapphire laser at 800 nm is described. By exploiting versatile phase‐matching properties of BiB₃O₆, including large spectral and angular acceptance for parametric generation and low group velocity dispersion in the optical xz plane, stable self‐phase‐locked degenerate OPO operation centered at 1600 nm is demonstrated using collinear type I (e → oo) interaction in a 1.5‐mm crystal at room temperature. The degenerate OPO output spectrum extends over 46 nm (∼5.4 THz) with 190 fs pulse duration for input pump pulses of 155 fs with a bandwidth of 7 nm. Phase coherence between the pump and degenerate output is verified using f‐2f interferometry, and discrete frequency beats caused by different carrier‐envelope‐offset frequencies are measured using radio frequency measurements. Photo shows a 1.5‐mm BiB₃O₆ crystal used as a nonlinear gain medium in a degenerate self‐phase‐locked femtosecond OPO operating at room temperature. The green beam is the result of non‐phase‐matched sum‐frequency mixing between the pump light and the sub‐harmonic OPO field at degeneracy.     

八边形晶格双芯光子晶体光纤偏振分束器

分别以碲玻璃和SF6玻璃作为基质材料,设计制作了一种基于双折射效应的新型八边形晶格双芯光子晶体光纤偏振分束器。应用全矢量有限元法（FEM）分析了碲玻璃和SF6两种双芯光子晶体光纤中结构参数对双折射和相对耦合长度特性的影响,数值模拟了碲玻璃和SF6两种偏振分束器的性能。结果表明：在碲玻璃和SF6两种双芯光子晶体光纤中,增大椭圆率可同时增加结构的双折射和相对耦合长度,与SF6玻璃偏振分束器相比较,碲玻璃偏振分束器具有更高的消光比和更大的带宽,即在工作波长为1.55 μm处,消光比达到最小值-53.46 dB,且消光比小于-20 dB的带宽为120 nm。     

基于铌酸锂双折射晶体的皮秒拍瓦激光系统光谱整形

为补偿皮秒拍瓦激光系统中钕玻璃宽带放大引起的增益窄化,提出了一种基于铌酸锂双折射晶体的高能量光谱整形方法.在相同强度调制下,对比了BBO、铌酸锂和石英3种晶体,针对1053 nm激光,选用了高双折射率、大口径且不易潮解的铌酸锂作为整形晶体.理论分析了晶体厚度、倾斜角、面内旋转角对强度调制的影响,发现它们分别决定调制的带宽、中心波长及深度.并对整形过程中晶体引入的光谱相位进行了分析,发现各阶色散量随晶体厚度、倾斜角、面内旋转角变化的规律,因此可通过上述参数控制各阶色散量.在此基础上,开展了中心波长为1053 nm、带宽为10 nm、调制深度为80%的光谱整形实验和相位测量实验,实验与理论分析相一致.针对神光Ⅱ皮秒拍瓦激光系统,利用上述整形方案,国内首次实现了1700 J, 6 nm (FWHM)的高能宽带激光输出,有效补偿了增益窄化.研究结果对国内基于钕玻璃放大系统的宽频带激光装置的工程研制具有重要意义.     

Design and fabrication of an optimum holographic optical element lens for a femtosecond laser pulse using a hologram computer-aided design tool

Design and fabrication of an optimum holographic optical element (HOE) lens for a femtosecond laser pulse using a hologram computer-aided design (CAD) tool is presented. The hologram CAD tool, which the authors have developed can design, analyze, and evaluate holograms fabricated by interferometrical technique. The function of the tool is extended to design and analyze a HOE lens illuminated with a femtosecond laser pulse. An optimum HOE lens for a laser pulse, which has 130 fs duration, 720 nm central wavelength, and 10 nm spectrum bandwidth, is designed by the tool. The optimum HOE lens gives both high diffraction efficiency and small amount of aberration. The designed HOE lens is fabricated and its optical characteristics have been experimentally evaluated. The reconstructed point images agree with the results of the numerical simulations by the tool. The tool demonstrates the capability of designing the optimum HOE lens for a femtosecond laser pulse.     

微环谐振腔实现倍频效应的带宽分析

谐振腔能以较低的输入功率获得较高的非线性转换效率,其代价是带宽方面的限制,围绕微环谐振腔实现倍频效应中影响转换效率的因素,分析了耦合系数、折射率变化、相位失配等对转换带宽的影响,讨论了基于AlGaAs的人工双折射微环谐振腔实现基频光波波长为1840 nm时倍频效应的转换带宽.     

A novel polarization splitter based on dual-core hybrid photonic crystal fibers

Highly birefringent dual-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) can be used as a polarization splitter because the orthogonal polarization modes with dissimilar coupling lengths are easily separated from each other. Different from the traditional methods achieving high birefringence, a new highly birefringent hybrid PCF that guides light by both index guiding and bandgap guiding is proposed. Firstly, a novel polarization splitter based on this kind of dual-core hybrid PCF is designed. The transmission modes, coupling lengths for the two orthogonal polarizations and performance of the proposed polarization splitter are investigated and numerically analyzed. The results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain a 4.72-mm-long polarization splitter. The splitting ratio is better than −20 dB in a large wavelength range of 1.53-1.72 μm. Its bandwidth is about 190 nm.     

无展宽器的高重复率钛宝石啁啾飞秒脉冲再生放大器的研究

通过优化放大腔结构参数和采用高光束质量的泵浦激光,依靠放大器腔内各个元件的色散展宽种子脉冲, 用钛宝石作为增益介质, 在低泵浦能量下, 实现了高光束质量,高稳定的中等能量的高重复率飞秒脉冲再生放大. 将钛宝石晶体离焦放置,有效的避免了光学损伤. 在1.1 mJ的绿光泵浦下, 获得了2 ps, 120 μJ, 重复频率为1 KHz, 光谱带宽7.8 nm的放大脉冲, 用石英棱镜对压缩可得到130 fs的激光脉冲.     

Spectral variation of the birefringence,group birefringence and retardance of a gypsum plate measured using the interference of polarized light

Polarized white light interferometry is used to characterize the wavelength dependence of the birefringence, group birefringence and retardance of a gypsum crystal. Two different calculation schemes are used to extract values of the birefringence across the whole visible spectrum. In the spectral range 435 nm–642 nm, the variation of the gypsum birefringence is fitted to the two terms Cauchy formula and to a fourth order dispersion function. The gypsum birefringence is found to be inversely proportional with wavelength. The experimental method used gives a relative error in finding the gypsum birefringence of an order of 6×10^?4. The wavelength dependence of gypsum group birefringence is also calculated with a relative error of order 5×10^?4. In the same spectral range, the retardance changes by 28π and the gypsum plate introduced halfwave retardance 15 times.     

基于低双折射光子晶体光纤Sagnac干涉仪的超低温度系数扭曲传感器

研究了低双折射光子晶体光纤中由光纤扭曲造成的圆双折射效应,并应用Sagnac干涉仪结构设计了扭曲传感器.在Sagnac环中的光子晶体光纤上施加机械压力引入初始线双折射并产生正弦干涉光谱,再扭曲光纤产生圆双折射使干涉光谱随扭曲角度移动.光谱峰值波长随扭曲角度变化符合Sinc函数关系,理论分析与实验相符.传感器灵敏度为1.00 nm/°,分比率为0.01°,并具有超低的温度系数-0.5 pm/℃.     

Stabilization of an optical cavity containing a birefringent element

A locking scheme for optimizing the length of an optical cavity containing a birefringent crystal is presented. This scheme is a variation on the well known polarization sensitive locking scheme. The birefringence of the crystal introduces a polarization dependent phase difference which can be used to generate a locking signal. The principles of the locking system are described and verified experimentally.     

Birefringent azopolymer long period fiber gratings induced by 532 nm polarized laser

Based on the photoinduced birefringence in azo materials, the model of the birefringent long period fiber gratings (BLPFGs) has been proposed and the transmission of such birefringent fiber gratings was further simulated by the coupled mode theory. In order to obtain the optimum condition for making birefringent azopolymer optical fiber (APOF) gratings the photoinduced birefringence of azo dye and methyl methacrylate (MMA) copolymers was systematically studied. After photosensitivity study of azo samples, using Teflon technique, azo dye containing single mode polymer optical fiber (POF) was fabricated. Finally, BLPFGs can be fabricated in azopolymer fiber using polarized 532 nm laser. A 120 μm LPFG with a 50% duty cycle has been successfully written within the core of the fiber with 532 nm laser by an amplitude mask method. Under polarized microphotography, the grating was observed when the optical axis was set at 45° with the direction of the first polarizing lens of the polarization microscope.     

高双折射光纤环镜改善40 GHz光时钟消光比的研究

时钟信号的好坏在同步、解复用和光判决中起着决定性的作用,双折射光纤环镜具有灵活可调的滤波特性,光时钟信号通过双折射环形镜可以使其消光比得到改善,从而提高时钟信号的质量。为此提出了利用高双折射光纤环形镜提高光时钟信号消光比的方案,数值上模拟了环形镜透射谱随双折射器件偏振延时量(Δt)、偏振控制器快慢轴角度以及偏振控制器所引入光程差的变化而变化的情况,并理论分析了消光比不理想的时钟信号经过环形镜后的光谱形式。用法布里-珀罗滤波器提取的40 GHz时钟信号进行实验,时钟经过环形镜后消光比改善了13 dB,实验结果和理论模拟得到了很好的匹配。     

Polarization-dependent two-color dispersion wave generation and evolution in polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber

We investigate the effect of the polarization state of the input pulses on the visible emissions in the anomalous dispersion region of polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM-PCF), by using ～100 fs pump pulses whose central wavelength (1064 nm) is close to the second zero dispersion wavelength (1100 nm) of the fiber, where the soliton fission mechanisms play an important role. The experimental results show that the phase-matching two-color dispersive wave emission, one at 582 nm and the other at 600 nm, is polarization-dependent and frequency shift results from the different dispersion characteristics along the two orthogonal principal axes of PM-PCF. Furthermore, it is observed for the first time that the variation of the linear input polarization angles in 45° region almost has no influence on the output spectral profiles, and the break variation of the output spectrum exists when the angle between the polarization of the linear incident pulse and the fast-axis or the slow-axis of PM-PCF is 45°, which are attributed to the coupling between the two polarization modes in high birefringent PM-PCF.     

Laser-based volumetric colour-coded three-dimensional particle velocimetry

We present a method of three-dimensional particle velocimetry with a single digital colour camera using multiple colour illumination to encode image depth over a large volume. A copper vapour laser operating at 511 nm is used to pump an optical fibre producing a multiple-wavelength beam via multiple order stimulated Raman scattering. The beam is dispersed and formed into a stack of thin sheets to illuminate a volume of space. The spatial co-ordinates of particles imaged within the illuminated volume are obtained from their imaged x,y positions with depth discerned from particle hue (set by the wavelength of illumination). The method exhibits an RMS depth error of 3% in relation to the thickness of the illuminated region. This paper reports a proof-of-principle of three-dimensional particle imaging using a multi-wavelength laser source with a view to 3D-3C particle velocimetry.     

Temperature-insensitive strain measurement using a birefringent interferometer based on a polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber

We propose a novel and simple scheme for a temperature-insensitive strain measurement by using a birefringent interferometer configured by a polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM-PCF). The wavelength-dependent periodic transmission in a birefringent interferometer can be achieved by using a PM-PCF between two linear polarizers. Since the PM-PCF is composed of a single material, such as silica, the peak wavelength shift with temperature variation can be negligible because of the small amount of the birefringence change of the PM-PCF with temperature change. The measured temperature sensitivity is −0.3 pm/°C. However, the peak wavelength can be changed by strain because the peak wavelength shift is directly proportion to strain change. The strain sensitivity is measured to be 1.3 pm/με in a strain range from 0 to 1600 με. The measurement resolution of the strain is estimated to be 2.1 με. The proposed scheme has advantages of simple structure and low loss without a Sagnac loop, temperature insensitivity, ease installation, and short length of a sensing probe compared with a conventional PMF-based Sagnac loop interferometer.