Metamorphic InAs(Sb)/InGaAs/InAlAs nanoheterostructures grown on GaAs for efficient mid-IR emitters

High-efficiency semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes operating in the 3–5?μm mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral range are currently of great demand for a wide variety of applications, in particular, gas sensing, noninvasive medical tests, IR spectroscopy etc. III-V compounds with a lattice constant of about 6.1?Å are traditionally used for this spectral range. The attractive idea to fabricate such emitters on GaAs substrates by using In(Ga,Al)As compounds is restricted by either the minimum operating wavelength of ～8?μm in case of pseudomorphic AlGaAs-based quantum cascade lasers or requires utilization of thick metamorphic In_xAl_1-xAs buffer layers (MBLs) playing a key role in reducing the density of threading dislocations (TDs) in an active region, which otherwise result in a strong decay of the quantum efficiency of such mid-IR emitters. In this review we present the results of careful investigations of employing the convex-graded In_xAl_1-xAs MBLs for fabrication by molecular beam epitaxy on GaAs (001) substrates of In(Ga,Al)As heterostructures with a combined type-II/type-I InSb/InAs/InGaAs quantum well (QW) for efficient mid-IR emitters (3–3.6?μm). The issues of strain relaxation, elastic stress balance, efficiency of radiative and non-radiative recombination at T?=?10–300?K are discussed in relation to molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth conditions and designs of the structures. A wide complex of techniques including in-situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning and transmission electron microscopies, X-ray diffractometry, reciprocal space mapping, selective area electron diffraction, as well as photoluminescence (PL) and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy was used to study in detail structural and optical properties of the metamorphic QW structures. Optimization of the growth conditions (the substrate temperature, the As₄/III ratio) and elastic strain profiles governed by variation of an inverse step in the In content profile between the MBL and the InAlAs virtual substrate results in decrease in the TD density (down to 3?×?10⁷ cm^?2), increase of the thickness of the low-TD-density near-surface MBL region to 250–300?nm, the extremely low surface roughness with the RMS value of 1.6–2.4?nm, measured by AFM, as well as rather high 3.5?μm-PL intensity at temperatures up to 300?K in such structures. The obtained results indicate that the metamorphic InSb/In(Ga,Al)As QW heterostructures of proper design, grown under the optimum MBE conditions, are very promising for fabricating the efficient mid-IR emitters on a GaAs platform.     

TBOR-shaped electro-optic modulator with dual output based on double-layer graphene

We proposed an electro-optic modulator with two-bus one-ring (TBOR) structure to improve the extinction ratio and reduce insert loss. It has a dual output compared with one-bus one-ring structure. In addition, double-layer graphene makes it possible for the modulation in the visible to mid-infrared wavelength range. It shows that this new electro-optic modulator can present two switching states well with low insertion loss, high absorption and high extinction ratio. At $\lambda =1550\text{ nm}$, when the switching states are based on the chemical potential, ${\mu }_{\mathrm{c}}=0.38\text{ eV}$ and ${\mu }_{\mathrm{c}}=0.4\text{ eV}$, the insertion losses of both output ports are less than 2 dB, the absorption of the output port coupled via a micro-ring reaches 45 dB and the extinction ratio reaches 14 dB. When the refractive index of the dielectric material is 4.2, the applied voltage will be less than 1.2 V, thus can be used in low-voltage CMOS technology.     

Recent Advances in Spatial Self-Phase Modulation with 2D Materials and its Applications

In recent years, spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) with two-dimensional (2D) materials has attracted the attention of many researchers as an emerging and ubiquitous nonlinear optical effect. In this review, the state of the art of 2D material-based SSPM is summarized. SSPM measures or tunes the nonlinearity of 2D materials, and it is also an effective approach to study the band structure of 2D materials. Several modified forms of SSPM, such as high-order, white-light-excited, vector field excited, and optically nonlinearly enhanced SSPM are also presented. Subsequently, the physical origin of the SSPM formation mechanism is compared and analyzed. Furthermore, the applications of SSPM with 2D materials, including passive photonic devices, generation of Bessel beams, and identifying the mode of the orbital angular momentum, are listed. Finally, several urgent problems of the SSPM with 2D materials, potential applications, and prospects for future development are presented.     

Cycle and circle tests of balance in gain graphs: Forbidden minors and their groups

We examine two criteria for balance of a gain graph, one based on binary cycles and one on circles. The graphs for which each criterion is valid depend on the set of allowed gain groups. The binary cycle test is invalid, except for forests, if any possible gain group has an element of odd order. Assuming all groups are allowed, or all abelian groups, or merely the cyclic group of order 3, we characterize, both constructively and by forbidden minors, the graphs for which the circle test is valid. It turns out that these three classes of groups have the same set of forbidden minors. The exact reason for the importance of the ternary cyclic group is not clear. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Novel model of FM-noise conversion in a UMZI using RF external phase modulation of lasers: Theoretical and experimental results

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a new and original model for theoretical calculation and experimental measurement of the noise power spectral density (NPSD) in phase-modulated optical links. The phase modulation is operated in the RF frequency range by an external phase modulator. The NPSD is derived for the first time in interferometric systems, by considering all effects such as the 1/f FM noise of the laser and white noise applied to light from a 1550 nm DFB laser, with phase modulation. The results show for the first time the influence of the phase modulation index, modulation frequency and interferometric delay in the phase-to-intensity noise conversion. The experimental and simulation results of conversion of FM-noise to intensity noise in an optical link by considering the external RF phase modulation are shown with good agreement.     

克尔介质中超连续谱的产生与自聚焦的抑制

 从（3+1）维非线性薛定谔方程出发，理论上分析了超短脉冲频谱展宽与自聚焦的影响因素。分析得出：通过改变泵浦光的功率和光束口径，可以实现光谱的极大展宽并避免自聚焦成丝。数值模拟了小口径强泵浦光束在BK7玻璃中的传输过程并进行了实验验证。模拟结果显示在超连续谱产生的同时小尺度调制被完全抑制。实验结果表明：降低泵浦光功率，使光束不会因为全光束自聚焦而发生塌陷，同时还能控制除自聚焦外的其它非线性效应，进而改善近场光束质量。由于自相位调制是超短超强脉冲产生超连续谱的重要机制之一，需要维持传输过程中的泵浦光功率，由此最佳的入射光功率应选在全光束自聚焦功率阈值附近。     

半导体激光自混频干涉式传感器中的干涉与调制

应用F-P模型，阐述了半导体激光自混频干涉式传感器的干涉与调制过程，同时给出了相应的计算．     

Single to 16-Channel Wavelength Conversion at 10 Gb/s Based on Cross-Gain Modulation of ASE Spectrum in SOA

A simple scheme for single to multi-channel wavelength conversion based on cross-gain modulation of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum in semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is described. Single to 16-channel wavelength conversion at 10 Gb/s is first demonstrated without any additional probe lights, the modulation information carried by input signal could be converted into arbitrary many channels if only the demultiplexer with enough channels is exploited. Output performance and pattern effects are investigated experimentally.     

Phase modulation in dipolar-coupled A2 spin systems: effect of maximum state mixing in H NMR in vivo

Coupling constants of nuclear spin systems can be determined from phase modulation of multiplet resonances. Strongly coupled systems such as citrate in prostatic tissue exhibit a more complex modulation than AX connectivities, because of substantial mixing of quantum states. An extreme limit is the coupling of n isochronous spins (A_n system). It is observable only for directly connected spins like the methylene protons of creatine and phosphocreatine which experience residual dipolar coupling in intact muscle tissue in vivo. We will demonstrate that phase modulation of this “pseudo-strong” system is quite simple compared to those of AB systems. Theory predicts that the spin-echo experiment yields conditions as in the case of weak interactions, in particular, the phase modulation depends linearly on the line splitting and the echo time.     

有源光放大器链路中交叉相位调制的不稳定性

利用两种方法研究了有源放大器波分复用系统光纤链路中交叉 相位调制的不稳定性．首先利用非线性薛定谔耦合方程，在小幅度扰动下，研究了正常色散 和反常色散光纤中的交叉相位调制不稳定性. 由于相位噪声涨落，利用分裂步长傅里叶 变换法与Monte-Carlo法，模拟了有源放大器链路中反常色散和正常色散情况下的调制不稳定性. 两种方法得到的结论基本一致. 关键词： 调制不稳定性 交叉相位调制 斯托克斯带 反斯托克斯 带