Polarizing beam splitter based on a double-layer subwavelength grating

A Si–ZnS double-layer subwavelength grating is theoretically used as a high-efficient polarizing beam splitter. To design this structure, the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) is applied to study the reflectivity and transmissivity for the TE and TM polarization, respectively. Simulation results show that both the zero-order reflection for TE polarization and the zero-order transmission for TM polarization can exceed 90% in a wide tunable working incident angle range from 48° to 72°. Moreover, the proposed polarizing beam splitter has a working wavelength that is in the range of 1500–1600 nm.     

Colorless gigabit WDM-PON link using injection locking and electro-absorption transceiver

In this paper, a novel colorless wavelength division multiplexing-passive optical network (WDM-PON) system using injection locking and electro-absorption transceiver (EAT) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. This system has advantages, high data transmission, small downlink signal effect to uplink signal and less polarization sensitivity, compared to the system using reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA). Downlink signal modulates the right side carrier of the double side band signal by using injection locking. EAT functions as both photo detector in downlink signal and modulator for uplink signal, simultaneously. A possible cross absorption modulation effect from the EAT is analyzed experimentally. Bidirectional transmission of 1.25 Gbps and 622 Mbps for downlink and uplink, respectively, were verified through 23 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF).     

Single channel tunable wavelength demultiplexer using nonlinear one dimensional defect mode photonic crystal

Transmission characteristics of nonlinear one dimensional photonic crystal with a defect have been studied. GaAs/Si multilayer structure with a single defect has been simulated using transfer matrix method. In this study refractive indices of both layers have been taken to be dependent on intensity and wavelength simultaneously. It is found that central wavelength of defect mode change with intensity of wave. Average change in central wavelength of defect mode is 0.02 nm/(1 GW/cm²). This property can be exploited in the design of a single channel tunable wavelength division demultiplexer for optical communication.     

Design and fabrication of ultra-high precision thin-film polarizing beam splitter

An ultra-high precision thin-film polarizing beam splitter (PBS) has been designed and fabricated. Using Needle optimization technology, we design the thin-film polarizing beam splitter that is transparent for P polarization and reflective for S polarization with ultra-high precision at 64.8° angle of incidence and 632.8 ± 10 nm wavelength band. The experiments with the fabricated thin-film PBS demonstrate that both the reflectance of P polarization and transmittance of S polarization at 64.8° angle of incidence and 632.8 nm wavelength point are less than 0.02%, which is ultra-high for reported PBSs.     

Diffraction grating with rectangular grooves exceeding 80% diffraction efficiency

A novel design for a surface relief grating with rectangular grooves is presented. The first reflected diffraction order shows experimentally 84% diffraction efficiency for a metallic grating. The required binary surface relief can be manufactured by using one single microlithographic fabrication step similar to standard processes in microelectronics. Each period of the grating consists of a subwavelength “minilattice” with a variable duty cycle. A theoretical model of the structure is presented and compared to measurements at 10.6 μm wavelength. Applications ranging from deflectors, polarizing beam splitters, variable attenuators to general diffractive components such as kinoforms for laser beam shaping are proposed.     

Narrowband optical filter design for DWDM communication applications based on Generalized Aperiodic Thue-Morse structures

We present here a novel proposal for multichannel narrowband DWDM filter design, based on Generalized Aperiodic Thue-Morse (GATM) multilayer structures. Transmission spectra of light propagation through these structures are studied in this article. Numerical simulations in this research show an ultra high efficiency and a very low crosstalk for this filter so that the total transmission of filter output channels is up to 100% and the range of output wavelength is 1550 nm which is suitable for DWDM communication systems. By studying the effects of parameters of GATM structure, we realized that by varying parameters such as number of layers, distance between layers, refractive index of layers, etc., a suitable DWDM filter can be accomplished, which is in accordance with the communication ITU-T standard. This narrowband DWDM filter has capability of changing the number of channels and the bandwidth of each channel, at the special wavelength. By changing the thickness of each layer, the transmittance wavelength of the filter will change. The main advantage of the Thue-Morse structure is the numbers of selective layers, which in our designed structure, we choose GATM(3,2) where m = 3 and n = 2 in B^mAⁿ, and for the first time we change both m and n simultaneously in the proposed structure to control optical properties of the introduced filter.     

Combined AFM and Brewster-angle analysis of gradually etched ultrathin SiO2 - Comparison with SRPES results

Two surface sensitive techniques are employed to assess both structural and optical properties of an inhomogeneous Si(1 1 1)/silicon oxide multilayer system. Upon gradual etch-back of the native silicon oxide layer, structural changes of the respective interfaces were determined by contact-mode atomic force microscopy (CM-AFM); optical data were obtained by Brewster-angle analysis (BAA) at a single wavelength. It is shown, that the sensitivity of BAA leads to the identification of an additional strained sub-surface layer that was investigated by subsequent etching experiments and following optical analysis. Inclusion of this layer and its interfaces into a multilayer model allowed precise numerical evaluation of the respective oxide thicknesses in the range between 12 Å and 2 Å. These values, obtained by combination of BAA and AFM, are in excellent agreement with results obtained by synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy (SRPES). It is furthermore shown, that the thickness resolution limit of BAA (at constant nanotopographic roughness) is well below 1 Å. A limitation of BAA single-wavelength analysis is reached when the roughness variation, in terms of an effective layer and its thickness, exceeds the oxide thickness variation.     

Bending dual-core photonic crystal fiber coupler

In this paper, we systematically study a designed structure of a bending dual-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF). We propose the controllable wavelength-selective coupling PCF. This coupler allows highly accurate control of the filtering wavelength. The different wavelengths can be selected by controlling the bending radius of the fiber. Coupling characteristics of novel bending wavelength-selective coupling PCF are evaluated by using a vector finite element method and their application to a multiplexer demultiplexer (MUX–DEMUX) based on the novel coupler is investigated. When the fiber length is 4168 μm, the bending radius of PCF couplers for 1.48/1.55 μm, 1.3/1.55 μm, 0.98/1.55 μm, and 0.85/1.55 μm is calculated, respectively, and the beam propagation analysis is performed. Different from the traditional wavelength-selective coupling PCF, the dual-core PCF is bent and it can realize the separation of multiple wavelengths.     

Enhanced transmission through nano-aperture on a tapered metallic substrate

The optical transmission and distribution through a subwavelength slit on a tapered metallic substrate was investigated. By using a 45° tapered structure rather than a traditional metallic plate, a 6-fold transmission enhancement could be achieved. This is due to the asymmetrical excitation of surface waves and the matching of propagation constants between the surface waves and slit waveguide. In addition, by patterning surface corrugations in the exit plane, the beam could be focused. By tuning the period of the surface corrugations, we were able to adjust the focal length. For an input wavelength of 0.5 μm, the focal point could be kept within 0.6 μm with a focal length extending from 0.5 μm to 2.5 μm and a grating period ranging from 0.5 μm to 0.6 μm.     

Patterning thin metallic film via laser structured weakly bound template

A weakly bound buffer material is structured on a surface by interfering low power laser beams, as a template for patterning metallic thin films deposited on top. The excess buffer material and metal layer are subsequently removed by a second uniform laser pulse. This laser pre-structured buffer layer assisted patterning procedure is demonstrated for gold layer forming a grating on a single crystal Ru(1 0 0) under UHV conditions, using Xe as the buffer material. Millimeters long, submicron (0.65 μm) wide wires can be obtained using laser wavelength of 1.064 μm with sharp edges of less than 30 nm, as determined by AFM. This method provides an all-in-vacuum metallic film patterning procedure at the submicron range, with the potential to be developed down to the nanometer scale upon decreasing the patterning laser wavelength down to the UV range.     

Design and characterization of single mode circular photonic crystal fiber for broadband dispersion compensation

In this paper, we present a single mode circular photonic crystal fiber (C-PCF) for broadband dispersion compensation covering 1400 to 1610 nm wavelength band over the telecommunication windows. Investigations of guiding properties are carried out using finite element method (FEM) with circular perfectly matched layer boundary condition. Numerical study reveals that a negative dispersion coefficient of about −386.57 to −971.44 ps/(nm km) is possible to obtain over the wavelength ranging from 1400 to 1610 nm with a relative dispersion slope (RDS) of about 0.0036 nm⁻¹ at 1550 nm wavelength. In addition, the single mode behaviour of C-PCF is demonstrated by employing V parameter. According to simulation, it is found that the proposed C-PCF acts as a single mode fiber within 1340 to 1640 nm wavelength. Moreover, effective dispersion, relative dispersion slope, birefringence and confinement loss are also presented and discussed.     

Dense wavelength division demultiplexing using photonic crystal waveguides based on cavity resonance

We demonstrated a photonic crystal waveguide based dense wavelength division multiplexing device using the resonances in the cavities. The demultiplexing is achieved through filtering. This filtering is achieved by varying the radii of the surrounding holes of the cavity, which in turn changes the resonant wavelength of the cavity. The four wavelengths demultiplexed in the design are 0.8 nm apart in the optical region centered on 1.55 and 1.56 μm. The device designed and simulated has easy to realize structure as well as high quality factor. Two-dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) is chosen to do the simulation of this work.     

Nanolayered multilayer coatings of CrN/CrAlN prepared by reactive DC magnetron sputtering

Single-phase CrN and CrAlN coatings were deposited on silicon and mild steel substrates using a reactive DC magnetron sputtering system. The structural characterization of the coatings was done using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD data showed that both the CrN and CrAlN coatings exhibited B1 NaCl structure with a prominent reflection along (2 0 0) plane. The bonding structure of the coatings was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the surface morphology of the coatings was studied using atomic force microscopy. Subsequently, nanolayered CrN/CrAlN multilayer coatings with a total thickness of approximately 1 μm were deposited on silicon substrates at different modulation wavelengths (Λ). The XRD data showed that all the multilayer coatings were textured along {2 0 0}. The CrN/CrAlN multilayer coatings exhibited a maximum nanoindentation hardness of 3125 kg/mm² at a modulation wavelength of 72 Å, whereas single layer CrN and CrAlN deposited under similar conditions exhibited hardness values of 2375 and 2800 kg/mm², respectively. Structural changes as a result of heating of the multilayer coatings in air (400-800 °C) were characterized using XRD and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The XRD data showed that the multilayer coatings were stable up to a temperature of 650 °C and peaks pertaining to Cr₂O₃ started appearing at 700 °C. These results were confirmed by micro-Raman spectroscopy. Nanoindentation measurements performed on the heat-treated coatings revealed that the multilayer coatings retained hardness as high as 2250 kg/mm² after annealing up to a temperature of 600 °C.     

Laser polymerization-based novel lift-off technique

The fabrication of microstructures by two-photon polymerization has been widely reported as a means of directly writing three-dimensional nanoscale structures. In the majority of cases a single point serial writing technique is used to form a polymer model. Single layer writing can also be used to fabricate two-dimensional patterns and we report an extension of this capability by using two-photon polymerization to form a template that can be used as a sacrificial layer for a novel lift-off process.A Ti:sapphire laser, with wavelength 795 nm, 80 MHz repetition rate, 100 fs pulse duration and an average power of 700 mW, was used to write 2D grid patterns with pitches of 0.8 and 1.0 μm in a urethane acrylate resin that was spun on to a lift-off base layer. This was overcoated with gold and the grid lifted away to leave an array of gold islands.The optical transmission properties of the gold arrays were measured and found to be in agreement with a rigorous coupled-wave analysis simulation.     

Thermally tunable microfiber knot resonator based erbium-doped fiber laser

A compact and tunable erbium-doped fiber laser is demonstrated using a highly doped fiber and a microfiber knot resonator (MKR) structure which is laid on the surface of a small peltier. The MKR functions as both a reflector and a tunable filter where tunability is achieved by varying the temperature of the resonator by heating the peltier. A stable laser output is achieved at the 1533 nm region with an optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) of 27 dB using a 65 mW of 980 nm pump power. The operating wavelength of the laser can be tuned from 1532.60 nm to 1533.49 nm as the temperature is increased from the room temperature of 24 to 90 °C. It is observed that the operating wavelength shifts to a longer wavelength as the temperature increases with an efficiency of 12.4 pm/°C. This is due to the thermally induced optical phase shift attributable to the changes in effective refractive index and optical path length of the MKR loop.     

Morphology of ablation craters generated by fs laser pulses in LiNbO3

The surface morphology of the ablation craters generated in LiNbO₃ by 130 fs laser pulses at 800 nm has been investigated by AFM/SNOM microscopy. The single pulse fluence corresponding to the ablation threshold has been estimated to be ≈1.8 J/cm².A complex structure including random cone-shaped protrusions is observed inside the ablated crater. The scale of the protrusion spacing is in the submicron range and the heights are typically of a few tens of nanometers. At and outside the crater rim a novel quasi-periodic wave-like topography pattern is observed in both types of microscopy techniques. The average wavelength, that is slightly dependent on pulse fluence, is (500-800 nm) comparable to the light wavelength. This novel topography feature keeps a close similarity with a Fresnel diffraction pattern by an absorbing circular obstacle or impact wave pattern produced by a combination of heat and shock wave (resemble that of impact crater). It is proposed that the obstacle is associated to the strongly nonlinear multiphoton absorption at the peak of the pulse profile. The energy deposited by nonlinear absorption of such profile causes ablation of both the crater and the rippled structure.     

Subwavelength structures for broadband antireflection application

The subwavelength structures are designed and fabricated for broadband antireflection application. Under target of zero reflectivity, the parameters of periodic 2-D continuous conical structures are analyzed by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The corresponding conical structures are obtained with spatial period of 350 nm and structure height of 300 nm, respectively. The 2-D continuous conical structured surface is fabricated by micro-replication process combining with the originated structure fabrication realized by interference lithography, Ni mold electroplation and replication by using UV imprinting into plastics. The average reflectances of the simulation and replicated polymer prototype are about 0.50% and 0.54% within the spectral ranges of 400-650 nm, respectively. In a word, the subwavelength structured surface with low reflection is developed and proved to be highly consistent with the simulation results.     

A novel ultrahigh birefringent hole-assistant microstructured optical fiber with low confinement loss

A novel hole-assistant microstructured optical fiber with a rectangle-like core and four elliptical holes as cladding is proposed. By employing a full-vector finite element method, the modal birefringence and confinement loss are numerically investigated, and the results show that in such a structure, an ultrahigh modal birefringence of 2.91×10⁻² and a low confinement loss (<1 dB/km) can be simultaneously obtained at excited wavelength of 1.55 μm. It is significant that such a microstructured optical fiber is easily fabricated with its simple structure and exhibits improved performance.     

High-precision SMI microscopy size measurements by simultaneous frequency domain reconstruction of the axial point spread function

An improved size measurement method using spatially modulated illumination (SMI) microscopy enhances subwavelength size determination of fluorescent objects. In this new approach the point spread function of the SMI microscope is reconstructed in each measurement. For this, reference objects with known dye distribution have to be put additionally to the unknown objects on the object slide or on the cover slip. We present data from measurements on fluorescent microspheres with diameters of 140 and 200 nm using an excitation wavelength of 488 nm.     

Formation of periodic surface nanostructures on Ti:Al2O3 crystals using femtosecond laser pulses

Periodic surface nanostructures are observed on Ti³⁺:Al₂O₃ single crystals that have been irradiated by a single focused beam from a femtosecond pulsed laser (wavelength: 800 nm; pulse duration: 130 and 152 fs). Atomic force microscopy images of single-ablated zones and modified structures created by fixing and translating samples through the focal region of a linearly polarized laser beam reveal self-organized periodic surface nanostructures (ripples) with a subwavelength spacing, which are oriented perpendicular to the electric-field vector of the laser beam. The period of the subwavelength ripples obtained by linearly polarized laser irradiation varies from ∼λ/5 to 2λ/5 (λ: incident laser wavelength) depending on the laser pulse energy. This phenomenon can be explained by assuming that the incident light field interferes with the electric field of electron plasma waves propagating inside the material; this interference periodically modulates the electron plasma density and modifies the surface ablation. In addition, for the first time, we observe screw-shaped nanostructures in the focal spot of circularly polarized beam irradiation. The morphology of these nanostructures appears to reflect the circular polarization of the laser light.