Ultrafast on‐Chip Remotely‐Triggered All‐Optical Switching Based on Epsilon‐Near‐Zero Nanocomposites

On‐chip‐triggered all‐optical switching is a key component of ultrahigh‐speed and ultrawide‐band information processing chips. 1 - 4 This switching technique, the operating states of which are triggered by a remote control light, paves the way for the realization of cascaded and complicated logic processing circuits and quantum solid chips. Here, a strategy is reported to realize on‐chip remotely‐triggered, ultralow‐power, ultrafast, and nanoscale all‐optical switching with high switching efficiency in integrated photonic circuits. It is based on control‐light induced dynamic modulation of the coupling properties of two remotely‐coupled silicon photonic crystal nanocavities, and extremely large optical nonlinearity enhancement associated with epsilon‐near‐zero multi‐component nanocomposite achieved through dispersion engineering. Compared with previous reports of on‐chip direct‐triggered all‐optical switching, the threshold control intensity, 560 kW/cm², is reduced by four orders of magnitude, while maintaining ultrafast switching time of 15 ps. This not only provides a strategy to construct photonic materials with ultrafast and large third‐order nonlinearity, but also offers an on‐chip platform for the fundamental study of nonlinear optics.     

Unity‐Order Nonlinear Optical Index Change in Epsilon‐Near‐Zero Composite Materials of Gain Media and Metal Nanoparticles

This work reports giant optical nonlinearity of active gain composites containing metal nanoparticles. In the epsilon‐near‐zero regime, the effective index of the composite strongly depends on the magnitude of host material's saturable gain and one can obtain unity‐order nonlinear optical index change for the pump with gain saturation intensity. For pump intensity of about 100 kW/cm², the nonlinear refractive index (the refractive index change per unit pump intensity) reaches 10^?5 cm²/W, which is 6–8 orders‐of‐magnitude larger than the records recently obtained in epsilon‐near‐zero bulk materials. If the gain value of the host medium is slightly larger than a critical value, such large optical nonlinearity can be obtained without loss or even accompanying with amplification. The proposed materials also have the advantage of wide tunability of operating wavelength range from visible to infrared by changing the gain value of the host and the shape parameters and filling factors of metal nanoparticles.     

Nanoscale C‐Rich SixC1−x Bus/Ring Waveguide Based Cross‐Wavelength Data Converter

The carbon‐rich silicon carbide (C‐rich Si_xC_1?x) micro‐ring channel waveguide with asymmetric core aspect is demonstrated for all‐optical cross‐wavelength pulsed return‐to‐zero on‐off keying (PRZ‐OOK) data conversion. Enhanced nonlinear optical Kerr switching enables 12‐Gbit per second data processing with optimized modulation depth. The inverse tapered waveguide at end‐face further enlarges the edge‐coupling efficiency, and the asymmetric channel waveguide distinguishes the polarization modes. To prevent data shape distortion, the bus/ring gap spacing is adjusted to control the quality factor (Q‐factor) of the micro‐ring. Designing the waveguide cross section at 500 × 350 nm² provides the C‐rich Si_xC_1?x channel waveguide to induce strong transverse electric mode (TE‐mode) confinement with a large Kerr nonlinearity of 2.44 × 10^?12 cm² W^?1. Owing to the trade‐off between the Q‐factor and the on/off extinction ratio, the optimized bus/ring gap spacing of 1400 nm is selected to provide a coupling ratio at 5–6% for compromising the modulation depth and the switching throughput. Such a C‐rich Si_xC_1?x micro‐ring with asymmetric channel waveguide greatly enhances the cross‐wavelength data conversion efficiency to favor its on‐chip all‐optical data processing applications for future optoelectronic interconnect circuits.     

Tens of GHz Tantalum pentoxide‐based micro‐ring all‐optical modulator for Si photonics

A tantalum pentoxide‐based (Ta₂O₅‐based) micro‐ring all‐optical modulator was fabricated. The refractive index inside the micro‐ring cavity was modified using the Kerr effect by injecting a pumped pulse. The transmittance of the ring resonator was controlled to achieve all‐optical modulation at the wavelength of the injected probe. When 12 GHz pulses with a peak power of 1.2 W were coupled in the ring cavity, the transmission spectrum of the Ta₂O₅ resonator was red‐shifted by 0.04 nm because of the Kerr effect. The relationship between the modulation depth and gap of the Ta₂O₅ directional coupler is discussed. An optimized gap of 1100 nm was obtained, and a maximum buildup factor of 11.7 with 84% modulation depth was achieved. The nonlinear refractive index of Ta₂O₅ at 1.55 μm was estimated as 3.4 × 10^?14 cm²/W based on the Kerr effect, which is almost an order of magnitude higher than that of Si₃N₄. All results indicate that Ta₂O₅ has potential for use in nonlinear waveguide applications with modulation speeds as high as tens of GHz.

     

Transverse optical patterns for ultra‐low‐light‐level all‐optical switching

We review recent theoretical and experimental efforts toward developing an all‐optical switch based on transverse optical patterns. Transverse optical patterns are formed when counterpropagating laser beams interact with a nonlinear medium. A perturbation, in the form of a weak switch beam injected into the nonlinear medium, controls the orientation of the generated patterns. Each state of the pattern orientation is associated with a state of the switch. That is, information is stored in the orientation state. A realization of this switch using a warm rubidium vapor shows that it can be actuated by as few as 600 ± 40 photons with a response time of 5 µs. Models of nonlinear optical interactions in semiconductor quantum wells and microresonators suggest these systems are also suitable for use as fast all‐optical switches using this same conceptual design, albeit at higher switching powers.     

Enhanced optical nonlinearity near the photonic bandgap edges of a cholesteric liquid crystal

The third-order Kerr nonlinear optical effect of a one-dimensional photonic bandgap structure of a cholesteric liquid crystal is investigated. In a femtosecond nonlinear transmission measurement, nonlinear optical changes in the bandgap edges are observed. From analysis of the dispersion relation, Kerr nonlinear coefficients of nematics, forming the cholesteric liquid crystal, are found to be enhanced by 1-2 orders of magnitude through the photonic bandgap structure.     

Light‐switching‐light optical transistor based on metallic nanoparticle cross‐chains geometry incorporating Kerr nonlinearity

In this research work, we propose all‐optical transistor based on metallic nanoparticle cross‐chains geometry. The geometry of the proposed device consists of two silver nanoparticle chains arranged along the x‐ and z‐axis. The x‐chain contains a Kerr nonlinearity, the source beam is set at the left side of the later, while the control beam is located at the top side of the z‐chain. The control beam can turn ON and OFF the light transmission of an incoming light. We report a theoretical model of a very small all‐optical transistor proof‐of‐conceptmade of optical ‘light switching light'concept. We show that the transmission efficiency strongly depends on the control beam and polarization of the incoming light. We investigate the influence of a perfect reflector and reflecting substrate on the transmission of the optical signal when the control beam is turned ON and OFF. These new findings make our unique design a potential candidate for future highly‐integrated optical information processing chips.     

Gap Solitons in Fractional Dimensions With a Quasi‐Periodic Lattice

The existence and stability of gap solitons in the nonlinear fractional Schrödinger equation are investigated with a quasi‐periodic lattice. In the absence of nonlinearity, the exact band‐gap spectrum of the proposed system is obtained, and it is found that the spectrum gap size can be adjusted by the sublattice depth and the Lévy index. Under self‐defocusing nonlinearity, both in‐phase and out‐of‐phase gap solitons have been searched in the first four gaps. It is revealed that in‐phase gap solitons are generally stable in wide regions of their existence, whereas stable out‐of‐phase gap solitons can only exist in the fourth spectrum gap. Linear stability analysis of gap solitons is in good agreement with their corresponding nonlinear evolutions in fractional dimensions. The presented numerical findings may lead to interesting applications, such as transporting of light beams through the optical medium, and other areas connected with the Kerr effect and fractional effect.     

Nonlinear light propagation in the defect band of one-dimensional defective structures

In this paper we numerically investigate the nonlinear propagation of defect state in one-dimensional structures with defects. We investigate the nonlinear transmission spectra and the bistable response for defective structures with different index gradients. The results show that positive Kerr nonlinearity can suppress the Wannier-Stark localization. And the nonlinear response of defect states band exhibits an optical switch behavior, which may be applied to all-optical devices. And the gap solitons from these defect states are presented.     

Composite‐Assisted Phase‐Matching: Efficient Wavelength Conversion in Nonlinear Optical Composite Materials Containing Metal Nanoparticles

A novel phase‐matching scheme which is based on the dispersion compensation in the nonlinear optical composite materials containing metal nanoparticles is proposed. Anomalous dispersion originating from the plasmon resonance in metal nanoparticles compensates the dispersion of the host nonlinear material, leading to the perfect phase‐matching and high efficiency of nonlinear optical wavelength conversion. The effectiveness of this approach is theoretically demonstrated, taking third‐order nonlinear processes such as the direct third‐harmonic generation and four‐wave mixing in ZnO composites containing silica‐core–silver‐shell nanoparticles as examples. The results show that with the proposed phase‐matching scheme, unprecedentedly high conversion efficiency can be obtained compared with preceding results in third‐order nonlinear optical solid‐state materials.     

光子晶体耦合腔光波导慢光结构特性研究

研究了用于光缓存的光子晶体耦合腔光波导的结构对慢光传输特性的影响.详细讨论了微腔间距关于波导禁带、导模带宽、导模传输群速度的具体关系.计算发现,随着微腔之间距离的增加导模显著平坦化,群速度急剧减小.当相邻微腔之间距离为7个晶格常数时,获得了小于2×10~(-4)c的超小群速度.通过长度为13.23 μm的7×7超胞构成的光子晶体耦合腔光波导,产生的最大光延迟超过了400 ps,这比相同长度传统光波导产生光延迟大四个数量级.     

基于二维多模干涉效应的N×N光开关模型

报道了由两个N×N三维多模干涉耦合器和一段阵列相移波导组成的三维光开关.首先利用导模传输法分析了三维多模干涉耦合器的一般成像原理,并推导出了其成像位置以及相位矩阵.在此基础上,通过场传输矩阵法建立了光开关的传输方程.利用该传输方程计算得到了光开关工作时,阵列相移波导的相位条件,并通过三维有限差分光束传输法进行仿真验证,给出了光开关工作时的插损、串扰指标,以及光开关输出功率随相移波导相位变化的关系.     

Generation of a Quadphoton via Seventh‐Order Nonlinear Susceptibility

With a wide range of potential applications, the generation of nonclassical multiphoton and number states has attracted renewed interest recently. Here, a correlated quadphoton with seventh‐order nonlinear susceptibility is reported in which all four photons are simultaneously created via an eight‐wave mixing (EWM) process in an atomic medium. The efficiency of the pure EWM process is low, which results from the small order of magnitude of the seventh‐order nonlinear susceptibility (the quadphoton correlation with four periods corresponding to 8 channels and 12 resonance positions). But the EWM process has a strong dressing effect. It not only increases the nonlinear susceptibility, but also produces 15 or 16 resonance positions in the dressing state picture. In addition, with the energy conservation of these positions, 12 coherent channels can be generated in this system. According to the interference between multichannels of the quadphoton, the quadphoton coincidence count appears as a damped Rabi oscillation, which has eight or ten oscillation periods. If only the nonlinear optical response is considered, the coincidence counts of the quadphoton behave as a damped Rabi oscillation with periods that can be controlled by the dressing field. These outcomes may contribute to a new promising method for quantum communication.     

Study of Nonpolaritons in a Kerr Nonlinear Optical Resonator

We find that in a Kerr nonlinear optical resonator, the photon system possesses a new kind of quasiparticle, the nonpolariton. The existence of nonpolaritons should be testified by observing the energy density dependence of the velocity and squeezing of nonpolaritons. As we have investigated, the transition energy density of a Kerr nonlinear optical resonator is larger than that of a normal state.     

Nonlinear source for the generation of high-energy few-cycle optical pulses

We investigate the evolution of optical pulses in a hollow waveguide filled with noble gas at pulse intensities for which tunnel ionization dominates the nonlinear response of the gas. A numerical analysis reveals that the spectral chirp generated by the plasma nonlinearity is to a good approximation linear over the whole pulse spectrum and can be compensated in a dispersive delay line. Our calculations predict the generation of 3-4-fs optical pulses with energies of a few milijoules. To our knowledge, these energies are an order of magnitude greater than the pulse energies that have been realized to date in hollow-fiber compressors based exclusively on the nonlinear Kerr effect.     

Efficient Integrated Graphene Photonics in the Visible and Near‐IR

Graphene photonics has emerged as a promising platform for providing desirable optical functionality. However, graphene's monolayer‐scale thickness fundamentally restricts the available light matter interaction, posing a critical design challenge for integrated devices, particularly in wavelength regimes where graphene plasmonics is untenable. While several plasmonic designs have been proposed to enhance graphene light interaction in these regimes, they suffer from substantial insertion loss due to metal absorption. Here we report a non‐resonant metamaterial‐based waveguide platform to overcome the design bottleneck associated with graphene device. Such metamaterial structure enables low insertion loss even though metal is being utilized. By examining waveguide dispersion characteristics via closed‐form analysis, it is demonstrated that the metamaterial approach can provide optimized optical field that overlaps with the graphene monolayer. This enables graphene‐based integrated components with superior optical performance. Specifically, the metamaterial‐assisted graphene modulator can provide 5‐fold improvement in extinction ratio compared to Si nanowire, while reducing insertion loss by one order magnitude compared to plasmonic structures. Such a waveguide configuration thus allows one to maximize the optical potential that graphene holds in the telecom and visible regimes.     

Nonlinear Optical Response of a Fibonacci Multilayer

By studying numerically the light transmitting through a finite nonlinear Fibonacci multilayer, we find the gap-soliton-like phenomenon. The Fibonacci multilayer contains a Kerrtype nonlinearity in one component. When the frequency of incident light is in a stop gap, increasing the incident light intensity will make the system switch from a lower transmission state to a higher transmission state. Transmissivity for some frequencies can reach unit, which shows that they correspond to transparent states. Distribution of the field intensity in the Fibonacci structure has a particular gap-soliton-like shape, which has the multi-carrier wave.     

An alternative scheme of angular‐dispersion analyzers for high‐resolution medium‐energy inelastic X‐ray scattering

The development of medium‐energy inelastic X‐ray scattering optics with meV and sub‐meV resolution has attracted considerable efforts in recent years. Meanwhile, there are also concerns or debates about the fundamental and feasibility of the involved schemes. Here the central optical component, the back‐reflection angular‐dispersion monochromator or analyzer, is analyzed. The results show that the multiple‐beam diffraction effect together with transmission‐induced absorption can noticeably reduce the diffraction efficiency, although it may not be a fatal threat. In order to improve the efficiency, a simple four‐bounce analyzer is proposed that completely avoids these two adverse effects. The new scheme is illustrated to be a feasible alternative approach for developing meV‐ to sub‐meV‐resolution inelastic X‐ray scattering spectroscopy.     

Three‐dimensional visible‐light capsule enclosing perfect supersized darkness via antiresolution

Supersized darkness in three dimensions surrounded by all light in free space is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally in the visible regime. The object staying in the darkness is similar to staying in an empty light capsule because light just bypasses it by resorting to destructive interference. A binary‐optical system is designed and fabricated based on achieving antiresolution (AR), by which electromagnetic energy flux avoids and bends smoothly around a nearly perfect darkness region. AR remains an unexplored topic hitherto, in contrast to the super‐resolution for realizing high spatial resolution. This novel scheme replies on smearing out the point spread function and thus poses less stringent limitations upon the object's size and position since the created dark (zero‐field) area reach 8 orders of magnitude larger than λ² in cross‐sectional size. It functions very well with arbitrarily polarized beams in three dimensions, which is also frequency scalable in the whole electromagnetic spectrum.     

基于六角格子光子晶体波导的高效全光二极管设计

提出了一种基于六角格子光子晶体波导微腔和Fabry-Perot(FP)腔非对称耦合的全光二极管结构, 它由一个包含非线性Kerr介质的高Q值微腔与一个光子晶体波导中的FP腔组成. 通过有限时域差分方法对其传输特性进行了仿真, 发现通过两腔的非对称耦合可以实现在特定光强度下的正向传输、反向截止的功能. 在靠近微腔方向光入射时, 特定强度的光可以激发非线性微腔的Kerr效应, 改变了Fano腔的共振频率, 从而变成透射状态. 而远离微腔方向光入射, 由于这个不对称的结构造成场局域的分布不对称, 激发微腔Kerr效应的光强还不够, 所以光不能透射. 所设计的全光二极管结构具有良好的性能参数: 最大透射率高和高透射比、光强阈值低和易于集成等.