Passively mode-locked Raman laser

We report on the observation of a mode-locked laser generated with a crystalline whispering gallery mode resonator pumped with a continuous wave laser. Optical pumping of the resonator generates an optical frequency comb with phase locked components at the Raman offset of the resonator host material. Phase locking of the modes is confirmed via measurement of the radio-frequency beat note produced by the comb on a fast photodiode. Neither the conventional Kerr comb nor hyperparametric oscillation is observed when the comb is present. We present a theoretical explanation of the effect.     

Tunable optical frequency comb with a crystalline whispering gallery mode resonator

We report on the experimental demonstration of a tunable monolithic optical frequency comb generator. The device is based on four-wave mixing in a crystalline calcium fluoride whispering gallery mode resonator. The frequency spacing of the comb is given by an integer number of the free spectral range of the resonator. We select the desired number by tuning the frequency of the pumping laser with respect to the corresponding resonator mode. We also observe a rich variety of optical combs and high-frequency hyperparametric oscillation, depending on the experimental conditions. A potential application of the comb for generating tunable narrow band frequency microwave signals is demonstrated.     

Generation of near-infrared frequency combs from a MgF₂ whispering gallery mode resonator

We report on generation of a 20 nm wide, 35 GHz repetition rate optical frequency comb in a magnesium fluoride whispering gallery mode resonator pumped with 2 mW of 1543 nm light. The high efficiency of comb generation is associated with the small anomalous group velocity dispersion of the resonator. Growth dynamics of the comb is studied and compared with earlier theoretical predictions.     

Effect of surface acoustic waves on the catalytic decomposition of ethanol employing a comb transducer for ultrasonic generation

The effect of surface acoustic waves, generated on a silver catalyst using a comb transducer, on the catalytic decomposition of ethanol is examined. The comb transducer employs purely mechanical means for surface acoustic wave (SAW) transduction. Unlike interdigital SAW transducers on piezoelectric substrates, the complicating effects of heat generation due to electromechanical coupling, high electric fields between adjacent electrodes, and acoustoelectric currents are avoided. The ethanol decomposition reactions are carried out at 473 K. The rates of acetaldehyde and ethylene production are retarded when acoustic waves are applied. The rates recover to varying degrees when acoustic excitation ceases.     

Analysis of radiation-pressure induced mechanical oscillation of an optical microcavity

The theoretical work of Braginsky predicted that radiation pressure can couple the mechanical, mirror eigenmodes of a Fabry-Pérot resonator to its optical modes, leading to a parametric oscillation instability. This regime is characterized by regenerative mechanical oscillation of the mechanical mirror eigenmodes. We have recently observed the excitation of mechanical modes in an ultrahigh Q optical microcavity. Here, we present a detailed experimental analysis of this effect and demonstrate that radiation pressure is the excitation mechanism of the observed mechanical oscillations.     

Short-wave sectioned free-electron masers with Bragg resonators based on the traveling and quasi-critical wave coupling

We consider the possibility of implementation of a free-electron maser with a two-mirror resonator composed of modified and conventional Bragg mirrors, operated in the short-wave part of the millimeter-wave range. The use of a modified Bragg mirror based on the traveling and quasicritical wave coupling at the input of the interaction space permits the transverse-index selection of modes. Amplification of the synchronous co-propagating wave by an electron beam is reached mainly in the regular part of the resonator. Even slight reflections from the conventional output Bragg cavity, which directly couples the co- and counter-propagating traveling waves, turn out to be sufficient for generation of self-excited oscillations. It is shown that the new scheme of a free electron maser ensures the oscillation frequency stabilization with respect to the electron-energy variation. With the optimal choice of the parameters, the oscillation frequency is close to the cutoff frequency of a quasi-critical wave excited in the modified Bragg structure.     

Self oscillations of a bistable element in two coupled hybrid ring resonators

A CdS crystal showing thermally induced optical bistability is incorporated into two coupled hybrid ring resonators with different delay times. Both delay times are much longer than the relaxation time of the nonlinearity. The resulting self-oscillations are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. We find two different types of oscillation modes. If the crystal is on the lower branch of the bistability during the longer delay time, step like oscillations similar to the case of a single resonator occur. If the crystal is in the lower state onlh for the shorter delay time (also the shorter of the two delay times is much longer than the relaxation time) we find more complicated modes with plateaus and stairs because the long resonator acts as a memory for the system state before the switching process. We find complex mode locking structures exhibiting Farey-tree like transitions between different oscillation modes as well as mode coexistence. Based on an adiabatic theory we compute the regions of extstence of the different oscillation modes and compare them with experimental results.     

Coupled resonant modes in twisted acoustic metamaterials

Acoustic metamaterials constructed by resonant microelements in subwavelength scale were generally characterized by the effective medium approximation theory, which neglects the interaction between adjacent elements. In this paper, we show that twisting the orientation of resonators in acoustic metamaterials produces secondary coupled resonant modes by introducing internal vibration interaction. Metamaterials composed of a single-slit Helmholtz resonator arranged in two-dimensional square lattice are investigated. We rotate a portion of the resonator so that the adjacent resonators in a ??X direction have a twist angle of ??. For the system with ??=180^°, the coupling interaction produces the symmetric coupled mode in in-phase oscillation and the antisymmetric coupled mode in out-of-phase oscillation. This acoustic analog of ??hybridization effect?? leads to a sharp transparency window in the extended locally-resonant forbidden gap, which is analogous to the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency. Such coupled resonant modes may have potential applications in sound wave manipulations such as acoustic filtering and imaging.     

Effective mass in quantum effects of radiation pressure

We study the quantum effects of radiation pressure in a high-finesse cavity with a mirror coated on a mechanical resonator. We show that the optomechanical coupling can be described by an effective susceptibility which takes into account every acoustic modes of the resonator and their coupling to the light. At low frequency this effective response is similar to a harmonic response with an effective mass smaller than the total mass of the mirror. For a plano-convex resonator the effective mass is related to the light spot size and becomes very small for small optical waists, thus enhancing the quantum effects of optomechanical coupling.     

Nonadiabatic dynamics of two strongly coupled nanomechanical resonator modes

The Landau-Zener transition is a fundamental concept for dynamical quantum systems and has been studied in numerous fields of physics. Here, we present a classical mechanical model system exhibiting analogous behavior using two inversely tunable, strongly coupled modes of the same nanomechanical beam resonator. In the adiabatic limit, the anticrossing between the two modes is observed and the coupling strength extracted. Sweeping an initialized mode across the coupling region allows mapping of the progression from diabatic to adiabatic transitions as a function of the sweep rate.     

Full stabilization of a microresonator-based optical frequency comb

We demonstrate control and stabilization of an optical frequency comb generated by four-wave mixing in a monolithic microresonator with a mode spacing in the microwave regime (86 GHz). The comb parameters (mode spacing and offset frequency) are controlled via the power and the frequency of the pump laser, which constitutes one of the comb modes. Furthermore, generation of a microwave beat note at the comb's mode spacing frequency is demonstrated, enabling direct stabilization to a microwave frequency standard.     

Optomechanically Induced Mode Transition and Spectrum Enhancement in a Microresonator System

Optomechanics describes the interconnection between the terahertz optical field and mechanical microwave field, making it appealing in the context of nanophotonics and quantum information science. Here, the optomechanically induced mode transition and spectrum enhanced phenomenon in an optomechanical microcavity system are studied. An optical filter that is limited by the bandwidth of the mechanical mode is built. The analytical model is presented by considering a microresonator system which supports two electromagnetic modes and a single mechanical mode. Through the filtering of mechanical resonator, the optical spectral width becomes similar to the mechanical resonator bandwidth which can go beyond the limit of the cavity quality factor. It is found that the transition between the optomechanically induced transparency and the optomechanically induced absorption can be observed by tuning the coupling between the microresonator and the waveguide. Moreover, the controllable nonreciprocal excitation of the system can also be observed.     

Effects of mode coupling on the admittance of an AT-cut quartz thickness-shear resonator

We study the effects of couplings to flexure and face-shear modes on the admittance of an AT-cut quartz plate thickness-shear mode resonator. Mindlin’s two-dimensional equations for piezoelectric plates are employed. Electrically forced vibration solutions are obtained for three cases: pure thickness-shear mode alone; two coupled modes of thickness shear and flexure; and three coupled modes of thickness shear, flexure, and face shear. Admittance is calculated and its dependence on the driving frequency and the length/thickness ratio of the resonator is examined. Results show that near the thickness-shear resonance, admittance assumes maxima, and that for certain values of the length/thickness ratio, the coupling to flexure causes severe admittance drops, while the coupling to the face-shear mode causes additional admittance changes that were previously unknown and hence are not considered in current resonator design practice.     

Mode structure of hollow dielectric waveguide lasers

The mode structure of hollow dielectric waveguide lasers with free space sections and flat mirrors is studied theoretically and experimentally. The study covers the fundamental mode and the three most important higher order modes, and graphs are given which identify regions of high mode discrimination in the parameter space. Calculated coupling losses are verified experimentally by detailed studies of the output power of CO₂ lasers as a function of resonator geometry. The intensity profile inside and outside the resonator is calculated, and the profile outside the resonator is compared with experiments for the fundamental mode as well as for the higher order modes. It is shown that in general the fundamental mode is non-Gaussian, and that drastically different output characteristics are obtained for different choice of output plane. The paper identifies design criteria for obtaining single line and single mode oscillation over a wide tuning range, even in the densest region of the CO₂ laser line spectrum, and this is exemplified by a spectroscopic application.Supported by the Danish Science Research Councils under grants no. 5.17.4.6.19 and 5.17.4.1.23 and by FLS airloq     

Laser cooling of a nanomechanical resonator mode to its quantum ground state

We show that it is possible to cool a nanomechanical resonator mode to its ground state. The proposed technique is based on resonant laser excitation of a phonon sideband of an embedded quantum dot. The strength of the sideband coupling is determined directly by the difference between the electron-phonon couplings of the initial and final states of the quantum dot optical transition. Possible applications of this scheme include generation of nonclassical states of mechanical motion.     

Normal mode splitting and ground state cooling in a Fabry-Perot optical cavity and transmission line resonator

Optomechanical dynamics in two systems which are a transmission line resonator and Fabrya-Perot optical cavity via radiation-pressure are investigated by linearized quantum Langevin equation. We work in the resolved sideband regime where the oscillator resonance frequency exceeds the cavity linewidth. Normal mode splittings of the mechanical resonator as a pure result of the coupling interaction in the two optomechanical systems is studied, and we make a comparison of normal mode splitting of mechanical resonator between the two systems. In the optical cavity, the normal mode splitting of the movable mirror approaches the latest experiment very well. In addition, an approximation scheme is introduced to demonstrate the ground state cooling, and we make a comparison of cooling between the two systems dominated by two key factors, which are the initial bath temperature and the mechanical quality factor. Since both the normal mode splitting and cooling require working in the resolved sideband regime, whether the normal mode splitting influences the cooling of the mirror is considered. Considering the size of the mechanical resonator and precooling the system, the mechanical resonator in the transmission line resonator system is easier to achieve the ground state cooling than in optical cavity.     

Whispering-gallery modes in a barrel-shaped dielectric resonator

We experimentally study a new type of resonator, namely, a barrel-shaped dielectric resonator with whispering-gallery modes which is formed by the cutting dielectric hemisphere. Compared with a hemispherical dielectric resonator, the E type oscillation spectrum of such a resonator is rarefied with respect to the azimuthal index. Comparative analysis of the electromagnetic characteristics of the barrel-shaped dielectric resonator and half-disk dielectric resonators shows that the radiation losses of the mode energy from the spherical surface are smaller than those from the cylindrical surface. This fact stimulates the high values of the internal Q-factor of modes of the barrel-shaped dielectric resonator. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 12, pp. 1041–1048, December 2005.     

应用于气体传感器的具有铝/金电极的单模式两端对声表面波谐振器

为改善气体传感器性能,通过器件优化设计获得了一种应用于气体传感器的具有低损耗、高品质因子(Q)的单模式两端对声表面波(SAW)谐振器。该谐振器由两个换能器、分置于换能器两边的短路栅反射器以及在换能器之间分布的用于敏感膜镀膜的约2.5mm金属薄层构成。谐振器采用铝/金双层电极以降低测试气体环境的腐蚀影响。利用经典耦合模(COM)理论对器件性能进行了仿真以提取优化的结构设计参数。基于仿真结果,实验研制了基于300MHz频率的新型铝/金电极SAW两端对谐振器,测试结果显示所研制器件具有较低损耗(〈7dB),较高Q值(-3000)以及单一谐振模式的特点,并且,以所研制的新型谐振器为频率控制单元的谐振器型振荡器表现出良好的频率稳定度(t15Hz/h),这对于改善气体传感器的检测下限及稳定性等性能指标具有重要意义。      

Development of two-port surface acoustic wave resonator with Al/Au electrodes for gas sensing

Simple and efficient surface acoustic wave(SAW)two-port resonators with low insertion loss and high Q-values on ST-X quartz substrate using a corrosion-proof A1/Au-stripe electrode structure are developed for gas sensing.It was composed of two shorted grating reflectors and adjacent intedigital transducers(IDT),and an active metal film in the cavity between the IDTs for the sensitive film coating.The devices are expected to provide good protection towards metal electrode for gas sensors application in chemically reactive environments.Excellent device performance as low insertion loss,high Q factor and single-mode are achieved by carefully selecting the metallic electrode thickness,cavity length and acoustic aperture.Prior to fabrication,the coupling of modes(COM)model was performed for device simulation to determine the optimal design parameters.The fabricated single-mode SAW resonator at operation frequency of 300 MHz range exhibits matched insertion loss of~6.5 dB and loaded Q factor in the 3000 range.Using the fabricated resonator as the feedback element,a dualresonator-oscillator with excellent frequency stability(0.1 ppm)was developed and evaluated experimentally,and it is significant for performance improvement of SAW gas sensor.