Dynamic Mach–Zehnder interferometer based on a Michelson configuration and a cube beam splitter system

We developed simultaneous phase-shifting system based on a Mach–Zehnder interferometer and a replicating system integrated by a Michelson configuration and a cube beam splitter. The system is capable to obtain four simultaneous interferograms in a single capture, and the phase shifts are controlled by placing a linear polarizer in each replica obtained. The system retrieves four interferograms with a relative phase shift of π/2 and the optical phase map is calculated using the four-step algorithm. In addition, the configuration presents potential capabilities for generating spiral interference patterns. To show the advantage of the technique, experimental results are presented for static and dynamic samples.

     

Creating λ /3 focal holes with a Mach–Zehnder interferometer

We report the formation of doughnut-shaped focal intensity distributions with hole diameters of /3.3=232 nm full-width-at-half-maximum. The doughnut shape is created by illuminating a high-numerical-aperture lens with the output of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, in which half of the wavefront in each arm is phase retarded by . The focal intensities are probed with a point-like scatterer and compared with the predictions of a vectorial focusing theory. The orientation of the phase-discontinuity line with respect to the electric field determines whether a strong longitudinal or a vanishing electric field is produced at the focal point. Conditions are given for creating high-contrast focal holes at the sub-micron scale. PACS 42.25.-p; 42.30.-d; 42.79.-e     

Temporal and spatial evolution of air-spark switch plasma investigated by the Mach–Zehnder interferometer

An air-spark switch plasma was diagnosed by the Mach–Zehnder laser interferometer with ultra-high spatial and temporal resolution. The interferograms containing plasma phase shift information at different time were obtained. The phase shift distributions of the plasma were extracted by numerically processing the interferograms. The three-dimensional(3 D) electron density distributions of the air-spark switch plasma were then obtained. The working process of the air-spark switch was described by analyzing the temporal and spatial evolution of the plasma electron density.     

High extinction ratio multiplexer/demultiplexer with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a fiber loop mirror

A novel structure of high extinction ratio multiplexer/demultiplexer with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and a fiber loop mirror (FLM) is proposed. The experimental results show that the extinction ratio can be enhanced about two times in comparison with the conventional MZI.     

Ultrafast all-optical demultiplexer based on monolithic Mach–Zehnder interferometer with integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers

A monolithically integrated and fully packaged Mach–Zehnder interferometer with semiconductor optical amplifiers (MZI-SOA) is demonstrated as polarisation-independent high-speed demultiplexer for up to 160 Gbit/s optical time division multiplexed (OTDM) data streams.     

Using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer to deduce nitrogen density mapping

This work presents an optical method using the Mach–Zehnder interferometer. We especially diagnose a pure nitrogen gas subjected to a point to plane corona discharge, and visualize the density spatial map. The interelectrode distance equals6 mm and the variation of the optical path has been measured at different pressures: 220 Torr, 400 Torr, and 760 Torr.The interferograms are recorded with a CCD camera, and the numerical analysis of these interferograms is assured by the inverse Abel transformation. The nitrogen density is extracted through the Gladstone–Dale relation. The obtained results are in close agreement with values available in the literature.     

Compact silicon-on-insulator-based 2 × 2 Mach–Zehnder interferometer electro-optic switch with low crosstalk

We report a compact 2 × 2 Mach–Zehnder interferometer(MZI) electro-optic switch fabricated on a siliconon-insulator using standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS) processes. With a short modulation arm length of 200 μm, the crosstalk is reduced to-22 d B by the new modulation scheme of push–pull modulation with a pre-biased π∕2 phase shift. The new modulation scheme can also work with a fast switching time of about 5.4 ns.     

Mach–Zehnder interferometer with squeezed and EPR entangled optical fields

We study a scheme for Mach-Zehnder(MZ) interferometer as a quantum linear device by injecting two-mode squeezed input states into two ports of interferometer.Two-mode squeezed states can be changed into two types of inputs for MZ interferometer:two squeezed states and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen(EPR) entangled states.The interference patterns of the MZ interferometer vary periodically as the relative phase of the two arms of the interferometer is scanned,and are measured by the balanced homodyne detection system.Our experiments show that there are different interference patterns and periodicity of the output quantum states for two cases which depend on the relative phase of input optical fields.Since MZ interferometer can be used to realize some quantum operations,this work will have the important applications in quantum information and metrology.     

Multi-ion Mach–Zehnder interferometer with artificial nonlinear interactions

We propose a method to implement a Mach-Zehnder interferometry based upon a string of trapped ions with artificial nonlinear interactions. By manipulating the coupling strength between two involved internal states of the ions, we could achieve the beam splitting/recombination with NOON states. Using current techniques for manipulating trapped ions, we discuss the experimental feasibility of our scheme and analyze some undesired uncertainty under realistic experimental environment.     

Fabrication and characterization on an organic/inorganic 2 × 2 Mach–Zehnder interferometer thermo-optic switch

An organic/inorganic hybrid 2 × 2 directional coupler (DC) Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) thermo-optic (TO) switch was successfully designed and fabricated using simple direct ultraviolet photolithography process. The hybrid organic/inorganic waveguide structure includes poly-methyl-methacrylate-glycidyl-methacrylate (P(MMA-GMA)), SU-8 2005 and silica as core, upper cladding and under cladding, respectively. Device optimization and simulation were performed to decrease radiation loss and leakage loss, quicken response time and cut down power consumption. Measurements of the fabricated devices at 1550 nm wavelength result in a switching power of 7.2 mW, a response time of ∼100 μs, and crosstalk of −22.8 and −26.5 dB under cross state and bar state, respectively. Besides, the driving-noise-tolerance characteristics of this device were experimentally investigated by directly imposing a generated tunable noise on the pure driving signal (4 V_pp) and the minimum extinction ratio is larger than 18 dB under a noise level of 2.5 V_pp. The effect of noise on extinction ratio was found decreased with the increase of noise frequency.     

Polarization insensitive thermally tunable add/drop multiplexer using cascaded Mach–Zehnder coupler

In this paper, a thermally tunable add/drop multiplexer based on a Y symmetric cascaded Mach–Zehnder (CMZ) coupler is found to be polarization dependent due to the stress anisotropy caused by local heating to achieve thermooptic phase change. A thermooptic delay line structure with a stress releasing groove is proposed for reduction of the polarization dependence of a Y symmetric delay line coupler of high index contrast waveguides. It is seen that thermally tunable transmission characteristics of a Y symmetric CMZ device based on the proposed structure is almost polarization independent. It is also found that the reduction of the heating power in the proposed structure is ∼1.6 times smaller than that of the conventional structure. PACS  29.27.Fh; 52.38.Kd     

A simple humidity sensor utilizing air-gap as sensing part of the Mach–Zehnder interferometer

A simple high-resolution refractive index (RI) and phase sensor has been demonstrated and the results numerically verified. A free space gap is employed in one arm of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) to serve as the sensing mechanism with a physical spacing of 1.4 mm. The propagation constant of transmitted light in the MZI’s gap changes due to the small variation in the ambient RI that will further shift the optical phase of the signal. A free space optical delay line is embedded within the MZI’s other arm to set the phase reference point and compensate for variations in the optical phase difference. The ambient RI is computed by measuring the phase shift in the transmission spectrum A high-resolution sensing of 0.8 pm/%RH corresponds to phase change of 0.012°/%RH has been achieved in 1520 nm.     

Signal amplification based on the local nonlinear Mach–Zehnder interferometer

Using the phase modulation of spatial solitons, a new scheme for all-optical signal amplification has been proposed in this paper. The considered structure is composed of the nonlinear Mach–Zehnder interferometer (NMZI) with the straight control waveguide (CWG), the uniform nonlinear medium (NLM) and the linear output waveguide. The local NMZI functions like a phase shifter. The light-induced index changes in the local nonlinear MZI are responsible for the input beam routing in the uniform nonlinear medium. The coupling of the input beam to the output waveguide depends on its propagation direction in the NLM. It is shown that the signal launched at CWG can deflect the beam launched at the NMZI (input beam) and a modulated (amplified) output could be obtained at the output waveguide. Further, signal pulse may be reshaped by appropriately increasing the NLM length. In addition, amplification factor may be enhanced by increasing the NLM length and injecting an appropriate continuous wave beam along with the signal beam at CWG.     

All-solid multi-core fiber-based multipath Mach–Zehnder interferometer for temperature sensing

A novel multipath Mach–Zehnder interferometer (m-MZI) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated, which is fabricated by fusion splicing a segment of all-solid multi-core fiber (MCF) between two sections of single mode fiber-28 with a well-controlled lateral offset at the splice points. Beam propagation method-based simulation results demonstrated light passing throw MCF from multiple paths. Experiments with different lengths of MCF were implemented to investigate our proposed m-MZI’s response to temperature and strain. Compared with previously reported optical fiber modal interferometers, higher phase sensitivity can be obtained in our scheme due to the multipath interference configuration embedded in one fiber. A very high temperature sensitivity of 130.6 pm/°C has been achieved, and the maximum strain sensitivity is less than 0.284 pm/με in all experiments. A record low strain-to-temperature cross-sensitivity of 6.2 × 10^?4 °C/με has been realized, and it shows great significance of this in-fiber integrated multipath Mach–Zehnder interferometer in practical temperature sensing applications.     

In-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer based on multi-mode fiber and up-taper for curvature sensing

A new type of curvature sensor comprises a stub of multi-mode fiber and an up-taper is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The whole fabrication process is quite simple and the sensor head is cost effective. Measurement results show that it has a maximum curvature sensitivity of −61.877 nm/m⁻¹ at 1.1718 m⁻¹ (the highest value of reported papers among in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometers) and −9.2115 nm/m⁻¹ from 0.865 m⁻¹ to 1.1172 m⁻¹. Temperature sensitivity of 89.01 pm/°C within the range of 20–80 °C has also been achieved, which implies the possibility for measurement of temperature.     

Photon wave function formalism for analysis of Mach–Zehnder interferometer and sum-frequency generation

Biakynicki-Birula introduced a photon wave function similar to the matter wave function that satisfies the Schrödinger equation. Its second quantization form can be applied to investigate nonlinear optics at nearly full quantum level. In this paper, we applied the photon wave function formalism to analyze both linear optical processes in the well-known Mach–Zehnder interferometer and nonlinear optical processes for sum-frequency generation in dispersive and lossless medium. Results by photon wave function formalism agree with the well-established Maxwell treatments and existing experimental verifications.     

An all-optical switch of Mach－Zehnder interferometer type using an active fibre ring resonator

We propose an all-optical switch of the Mach－Zehnder interferometer type using an active nonlinear ring resonator and analyse the significance of the parameter A, a product of gain and total loss, for performing an ideal 1 by 2 switch. We found that in the range of 1-κ≤A≤\sqrt{1-κ}, the increment of A can compensate the losses inside the ring, therefore increase the finesse of the ring and enhance the nonlinearity contribution to reduce the switching power threshold effectively. We also emphasize the importance of the initial switching point and discuss the feasibility of utilizing a high-nonlinear fibre in the ring.     

All-fiber intermodal Mach–Zehnder interferometer based on a long-period fiber grating combined with a fiber bitaper

We report a novel all-fiber narrow-bandwidth intermodal Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based on a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) combined with a fiber bitaper, and the MZI has no special limit for the resonant wavelength of the LPFG. Its responses to temperature and axial strain are studied theoretically and experimentally. Experimental results indicate that the temperature sensitivity is 0.0585 nm/°C within the temperature range from 30 °C to 90 °C and the axial strain sensitivity of 0.00013 nm/με can be neglected. Furthermore, as only the common single-mode fiber (SMF) is required during the fabrication process, the proposed device is cost effective and has good practicability in the optical sensing systems.     

Stable multi-wavelength thulium-doped fiber laser based on all-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a multi-wavelength thulium-doped fiber（TDF） laser based on all-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer（MZI） at 1.9 mm. Here a segment of 4 m single-mode TDF is pumped by 1568 nm fiber laser for 2 mm band optical gain. The MZI includes two cascaded 3 d B coupler. A segment of 3.5 m long un-pumped polarization-maintaining TDF and polarization controller（PC） are joined in the ring cavity to suppress the mode competition. Multi-wavelength lasers at 1.9 mm with wavelength number from one to four are obtained by adjusting the PC and the stability of output power of multi-wavelength fiber laser is analyzed.     

Phase precision of Mach–Zehnder interferometer in PM2.5 air pollution

This paper theoretically explores the effect of PM2.5 air pollution on the phase precision of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. With the increasing of PM2.5 concentration, phase precision for inputs of coherent state vacuum state and inputs of coherent state squeezed vacuum state will gradually decrease and be lower than the standard quantum limit.When the value of relative humidity is increasing, the precision of two input cases is decreasing much faster. We also find that the precision for inputs of coherent state squeezed state is better than that of coherent state vacuum state when PM2.5 concentration is lower. As PM2.5 concentration increases, the precision for inputs of coherent state squeezed state decreases faster, and then the two precisions tend to be the same while the concentration is higher.