Optimum transimpedance broadband optical preamplifier design

We consider in this paper the optimum design of a broadband transimpedance optical preamplifier which utilizes a GaAs MESFET first stage. An alternative configuration to the feedback cascode is suggested which offers significant improvement in the noise performance. This configuration employs a common-source FET first stage followed by a shunt feedback bipolar second stage.     

Low noise broadband modulated preamplifiers for a variety of transducers

Often, increases in signal-to-noise ratio and basic sensitivity are gained by the use of carrier modulation. Further advantage can be taken of this process by the use of varactors. These are suitably biased solid-state diodes and transistors, usually used to provide capacitance reactances. Their capacitance is changed by applying a voltage. The change in capacitance available by applying to their terminals the electrical output of a transducer—such as many of the sensors for light, heat, sound, mechanical stress and deformation—can be used in suitable modulating circuits. The magnitudes of reactance available from varactors fall conveniently into the range of values suitable for the carrier frequencies now accessible by means of another stable, mass produced solid-state device, the crystal clock oscillator.In general, the complexity of the carrier circuit to be chosen depends upon the sensitivity and noise floor requirements. This paper describes circuits for applying the modulation process, and discusses the hierarchy of choices for the methods used. The authors have built circuits with an input noise level equivalent to 0·3 μV for signals over the entire audiofrequency range, having a gain in excess of 50 dB.     

Enhanced broadband optical transmission in metallized woodpiles

We present an optimized isotropic metal deposition technique used for covering three-dimensional polymer structures with a 50 nm smooth silver layer. The technology allows fast and isotropic coating of complex 3D dielectric structures with thin silver layers. Transmission measurements of 3D metallized woodpiles reveal a new phenomenon of enhanced optical transmission in broadband range (up to 300 nm) in the near IR.     

Multistep quadratic cascading in broadband optical parametric generation

We theoretically and experimentally investigate multistep parametric processes in broadband optical parametric generators (OPGs) based on periodically poled 1 mol. % MgO-doped stoichiometric LiTaO3. We demonstrate that parametric collateral processes may deplete or enhance spectral portions of the OPG output, depending on pump pulse duration.     

Fabrication of broadband antireflection coatings using broadband optical monitoring mixed with time monitoring

Multi-layer optical coatings with complex spectrum requirements, such as multi-band pass filters, notch filters, and ultra-broadband antireflection coating, which usually contain very thin layers and sensitive layers, are difficult to be fabricated using a quartz crystal monitoring method or a single wavelength optical monitoring system(SWLOMS). In this paper, a broadband antireflection(AR) coating applied in the wavelength range from 800 nm to 1800 nm was designed and deposited by ion beam sputtering(IBS). Ta_2O_5 and Si O_2 were chosen as high and low refractive index coating materials,respectively. The optimized coating structure contains 9 non-quarter-wave(QW) layers totally with ultra-thin layers and sensitive layers in this coating stack. In order to obtain high transmittance, it is very important to realize the thickness accurate control on these thin layers and sensitive layers. A broadband optical monitoring mixed with time monitoring strategy was successfully used to control the layer thickness during the deposition process. At last, the measured transmittance of AR coating is quite close to the theoretical value. A 0.6% variation in short wavelength edge across the central 180 mm diameter is demonstrated. A spectrum shift of less than 0.5% for 2 continuous runs is also presented.     

Generation of broadband biphotons and their compression in an optical fiber

The generation of biphoton wave packets with a broad spectrum owing to quasi-phase-matched spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a crystal with an aperiodic poling has been considered. Biphotons at the exit of such a sample are not Fourier limited; i.e., their correlation time is much larger than the inverse width of the spectrum. It has been shown that if the inverse grating vector varies linearly along the sample length, the generated biphoton wave packets can be compressed in time by transmitting two-photon light through an optical fiber.     

Two-photon absorption and broadband optical limiting with bis-donor stilbenes

Large two-photon absorptivities are reported for symmetrical bis-donor stilbene derivatives with dialkylamino or diphenylamino groups. These molecules exhibit strong optical limiting of nanosecond pulses over a broad spectral range in the visible. Relative to bis(di-n-butylamino)stilbene, bis(diphenylamino)stilbene exhibits a 90-nm red shift of its optical limiting band but only a minimal shift of ~13 nm of its lowest one-photon electronic absorption band. Mixtures of these compounds offer an unprecedented combination of broad optical limiting bandwidth and high linear transparency.     

All-optical broadband variable optical attenuators and switches in plasmonic teeth waveguides

All-optical broadband variable optical attenuators (VOAs) and switches based on plasmonic teeth shaped waveguides have been proposed and numerically investigated. The Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulation results reveal that VOAs based on three teeth structure filled with CdSe-doped PMMA can continuously attenuate the power of a light beam from 3.7 dB to 39 dB within a broad forbidden band by an external control light. For wavelengths within the forbidden band, the structure can also operate as a switch with presence or absence of pumping light corresponding to on or off state. For a modulation depth of 27 dB, a relatively small variation in the absorption coefficient of CdSe QD-PMMA in side cavity (from κ = 0 to κ = 0.15) is enough.     

High-energy broadband four-wave optical parametric amplification in bulk fused silica

Efficient broadband four-wave optical parametric amplification in bulk Kerr medium (fused silica) is demonstrated by means of noncollinear phase matching and cylindrical focusing geometry without the onset of beam breakup and filamentation. Amplified signal energy as high as 180 microJ with 1 ps, 1.8 mJ pumping at 1,055 nm is achieved with pump-to-signal energy conversion close to 10%. More than 70 nm FWHM parametric gain bandwidth around 740 nm is demonstrated without imposing angular dispersion on the frequency components of the broadband seed signal.     

An error self-compensation mechanism for deposition of optical coatings with broadband optical monitoring

An error self-compensation mechanism is investigated for use during the deposition of optical coatings with broadband optical monitoring. The correlation of thickness errors caused by monitoring procedure is mathematically described. It is shown that this correlation of errors may result in the effect of selfcompensation of errors.     

Two-dimensional front dynamics and spatial solitons in a nonlinear optical system

Two-dimensional fronts and coarsening dynamics with a t{1/2} power law are analyzed experimentally and theoretically in a nonlinear optical system of a sodium vapor cell with single-mirror feedback. Modifications of the t{1/2} power law are observed in the vicinity of a modulational instability leading to the formation of spatial solitons of different sizes. The experimental and numerical observations give direct evidence for the locking of fronts as the mechanism of soliton formation. A phenomenological equation for the dynamics of the domain radius explains the observed behavior.     

Band structure and broadband compensation of absorption by amplification in layered optical metamaterials

The frequency dependence of the gain required to compensate for absorption is determined for a layered structure consisting of alternating absorbing and amplifying layers. It is shown that the fulfillment of the same conditions is required for the existence of a band structure consisting of alternating bands allowed and forbidden for optical radiation propagation in the frequency-wave vector parametric region. Conditions are found under which the gain required for compensation is smaller than thresholds for absolute (parasitic lasing) and convective (waveguide amplification of radiation) instabilities.     

Synthesis of broadband and flat parametric gain by idler loss in optical fiber

Besides dispersion engineering, idler-band distributed fiber loss provides a new synthesis freedom to flatten and broaden the gain spectrum for a fiber-optic parametric amplifier. This interesting phenomenon is based on the fact that the power balance between signal and idler is broken by idler loss, which changes the power conversion process in four-wave-mixing. The pump-to-signal conversion efficiency is kept unchanged in spite of the loss.     

Suppressing chromatic dispersion fluctuation for broadband optical parametric gain in highly nonlinear tellurite microstructured optical fibers

Optical Review - We investigate the effect of chromatic dispersion fluctuation on the performance of fiber optical parametric amplification (FOPA) using tellurite hybrid microstructured optical...     

All-optical microwave bandpass filter and phase shifter using a broadband optical source and an optical phase modulator

We propose a system that can perform microwave bandpass filtering and phase shifting simultaneously without redundant optical-electrical and electrical-optical conversions. The principle is based on polarization-dependant phase modulation of a broadband optical source and the variable optical carrier time shift method. A single-bandpass microwave photonic filter with a central frequency of 10.8 GHz, a 3-dB bandwidth of 670 MHz, and a 360° phase tuning range is experimentally demonstrated. The capability of our configuration to implement wideband phase shifters is also verified.     

Theoretical study of broadband near-field optical spectrum of twisted bilayer graphene

We theoretically study the broadband near-field optical spectrum of twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) at various twist angles near the magic angle using two different models. The spectrum at low Fermi energy is characterized by a series of peaks that are almost at the same energies as the peaks in the far-field optical conductivity of TBG. When the Fermi energy is near a van Hove singularity, an additional strong peak appears at finite energy in the near-field spectrum, which has no counterpart in the optical conductivity. Based on a detailed calculation of the plasmon dispersion, we show that these spectroscopic features are associated with interband and intraband plasmons, which can provide critical information about the local band structure and plasmonic excitations in TBG. The near-field peaks evolve systematically with the twist angle, so they can serve as fingerprints for identifying the spatial dependent twist angle in TBG samples. Our findings pave the way for future experimental studies of the novel optical properties of TBG in the nanoscale.     

Ultrafast and broadband frequency chirp signal generation using a high-extinction-ratio optical modulator

We successfully demonstrate ultrafast frequency sweep signal generation using the double-sideband suppressed carrier modulation technique with a high-extinction-ratio optical modulator that helps realize clear signals with no filters. The resultant sweep rate was achieved at 3.67 × 10(16) Hz/s with an extinction ratio above 25 dB, which corresponds to a bandwidth of 11 GHz with a pulse duration of 300 ns.     

Novel effects in extremely broadband semiconductor optical amplifiers with non-identical quantum wells

An extremely broad emission spectrum is obtained for semiconductor optical amplifiers with multiple quantum wells fabricated on the substrate. The spectral width is nearly 400 nm (1200–1600 nm), which covers the entire usable bandwidth of an optical fiber. Broadband characteristics allow observing three novel effects: (i) the bi-directional guided effect of lasing mode in a bent waveguide of semiconductor optical amplifiers, (ii) the optical switching effect in one semiconductor optical amplifier for optical communication band, and (iii) the effect of separate confinement heterostructure layer thickness.