All-Optical Switching Based on Azo Polymer Material

Conventional all-optical switches based on azo polymer films and the all-optical switches based on the attenuated total reflection （ATR） geometry are investigated. A conventional switch system, including a pump beam of 532 nm and a probe beam of 650 nm, is based on the photoinduced birefringence effect of azo polymer. An ATR switch in a prism-multilayer configuration is achieved by changing the reflectance of the probe beam with an external pump beam. The ATR method provides the substantial improvement of the speed and the efficiency of the modulation over the conventional method. Although the azo polymer response still remains relatively slow, an enhanced nonlinear refractive index of the azo polymer film can effectively increase the modulation.     

All-optical Boolean logic gate using azo-dye doped polymer film

Methyl orange is an excellent nonlinear optical material. Both ordinary intense modulation holograph and the polarization holograph can be recorded in the methyl orange-polyvinyl alcohol (MO-PVA) film. The polarization state relationship among two writing beams, reading beam, and diffraction beam can be used for construction all-optical Boolean logic gate.     

All-optical image switch based on bacteriorhodopsin film

While two waves are coupled in bacteriorhodopsin (bR) film, a beam of incident light carrying the image is transferred to two diffraction beams whose intensities can increase from zero to a maximum and then decrease to a stable value with the increase of the writing time. Based on the relation among the polarization states of image in a recording beam and diffraction beams, we have proposed and demonstrated the all-optical image transfer switch which depends on the effective time and has the function that within the effective time, a polarization state image is automatically transferred to two images whose polarization states are perpendicular, and the transfer stops automatically beyond the effective time. A time-dependent all-optical image switch with muti-outputs is implemented.     

Controlling light by light with three-level atoms inside an optical cavity

We present our experimental demonstration of controlling the cavity output intensity of one laser beam with the intensity of another laser beam in a composite system consisting of a collection of three-level ?-type rubidium atoms and an optical ring cavity. When the intensity of the controlling beam is modulated with a square waveform, the cavity output power switches on and off (with a distinction ratio better than 20:1) between two steady-state values. This all-optical switching effect is the result of combined absorption and enhanced Kerr nonlinearity near resonance in such three-level atomic systems because of atomic coherence and can find applications in optical communication and optical computation.     

掺杂浓度与溶剂对偶氮聚合物薄膜全光开关

用重复旋转涂膜法制备了乙基红(ER)偶氮染料与聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)掺杂聚合物薄膜和乙基橙(EO)与聚乙烯醇(PVA)掺杂聚合物薄膜.测量了两种聚合物薄膜样品全光开关特性,比较分析了薄膜样品的掺杂浓度和溶剂对全光开关效应的影响,实验结果表明:增加掺杂浓度和溶剂,极性薄膜样品的全光开关效应增强且开关的本底信号增大,但对开关的响应速度影响很小;选择合适的掺杂浓度和强极性溶剂,在室温和几个mW的弱功率控制光条件下聚合物薄膜具有毫秒级开关响应时间和40%以上的开关调制深度,最大的调制深度达72%以上.     

All-Optical Bistabilities in Reflection and Luminescence of Thin ZnSe Films

First reports of absorptive all-optical bistabilities in reflectance and luminescence of a Fabry-Perot cavity consisting of thin (0.70 μm) ZnSe film are presented. We demonstrate that the observation of bistability in the reflected beam does not require necessarily the appearance of bistability in the transmitted beam. Luminescence bistabilities, however, are observed both in the light captured from the incident side of the film and in the light emitted from the transmission side. The bistabilities in reflection and luminescence are explained quite satisfactorily by the principle of increasing absorption due to photo-irradiation and the dependence of the luminescence intensity on a photo-thermally induced temperature change, respectively. All experiments were carried out at room temperature with the 488 nm line of an argon laser.     

All optical switching in henna thin film

The optical nonlinearity in henna (Lawson (2- hydroxyl-1,4 naphthoquinone) film was utilized to demonstrate all optical switching. The nonlinear absorption of the henna film was calculated by measuring the transmission of the laser beam (λ = 488 nm) as a function of incident light intensities. The observed nonlinear absorption is attributed to a two-photon absorption process. The pump and probe technique was used to demonstrate all optical switching. The switching characteristics can be utilized to generate all-optical logic gates such as simple inverter switches (NOT) NOR, AND NAND logic functions.     

All-optical realization of an atom laser

We demonstrate an atom laser using all-optical techniques. A Bose-Einstein condensate of rubidium atoms is created by direct evaporative cooling in a quasistatic dipole trap realized with a single, tightly focused CO2-laser beam. An applied magnetic field gradient allows the formation of the condensate in a field-insensitive m(F)=0 spin projection only, which suppresses fluctuations of the chemical potential from stray magnetic fields. A collimated and monoenergetic beam of atoms is extracted from the Bose-Einstein condensate by continuously lowering the dipole trapping potential in a controlled way to form a novel type of atom laser.     

All-optical logic gates and a half-adder based on lithium niobate photonic crystal micro-cavities

All-optical logic gates including AND, XOR, and NOT gates, as well as a half-adder, are realized based on twodimensional lithium niobate photonic crystal(PhC) circuits with Ph C micro-cavities. The proposed all-optical devices have an extinction ratio as high as 23 dB due to the effective all-optical switch function induced by twomissing-hole micro-cavities. These proposed devices can have potential implementation of complex integrated optical functionalities including all-optical computing in a lithium niobate slab or thin film.     

All-optical display using photoinduced anisotropy in a bacteriorhodopsin film

Photoinduced anisotropy in a bacteriorhodopsin film using the pump-probe method was investigated. A diode-pumped second-harmonic YAG laser was used as the pump beam, and three wavelengths, at lambda = 442, 532, 655 nm, from different lasers were used as probe beams. Without the pump beam, the probe light cannot transmit the analyzer to the detector. However, because of photoinduced anisotropy, a portion of the probe light is detected when the pump beam is present. Based on this property, we demonstrate a full-color all-optical display.     

Photoinduced Birefringence and Broadband All-Optical Photonic Switch in a Bacteriorhodopsin/Polymer Composite Film

Photoinduced birefringence with large optical nonlinearity in a bacteriorhodopsin/polymer composite film is observed. A high refractive index change of 8.5×10^-5 photoinduced by 476nm pumping beam is reached at the low intensity of 6.5mW/cm². Based on it, a broadband all-optical photonicswitch is realized with an optical controlling switch system. Because of controlling beam's selectivity in switching, the transporting beams of different wavelengths with different intensities and shapes can be modulated by adjusting the wavelength and intensity of the controlling beam.     

金属-光折变材料复合全息结构对表面等离激元的波前调控

表面等离激元(surface plasmon polaritons, SPPs)控制具有重要意义.表面电磁波全息法是在金属表面设计能有效控制SPP传输的凹槽阵列结构.本文提出一种新的SPP传输的控制方法,利用金属-光折变材料复合全息结构控制SPP传播.在金属表面覆盖一层光折变材料,两束SPP波在光折变材料内干涉生成全息结构,利用此全息结构能够控制SPP的传播.通过时域有限差分法模拟验证,结果显示,通过金属-光折变材料复合全息结构可以有效地控制SPP波束的传输,实现SPP平面波束的单点聚焦、两点聚焦,以及生成零阶和一阶高斯SPP波束.经过优化发现,光折变材料的最佳厚度为3.3μm,最佳折射率调制度为0.06.现有SPP控制器件主要是通过离子束刻蚀,而金属-光折变材料复合全息结构不需要刻蚀,从而扩展了SPP控制的器件的制作方法,为SPPs的全光控制提供了新的思路,使SPP全光控制成为可能,进一步实现了SPP全光开关等功能.     

Optically induced mode conversion in graded-index fibers using ultra-short laser pulses

We propose the use of graded-index few-mode fibers for mode conversion by long-period gratings (LPG) transiently written by ultrashort laser pulses using the optical Kerr effect. The mode interaction is studied by numerically solving the multi-mode coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. We present highly efficient conversion of the LP₀₁- into the LP₁₁-mode preserving the pulse shape in contrast to previous results in step-index fibers. Furthermore, mode conversion using different wavelengths for inducing and probing the LPG is shown. Due to the flat phase-matching curve of the examined modes in the graded-index fiber, mode conversion can be observed for probe center wavelengths of 1,100 nm up to 1,800 nm with a write beam centered around 1,030 nm. Therefore, a complete separation of the probe from the write beam should be possible as well as the application of optically induced guided-mode conversion for all-optical modulation across a broad wavelength range.     

Passive combination of multiple beams in an optical fiber via stimulated Brillouin scattering

We demonstrate passive combination of multiple beams in an optical fiber via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Four off-axis beams are combined in a long multimode optical fiber using a novel all-optical mount. The combined beam has the high spatial coherence properties of the LP(01) mode owing to the beam cleanup properties of SBS. The threshold for SBS when off-axis pumps are used is shown to be a factor of 13 times higher than for on-axis pump beams. We propose this method would improve the brightness of an array of fiber amplifiers.     

Study on all-optical switching characteristics of ethyl orange-doped polymer film

The all-optical switching polymer thin films with azobenzene dye ethyl orange as the guest material and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the host material were prepared by adulteration and spin-coating methods. The all-optical switching characteristics of the samples were measured at different intensities and modulation frequencies of the pump beam (532 nm, CW); the influence of doping concentration on the all-optical switching effect of the films was studied. It is shown that, under room temperature conditions and with a low pump power of 6 mW, the all-optical switch has a response time of about 2 ms and a modulation depth of 45%, and the maximal modulation depth reaches 90%. In addition, it is found that samples with higher doping concentration show a stronger all-optical switching effect but a larger background signal, and good switching performance is obtained by choosing the doping concentrations from 0.8% to 2% of the sample.     

Improvement of all-optical switching performance based on azo dye-doped polymer film using two cross-linearly polarized pump beams

We propose a method for improving the characteristics of all-optical switching based on azo dye-doped polymers. Using alternately two cross-linearly polarized beams (532 nm, continuous light wave (CW)) to pump azo dye–ethyl red (ER) doped polymer methyl methacrylate (PMMA) film, the modulation depth of the all-optical switching reached 96% at the pump powers of 4.8 mW and 1.6 mW and the modulation frequency of 1000 Hz. For comparison, we used respectively the single linearly polarized beam (4.8 mW) and the alternately linear–circular polarized beams (4.8 mW and 1.6 mW) to pump the film at the modulation frequency of 1000 Hz, the obtained modulation depths of the all-optical switching were 36% and 45.8%, respectively. Furthermore, the experimental measurement and analysis showed that the turn off speed of the all-optical switching could be obviously increased by use of our pump method.     

双光子吸收对光子晶体定向耦合全光开关的影响

 利用时域有限差分方法,在非线性条件下,考虑双光子吸收效应的同时,建立了分析2维光子晶体定向耦合波导光开关的模型。数值计算结果表明,对于长度较短的波导耦合器件,在强控制光和非线性条件下,双光子吸收效应会对波导的耦合作用产生一定的影响,从而改变入射光的透射特性,使光开关控制的动态过程发生变化。故而在设计全光开关器件时,对强控制光条件下的非线性双光子吸收效应有必要作为影响因素考虑进去。     

An all-optical time-delay relay based on a bacteriorhodopsin film

Using a special property of dynamic complementary-suppression-modulated transmission （DCSMT） in the bacteriorhodopsin （bR） film, we have demonstrated an all-optical time-delay relay. To extend our work, the relationship between the delay time of the all-optical time-delay relay and parameters of a bR film is numerically studied. We show how the delay time changes with the product of concentration and thickness （PCT） of a bR film. Furthermore, the shortest and longest delay times are given for the relay of ＇switch off. The saturable delay time and maximum delaytime of ＇switch on＇ are also given. How the wavelengths （632.8, 568, 533 and 412 nm） and intensities of the illuminating light influence the delay time is also discussed. The simulation results are useful for optimizing the design of all-optical time-delay relays.     

双光子吸收对光子晶体定向耦合全光开关的影响

利用时域有限差分方法,在非线性条件下,考虑双光子吸收效应的同时,建立了分析2维光子晶体定向耦合波导光开关的模型。数值计算结果表明,对于长度较短的波导耦合器件,在强控制光和非线性条件下,双光子吸收效应会对波导的耦合作用产生一定的影响,从而改变入射光的透射特性,使光开关控制的动态过程发生变化。故而在设计全光开关器件时,对强控制光条件下的非线性双光子吸收效应有必要作为影响因素考虑进去。     

Photonic switching in GaAlAs optical strip waveguides by photo-induced electroabsorption

GaAlAs strip waveguides embedded in unbiased pn-junctions are employed for all-optical switching. The underlying physical mechanism is a combination of the photovoltaic effect and the conventional Franz-Keldysh effect, thus it is called the photo-induced Franz-Keldysh effect or photo-induced electroabsorption. Experimental as well as theoretical results are given and show good agreement. In the experiments the transmitted light power of a probe beam is switched by 3 dB due to an injected control beam at input light power levels of about 0.5 mW each. The dynamics of this all-optical switch is limited by RC time constants.