Simultaneous demodulation and slow light of differential phase-shift keying signals using stimulated-Brillouin-scattering-based optical filtering in fiber

For the first time to our knowledge, we demonstrate simultaneous demodulation and slow-light delay of differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) signals at flexible bit rates using the stimulated-Brillouin-scattering-based optical filtering effect in optical fiber. Both 10 and 2.5 Gbit/s DPSK signals have been demodulated and delayed with excellent performances. In the case of the 10 Gbit/s DPSK signal, after demodulation the tunable delay range with error-free operation is about 50 ps, which we believe is the best result obtained for 10 Gbit/s slow-light demonstrations. For the 2.5 Gbit/s DPSK signal, the optimal sensitivity after demodulation is -36.5 dBm, which is comparable with the back-to-back sensitivity of a 2.5 Gbit/s nonreturn-to-zero signal.     

Slow light in molecular-aggregate nanofilms

We study slow-light performance of molecular aggregates arranged in nanofilms by means of coherent population oscillations. The molecular cooperative behavior inside the aggregate enhances the delay of input signals in the gigahertz range in comparison with other coherent population oscillation-based devices. Moreover, the problem of residual absorption present in coherent population oscillation processes is removed. We also propose an optical switch between different delays by exploiting the optical bistability of these aggregates.     

Slow-light fourier transform interferometer

We describe a new type of Fourier transform (FT) interferometer in which the tunable optical delay between the two arms is realized by using a continuously variable slow-light medium instead of a moving arm as in a conventional setup. The spectral resolution of such a FT interferometer exceeds that of a conventional setup of comparable size by a factor equal to the maximum group index of the slow-light medium. The scheme is experimentally demonstrated by using a rubidium atomic vapor cell as the tunable slow-light medium, and the spectral resolution is enhanced by a factor of approximately 100.     

Time delay enhancement in stimulated-Brillouin-scattering-based slow-light systems

We show a simple method of time delay enhancement in slow-light systems based on the effect of stimulated Brillouin scattering. The method is based on the reduction of the absolute Brillouin gain by a loss produced by an additional pump laser. With this method we achieved pulse delays of nearly 100 ns in a standard single-mode fiber. In the presented approach the delay or acceleration of optical signals is decoupled from their amplification or attenuation, which allows the adaptation of the pulse amplitudes to the given application.     

Multi-frequency switch and excellent slow light based on tunable triple plasmon-induced transparency in bilayer graphene metamaterial∗

We propose a novel bilayer graphene terahertz metamaterial composed of double graphene ribbons and double graphene rings to excite a dynamically adjustable triple plasma-induced transparency (PIT) effect. The coupled mode theory (CMT) is used to explain the PIT phenomenon, and the results of the CMT and the finite-difference time-domain simulation show high matching degree. By adjusting the Fermi levels of graphene, we have realized a penta-frequency asynchronous optical switch. The performance of this switch, which is mainly manifested in the maximum modulation depth (MD = 99.97%) and the minimum insertion loss (IL = 0.33 dB), is excellent. In addition, we have studied the slow-light effect of this triple-PIT and found that when the Fermi level of graphene reaches 1.2 eV, the time delay can reach 0.848 ps. Therefore, this metamaterial provides a foundation for the research of multi-frequency optical switches and excellent slow-light devices in the terahertz band.     

Slow-light delay enhancement in small-core pure silica photonic crystal fiber based on Brillouin scattering

We demonstrate that we realize large-delay slow light based on stimulated Brillouin scattering in a short length of our fabricated small-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The cavity effect from the partially reflective splices in the end of the PCF enhances slow-light delay significantly. Our experiments show that large slow-light delay can be easily realized in a very short length of the PCF with a moderate pump power. Up to a one-half pulse-width delay is achieved in only 50 m of PCF in a single pump segment.     

Delay-gain decoupling in Brillouin-assisted slow light

In Brillouin-assisted slow-light the induced delay is always linked to a particular gain; i.e., the delay is directly proportional to the gain expressed in decibels. However, for certain applications this may be restrictive, and techniques to decouple gain and delay are thus of considerable practical interest. We propose a way to effectively decouple these two parameters that, subject to inherent physical constraints, can be used to obtain a delay line capable of providing arbitrary gain (or alternatively an amplifier that can provide arbitrary delay for a fixed gain). The decoupling mechanism relies upon operating the amplifier in the pump-depletion regime. Other advantages of this approach, as well as its limitations in the context of slow-light, are discussed.     

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals is theoretically studied. Using a scattering-matrix approach and the Wigner–Smith delay time concept, we show that optical absorbance benefits both from slow-light phenomena as well as a high filling factor of the energy residing in the liquid. Utilizing strongly dispersive photonic crystal structures, we numerically demonstrate how liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals facilitate enhanced light–matter interactions, by potentially up to an order of magnitude. The proposed concept provides strong opportunities for improving existing miniaturized absorbance cells for optical detection in lab-on-a-chip systems.     

Tunable all-optical delays via Brillouin slow light in an optical fiber

We demonstrate a technique for generating tunable all-optical delays in room temperature single-mode optical fibers at telecommunication wavelengths using the stimulated Brillouin scattering process. This technique makes use of the rapid variation of the refractive index that occurs in the vicinity of the Brillouin gain feature. The wavelength at which the induced delay occurs is broadly tunable by controlling the wavelength of the laser pumping the process, and the magnitude of the delay can be tuned continuously by as much as 25 ns by adjusting the intensity of the pump field. The technique can be applied to pulses as short as 15 ns. This scheme represents an important first step towards implementing slow-light techniques for various applications including buffering in telecommunication systems.     

Expansion of the relative time delay by switching between slow and fast light using coherent population oscillation with semiconductors

The slow-light effect based on free-carrier population oscillation in semiconductors is analyzed using generalized macroscopic Bloch equations. Using this model, we are able to investigate the relation between the fractional time delay and the intensity of control laser beams for semiconductors. It is found that although increasing the control-beam intensity can enlarge the fractional time delay, the maximum delay that can be achieved is limited and determined by a critical value of the separation between the quasi-Fermi levels of electrons and holes. We also show that there is an intensity threshold for the control beam above which the probe signal becomes gain-assisted fast light rather than slow light. We therefore suggest a method to expand the relative time delay by switching between the fast-light region and the slow-light region through changing the intensity of the control laser beams. PACS 42.25.Bs; 42.70.Nq; 42.79.-e     

Sluggish light for radio-frequency true-time-delay applications with a large time-bandwidth product

A new radio-frequency (RF) photonic technique for achieving large RF time delays has been experimentally demonstrated using femtosecond pulses modulated by an acousto-optic tunable filter in a frequency-mapped and Doppler-shifted modulation scheme. A short optical delay line with length of 240 mum produces nearly 3 micros RF time delay after optical heterodyne detection, resulting in an effective slow-light velocity of 86 m/s. A delay-to-pulse-width ratio of 20 based on this technique has been observed, with a larger fractional delay foreseeable.     

Fundamental limitations to gain enhancement in periodic media and waveguides

A common strategy to compensate for losses in optical nanostructures is to add gain material in the system. By exploiting slow-light effects it is expected that the gain may be enhanced beyond its bulk value. Here we show that this route cannot be followed uncritically: inclusion of gain inevitably modifies the underlying dispersion law, and thereby may degrade the slow-light properties underlying the device operation and the anticipated gain enhancement itself. This degradation is generic; we demonstrate it for three different systems of current interest (coupled-resonator optical waveguides, Bragg stacks, and photonic crystal waveguides). Nevertheless, a small amount of added gain may be beneficial.     

Experimental constraints of using slow-light in sodium vapor for light-drag enhanced relative rotation sensing

We report on experimental observation of electromagnetically induced transparency and slow-light (v_g ≈ c/607) in atomic sodium vapor, as a potential medium for a recently proposed experiment on slow-light enhanced relative rotation sensing [Shahriar et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. (submitted for publication), http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0505192.]. We have performed an interferometric measurement of the index variation associated with a two-photon resonance to estimate the dispersion characteristics of the medium that are relevant to the slow-light based rotation sensing scheme. We also show that the presence of counter-propagating pump beams in an optical Sagnac loop produces a backward optical phase conjugation beam that can generate spurious signals, which may complicate the measurement of small rotations in the slow-light enhanced gyroscope. We identify techniques for overcoming this constraint. Conclusions reached from the results presented here will pave the way for designing and carrying out an experiment that will demonstrate the slow-light induced enhancement of rotation sensing.     

Data pulse distortion induced by a slow-light tunable delay line in optical fiber

We experimentally demonstrate an all-optical tunable delay line based on slow light induced by stimulated Brillouin scattering in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) and study the distortion of data pulses with different pulse widths and the induced pattern-dependent distortion on non-return-to-zero data in slow-light systems.     

Theoretical study on slow light in different structures of optical microfiber knot resonators (OMKRs)

Based on the light propagation theory of the single-ring optical microfiber knot resonator (OMKR), we further establish the similar theory for OMKRs with a parallel connection structure and that with a serial connection structure, respectively. The relationships of the output and the input light fields in different OMKRs are analyzed. Numerical simulations of the slow-light performances of the OMKRs with single ring, multi-parallel rings and multi-serial rings at the communication wavelength around 1550 nm are given and discussed. Compared with the single-ring OMKR, it is found that a large group time delay with very narrow bandwidth can be obtained in OMKRs with n-ring parallel connection structure, while a broadband group time delay can be achieved in OMKRs with n-ring serial connection structure.     

Delay in light transmission through small apertures

We demonstrate a technique for measuring pulse propagation time delays with 0.5-fs resolution by use of a widely available 100-fs pulsed laser. Using this technique, we measured the time delay of a light pulse transiting through subwavelength apertures placed on a 0.3-mum metallic film. We measured a 7-fs total transit time, corresponding to an effective group velocity of c/7 . The experimental result yielded additional evidence that light interacts resonantly with oscillators formed by the surface modes near the small apertures.     

SBS gain-based slow-light system with a Fabry-Perot resonator

We present a method to improve the delay performance of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) gain systems by combining them with Fabry-Perot (FP) filters under practical resource and data-fidelity constraints. We optimize the delay performance of four different systems: a single-line gain system (G1-system) combined with one FP filter (G1F1-system) and two FP filters (G1F2-system) and a double-line gain system (G2-system) combined with one FP filter (G2F1-system) and two FP filters (G2F2-system). We show that combining the gain-based slow-light system with FP filters can create a flat-top transmission spectrum and increases the phase slope. The G1F2-system provides a fractional delay 2.3 times that of the G1-system, whereas a G2F2-system improves the fractional delay 1.82 times that of the G2-system at a given bit rate under the same resource and data-fidelity constraints.     

基于受激布里渊散射的新型多级慢光延时结构的研究

设计了一种基于受激布里渊散射(SBS)的新型多级慢光延时结构.该多级延时结构将两段慢光延时介质用两个环形器相连接,使经过一级延时后剩余的抽运光经过环形器进入到第二段慢光延时介质中作为二级延时的抽运.该结构与传统的多级慢光延时结构相比,不需要为每段延时介质提供独立的抽运系统,结构简单,抽运光利用率高,延时效果显著.实验选...     

Nonlinear performance in silicon nitride slow light photonic crystal waveguides with elliptical holes

We propose a slow-light photonic crystal waveguide, which uses a combination of circular and elliptical air holes arranged in a hexagonal lattice with the background material of silicon nitride (refractive index n = 2.06). Large value of normalized delay bandwidth product (NDBP = 0.3708) is obtained. We have analyzed nonlinear performance of the structure. With our proposed geometry strong SPM is observed at moderate peak power levels. Proposed photonic crystal waveguide has slow light applications such as reduction in length and power consumption of all-optical and electro-optic switches at optical frequency.     

Effect of multiphoton absorption and free carriers in slow-light photonic crystal waveguides

We examine the effects of multiphoton absorption, free carriers, and disorder-induced linear scattering in slow-light photonic crystal waveguides. We derive an analytic formulation for self-phase modulation including the group velocity scaling of the nonlinear phase shift in materials limited by three-photon absorption as a representative nonlinear process. We investigate the role of free carriers and derive an approximate critical intensity at which these effects begin to strongly modify the optical field. This critical intensity is employed to determine an optimal group index for the self-phase modulation in the slow-light devices. These observations are confirmed with numerical modeling.