Broadband Terahertz Polarization Converter and Asymmetric Transmission Based on Coupled Dielectric‐Metal Grating

Coupled dielectric‐metal gratings are investigated for broadband terahertz (THz) wave polarization conversion and asymmetric transmission by the experiments and numerical simulations, which are composed of the subwavelength Si grating and metallic wire grating layers. The dielectric grating layer with a large artificial birefringence and low dispersion is employed as a phase engineered waveplate, and the metal wire grating arranged with a 45° angle to the dielectric grating is utilized as a high‐efficiency polarizer. Due to the subwavelength integration, this coupled grating presents a local resonance coupling mechanism between dielectric and metal gratings, which greatly enhances the polarization rotation and expands the bandwidth, not a simple combination with dielectric and metallic gratings. The results demonstrate that a broadband asymmetric transmission with an extinction ratio of 30dB from 0.2 to 1.2 THz is achieved and the highest transmission of 90% can be obtained. It provides a simple way towards practical applications for THz artificial dispersion materials, polarization control and asymmetric transmission.     

Transmissive quasi-optical Ronchi phase grating for terahertz frequencies

A transmissive, square-wave Ronchi phase grating has been fabricated from the dielectric polytetrafluoroethylene to diffract an ~0.7 THz beam quasi-optically. When illuminated by a coherent, cw terahertz (THz) source, the spot separation of the ±1 diffractive orders and the diffraction efficiency were measured as a function of THz frequency and rotation angle. The grating performance depends sensitively on the refractive index, whose value can be measured with an accuracy limited by the fabrication precision. The use of these gratings for polarization-insensitive quasi-optical imaging and phased arrays is discussed.     

Design of a high-speed optical dark-soliton detector using a phase-shifted waveguide Bragg grating in reflection

A theoretical study of a new application of a simple pi-phase-shifted waveguide Bragg grating (PSWBG) in reflection mode as a high-speed optical dark-soliton detector is presented. The PSWBG consists of two concatenated identical uniform waveguide Bragg gratings with a pi phase shift between them. The reflective PSWBG, with grating reflectivities equal to 0.9, a free spectral range of 1.91 THz, and a nonlinear phase response, can convert a 40 Gbit/s noisy dark-soliton signal into a high-quality 40 Gbit/s return-to-zero signal with a peak power level of approximately 17.5 dB greater than that by the existing Mach-Zehnder interferometer with free spectral range of 1.91 THz and a linear phase response.     

Investigation of transmission resonances on the one-dimensional metallic cylindrical gratings in THz frequency range

In the experiments of THz wave transmitting through the metallic cylindrical gratings fabricated by sub-wavelength brass wires, this paper reports that the discrepancy in the sharp resonances occurred as the grating perpendicular or parallel to the electric vector are observed. A simulation based on the finite difference time domain (FDTD) indicated that the enhanced transmission through the grating is attributed to the combined effects of surface plasmons and cavity modes in the perpendicular condition, while the cavity modes dominate the resonant transmission under the other conditions. Additional experimental data and calculated results show that ～1 enhanced coupling efficiency can be realized in some THz frequency, which could be applied to the design and improvement of various optoelectronic devices, or detection of biological molecule and powder samples, etc.     

Anomalous transmission of terahertz wave through one-dimensional lamellar metallic grating

The anomalous transmission through one-dimensional lamellar metallic gratings was investigated in terahertz (THz) regime. The extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) is identified to originate from two possible ways: coupling of incident light with waveguide resonances and coupling of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) at the upper and lower interfaces of metal grating. The dual effects of SPPs have been clarified in this study: (i) the excitation of SPP modes at each individual interface results in the weakness of the THz wave transmission; and (ii) the coupling of SPP modes at two interfaces of metal grating is attributed to enhancement of THz wave transmission. The enhanced transmission is dominated by the coupling of incident light with transverse waveguide resonances. Numerical simulation based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) agrees well with experimental results.     

High-temperature-recorded index gratings in periodically poled lithium niobate

Holographic index gratings based on a zero-electric-field photorefractive effect are recorded at high temperatures in copper-doped periodically poled lithium niobate crystals. The interplay between the domain structure and the index grating is studied: the fundamental grating with spatial frequency K is strongly suppressed. Pronounced sideband gratings with K(s)=K+sG appear, where G is the domain grating vector and s is an integer number. After development, an additional grating based on the electro-optic effect shows up. In contrast with the previously mentioned gratings, this grating allows anisotropic diffraction.     

High quality resonances for terahertz radiation diffraction at periodically corrugated semiconductor interfaces

It is shown that the resonance features analogous to the well known optic Wood-type anomalies can be observed in the THz region for diffraction at periodically profiled semiconductor surfaces. The analytical theory of such resonance processes caused by excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) is developed. It is shown that strong resonance effects such as total suppression of the specular reflection (TSSR) can be achieved for rather small inclinations of harmonic gratings. The analytical theory predictions are confirmed by strict numerical simulations. The analytical approach presented allows one to find parameters of the gratings so that the resonance diffraction results in specific redistributions of the reflected energy between different diffraction channels. As an example we demonstrate parameters of the InSb biharmonic grating responsible for the TSSR accompanied by 50% reflection in the minus first diffraction order when the SPP is excited in the plus first diffraction order.     

基于三层光栅结构的超宽带太赫兹吸收体

基于等效介质膜理论及多层减反膜原理设计了用于超宽带太赫兹吸收体的三层微结构光栅,光栅基质采用重掺硼硅材料.用有限时域差分法分析了光栅周期、光栅宽度和深度对太赫兹吸收体反射系数的影响.数值分析结果表明,在低于3THz波段,吸收率高于98%的带宽为1.3THz,吸收率高于95%的带宽达2.1THz.用严格耦合波理论对该三层光栅的高吸收现象进行理论分析,分析结果表明,光栅多级衍射的相互作用减少了入射面的反射率,增大了该吸收体的吸收率.进一步优化三层光栅微结构的参量,在0.6~6THz范围内实现了大于95%的太赫兹吸收.基于光栅结构的吸收体结构简单,易于设计与分析,可以应用于太赫兹成像与探测应用领域.     

线电荷串产生的史密斯-帕塞尔辐射

采用积分方法分析了线电荷串,沿周期性理想金属光栅表面平行移动时产生的史密斯帕塞尔辐射。分别对短周期光栅、低能量线电荷串与长周期光栅、高能量线电荷串的辐射情况进行了数值计算。相对单个线电荷而言,N个线电荷与反射光栅作用产生的辐射场密度,在频率是线电荷串调制频率的整数倍处出现最大,辐射谱宽变窄;随电荷能量增高,辐射能量向高频方向移动,并具有强烈的定向性;可以通过调节线电荷调制频率等参量实现辐射电磁波频率锁定。研究结果表明,对高能量与低能量的电荷参量,适当选择光栅尺寸与线电荷串间隔周期,都可使辐射波工作于太赫兹波段。     

多层介质膜光栅激光预处理

 在N-on-1测试模式下研究了多层介质膜光栅的激光预处理效应。实验发现,激光预处理之后多层介质光栅膜的阈值能提高到处理前阈值的1.5~2.0倍。预处理机制可能是低能量密度激光辐照减少了光栅表面的污染物并降低了光栅表面的粗糙度。激光预处理可以作为优化光栅结构、酸洗等一系列提高多层介质膜光栅阈值方法的一个补充。     

Interaction of terahertz electromagnetic waves with periodic gratings of graphene micro- and nanoribbons

An original mathematical model of the interaction of terahertz (THz) electromagnetic waves with periodic gratings of graphene micro- and nanoribbons is based on the solution to the boundary-value problem of diffraction for the Maxwell equations with electrodynamic boundary conditions and material equations. The electrodynamic calculations of the transmission coefficients of the TEM wave versus frequency are performed for the 2D grating of graphene micro- and nanoribbons at several chemical potentials, grating periods, and geometrical sizes of ribbons. The results of the calculations show that the transmission spectrum exhibits a minimum in the THz range if the electric field of the wave is perpendicular to the graphene ribbons. The minimum is due to the plasmon resonance of the fundamental mode in graphene, and the absorption peaks at higher frequencies in the upper part of the THz range are related to the highorder plasmon modes.     

Thin and thick diffraction gratings: Thin matrix decomposition method

A brief review of the properties of transmission diffraction gratings is presented. Two types of gratings will be analyzed: thin and volume gratings explaining how the efficiency of the different orders that propagate inside the gratings can be calculated in both cases. For thin diffraction gratings the so-called amplitude transmittance method is applied in order to get the amplitude of the different orders, whereas in the case of volume gratings more complex methods are needed, such as Coupled Wave or modal theories. We will comment on the thin matrix decomposition method (TMDM), firstly proposed by Alferness, which gives a very intuitive approach and connects the properties of thin gratings to the properties of volume ones. The thin matrix decomposition method consists in dividing the volume grating in a number of thin gratings and applying the amplitude transmittance method to each thin grating. In this way the output of a grating will be considered as the input of the next and any individual grating can be treated by the amplitude transmittance method. The novelty of this work is that a comparison is made between the analytical expressions obtained by Alferness using the TMDM with the numerical results obtained using the coupled wave (CW) and rigorous coupled wave (RCW) theories for the efficiencies of the zero, first and second order when a plane wave incides onto a sinusoidal diffracion grating at the second on-Bragg replay angular condition.     

Analysis of a widely tunable long-period grating by use of an ultrathin cladding layer and higher-order cladding mode coupling

A widely tunable long-period grating in single-mode fiber is analyzed by use of an ultrathin cladding layer and higher-order cladding mode coupling. The numerical simulation shows that a 225-nm tuning range in the newly designed ultrathin long-period grating (cladding thickness, 35 microm) with third-order cladding mode coupling can be obtained. The analyzed tuning range is seven times wider than those of the other known long-period gratings. We believe that the proposed highly sensitive long-period grating will be widely used as a gain-flattening filter for ultrawideband optical amplifiers and fast tunable filters in dynamic optical communication systems.     

Theoretical analysis of novel fiber grating pair

A novel fiber grating pair that consists of a conventional long-period fiber grating and a fiber Bragg cladding grating (FBCG) is proposed. The FBCG is a new type of fiber grating in which refractive index modulation is formed in the cladding. Through the coupled-mode theory, we accurately calculate the coupling coefficients between modes supported in the fibers. And some other mode coupling features in the fiber cladding gratings are analyzed in detail. The calculation of the modes involved in this paper is based on a model of three-layer step-index fiber geometry. Then, we have investigated the sensitivity characteristics for variation of the modulation strengths of the fiber Bragg cladding gratings’ resonance peaks and the long-period cladding gratings’ (LPCGs) dual resonant peaks. Finally, the modulation strength sensitivity of the grating pair’s three resonant peaks is demonstrated, and the results indicate that these grating pairs may find potential applications in optical fiber sensing.     

Real propagation speed of the ultraslow plasmonic THz waveguide

A graded metallic grating structure can not only work as a wave trapping system, but also work as an ultraslow terahertz (THz) waveguide. The depth of the grating waveguide is partial graded and partial fixed. The real propagation speed of such a system is calculated. Different frequencies of THz waves can be propagated at a designed propagation speed, even close to zero.     

THzQWP二维光栅耦合效率的理论分析研究

将二维金属光栅结构引入到探测器结构中,以提高太赫兹(THz)量子阱光电探测器的探测率。采用三维时域有限差分算法,建立了THz量子阱光电探测器的二维金属光栅仿真模型,详细分析了二维金属光栅参数对太赫兹量子阱光电探测器的电场强度的影响。仿真分析结果表明:当入射光频率为6.27 THz(相对应波长为47.847 m)、光栅周期P=10.5 m、占空比=0.55（金属块宽度w= 5.755 m）、光栅层厚度h=0.4 m时,器件中的Z方向上的电场值最大,光栅的耦合效率最高。     

Power penalty of cascaded Bragg gratings in the presence of PMD and PDL

Considering the presence of birefringence in Bragg gratings, the spectral polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and polarization dependent loss (PDL) induced power penalty of eye opening is examined for a network with cascaded Bragg gratings. It is shown that when the birefringence in the grating is less than 10⁻⁵, the induced power penalty is less than 0.1 dB for a network with up to 30 cascaded Bragg gratings. However, when the grating birefringence is on the order of 10⁻⁴, the induced power penalty can be as high as 5.6 dB for a network with 14 cascaded Bragg gratings.     

Study of the behaviour of the fibre Bragg grating fabricated with cladding mode suppression fibre

One effective method for suppression of coupling from guided optical modes into cladding modes in an optical fibre Bragg grating is to use cladding mode suppression fibre. In this specially engineered fibre, the grating is written into the core and the inner cladding, both of which are photosensitive. A theory is presented in this paper to analyse the spectral characteristics of this kind of gratings. A fibre Bragg grating was experimentally fabricated with this kind of photosensitive fibre (PS-RMS-50 from StockerYale). It is shown both theoretically and experimentally that such gratings exhibit strong suppression of the coupling between core mode and cladding mode. The experimental result is in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.     

Analysis on polarization dependence of Fraunhofer diffraction by metallic grating with short period

A method based on the combination of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) algorithm and Fourier transformation was proposed to analyze the Fraunhofer diffraction of gratings. Polarization dependence of the Fraunhofer diffraction of a one-dimensional metallic grating with period less than 8 times the incident wavelength was studied. Some special characteristics were found. The polarization dependence is related to period value, slit width, and thickness of the grating, and the missing orders predicted by scalar analysis appear. Besides, if the period of a grating is larger than 8 times the wavelength but the slit width or the size of the opaque portion of the grating is close to the wavelength, diffraction of the grating also becomes polarization dependent.