Double groove silicon grating polarizer in telecommunication wavelength band

In this paper, we propose an ultra broad band polarizer operating in the telecommunication wavelength band, this device consisting a double groove silicon grating is designed with using the inverse mathematical method and rigorous vector diffraction theory. It is shown from our calculations that the device presents extremely high reflection (R > 95%) for TE polarization light and high transmission (T > 95%) for TM polarization over ∼400 nm wavelength range, moreover, the extinction ratio is ∼30 in the central wavelength 1550 nm. Furthermore, it is found with rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) that the extremely wide band property for TE polarization is due to the excitation of strong modulation guided modes in the design wavelength range.     

Broad band beam splitter based on the double-groove fused silica grating

In this paper, we propose a broad band 1 × 3 beam splitter operating in the telecommunication wavelength band under normal incidence, this device consisting of a double-groove fused silica grating layer is designed with using the inverse mathematical method and rigorous vector diffraction theory. It is shown from our calculations that the device presents excellent beam splitter ability for TE polarization light with the average diffraction efficiencies is more than 95% over ∼100 nm wavelength range, moreover, the uniformity of our beam splitter is better than 2% in the whole wavelength band. Furthermore, the physical understanding of the diffraction behaviors taking place inside the beam splitter gratings can be explained by the modal method.     

Resonance Absorption of Metallic Plate with Subwavelength Hole Array

The optical reflectance by a metallic plate arranged with array consisting of subwavelength periodic square hole is investigated by using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method （3D-FDTD）. There are dips in the reflectivity spectra, which indicate the absorption peaks. The absorption peaks behave differently according to the ratio of hole width and the period of the hole array. Combined with the near fields of the absorption peaks, it is found that the surface plasmon （SP） resonance on the surface of plate and localized SP in the hole play a major role for the two absorptions.     

Wide band polarizer with suspended silicon grating

In this paper, we propose an ultra broadband polarizer operating in the telecommunication wavelength band; this device consisting a single silicon suspended resonant grating layer is designed with using the inverse mathematical method and rigorous vector diffraction theory. It is shown from our calculations that the device presents extremely high reflection (R > 98%) for TE polarization light and high transmission (T > 98%) for TM polarization over ∼330 nm wavelength range; moreover, the extinction ratio is ∼100 in the central wavelength 1550 nm. Furthermore, it is found with Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis (RCWA) and near field distribution that the extremely wide band property for TE polarization is due to the excitation of strong modulation guided modes in the design wavelength range.     

Theoretical investigation of chirped mirrors in semiconductor lasers

This paper reports a theoretical design of chirped mirrors in 1.3-μm double-section semiconductor lasers to achieve high reflectivity and dispersion compensation over a broad bandwidth. Analytic expressions for reflectivity, group delay and group delay dispersion are derived. We use for the first time chirped air/semiconductor layer pairs as mirrors for higher-order dispersion compensation in semiconductor lasers. Our optimised calculations demonstrate that the broad-band mirrors designed consist of a total of only 12 air/semiconductor layers and achieve a reflectivity higher than 99.8%, a smooth group delay and almost stable dispersion in the laser cavity over a 100-nm bandwidth. Due to a high index contrast of both types of the layers, n _l = 1, n _h~ 3.5, a high-reflectivity bandwidth of > 700 nm is obtained in 1.3-μm semiconductor lasers. We also compare our results with that of a commercial simulation program and show a good agreement between them. As a conclusion, we assume from the theoretical results that air/semiconductor layer pairs with varying thicknesses used at one end of double-section semiconductor lasers can lead to femtosecond optical pulse generation using mode-locking techniques. An erratum to this article can be found at .     

Optical investigation of charge-transfer transitions in spinel Co3O4

Optical transitions in normal-spinel Co₃O₄ have been identified by investigating the variation of its optical absorption spectrum with the replacement of Co by Zn. Three optical-transition structures were located at about 1.65, 2.4, and 2.8 eV from the measured dielectric function of Co₃O₄ by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The variation of the absorption structures with the Zn substitution (Zn_xCo_3−xO₄) can be explained in terms of charge-transfer transitions involving d states of Co ions. The 1.65 eV structure is assigned to a d-d charge-transfer transition between the t_2g states of octahedral Co³⁺ ion and t₂ states of tetrahedral Co²⁺ ion, t_2g(Co³⁺)→t₂(Co²⁺). The 2.4 and 2.8 eV structures are interpreted as due to charge-transfer transitions involving the p states of O²⁻ ion: p(O²⁻)→t₂(Co²⁺) for the 2.4 eV absorption and p(O²⁻)→e_g(Co³⁺) for the 2.8 eV absorption. The observed gradual reduction of the 1.65 and 2.4 eV absorption strength with the increase of the Zn composition for Zn_xCo_3−xO₄ can be explained in terms of the substitution of the tetrahedral Co²⁺ sites by Zn²⁺ ions. The crystal-field splitting Δ_Oh between the e_g and the t_2g states of the octahedral Co³⁺ ion is estimated to be 2 eV.     

Focal Shift of Paraxial Gaussian Beams in a Left-Handed Material Slab Lens

Focal shift is inevitable in conventional lens systems due to the Fresnel number and angular aperture. In this Letter, we demonstrate that there is no focal shift when a paraxial Gaussian beam passes through a left-handed material slab lens without absorption or gain. However, the effect is exhibited in the presence of absorption or gain, and becomes larger as the absorption or gain increases. When the absorption is equal to the gain, the phenomenon of the focal shift caused by the gain is more obvious. In addition, the field distribution is not affected by the absorption or gain and always remains Gaussian both in internal and external focus planes.     

Transmission properties of one-dimensional graded photonic crystals and enlargement of omnidirectional negligible transmission gap

We investigate numerically the transmission properties of one-dimensional (1D) graded photonic crystals (PCs) in detail. Under the condition of linearly graded structures, the gap broadening of three cases is calculated: the case when the thickness of low index layer is increased, the case when the thickness of high index layer is increased and the case when the thickness values of both layers are increased simultaneously. Then the gap broadening of another graded case with the thickness exponentially increased is presented. At last the enlargement of omnidirectional negligible transmission band gap is obtained.     

Influence of slit width on the electromagnetic transmission of a periodic metallic grating

The light transmittance of a periodic metallic grating with varied slit widths has been investigated. The transmission peaks move to the shorter wavelength direction with an increase in the width of slits while keeping the other parameters unchanged. It was demonstrated that the slit width affects the spectral transmittance of the metal grating significantly. It was also found that the effective refractive index and cavity modes in slits are responsible for this phenomenon. Cavity modes play an important role in extraordinary transmission of the sub-wavelength aperture grating. When a complete resonant mode forms in the slits, a high transmission will appear. A wider slit results in a smaller efficient refractive index and thus affects the cavity mode in the slits. These two elements cause the transmission peaks to move to the shorter wavelength direction with widening of slits. The results obtained here may provide a useful guide to design metallic slit grating devices.     

Dielectric Properties of GaN in THz Frequencies

The complex refractive indices and the dielectric function of GaN for frequencies ranging from 0.25 to 1.22THz are obtained using THz time-domain spectroscopy. The real part of the dielectric function first decreases from 0.25 to 0.42THz and then oscillates from 0.42 to 1.22THz, whereas the imaginary part of the dielectric function is oscillating within the whole range of frequency. The simple Drude model is extended to take into account the effect of defects on the dielectric function. The extended model is in agreement with the experimental data.     

Electro-optic Solc-type flat-top bandpass filter based on periodically poled lithium niobate

Based on the spectrum waveform similarity (SWS) rule we discovered in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN), a compact tunable flat-top bandpass filter is proposed theoretically, from which the bandwidth of the flat-top waveform can be obtained. For practical application, tunable flat-top filter can be easily achieved by selecting appropriate electric field along the transverse direction of PPLN. The tolerance analysis for this kind of tunable flat-top bandpass filter is also presented.     

Focusing and phase compensation of paraxial beams by a left-handed material slab

On the basis of angular spectrum representation, a formalism describing paraxial beams propagating through an isotropic left-handed material (LHM) slab is presented. The treatment allows us to introduce the ideas of beam focusing and phase compensation by LHM slab. Because of the negative refractive index of LHM slab, the inverse Gouy phase shift and the negative Rayleigh length of paraxial Gaussian beam are proposed. It is shown that the phase difference caused by the Gouy phase shift in right-handed material (RHM) can be compensated by that caused by the inverse Gouy phase shift in LHM. If certain matching conditions are satisfied, the intensity and phase distributions at object plane can be completely reconstructed at the image plane.     

Entanglement of the l- and the r-photons in an anisotropic crystal

Light incident onto an anisotropic crystal is divided into the ordinary and the extraordinary waves which vibrate in two perpendicular directions. Because of the tensor property of the dielectric constant, the direction of the electric displacement is not parallel to the vector of the incident electric field. An optical torque is induced by incidence of the linearly polarized light and propagating through the crystal. The optical torque tends to rotate the directions of eigenvibration which results in self-modulation of the ordinary and the extraordinary waves, and causes an energy splitting of the left (l)-, and the right (r)-handed circularly polarized waves in the crystal. The l- and the r-photons are correlated through the optical torque, which are found to be in an entanglement state.     

Correlation of the left- and the right-handed circularly polarized waves in an anisotropic crystal

An optical torque is induced by incidence of the linearly polarized light and propagating through an anisotropic crystal, which results in self-modulation of the ordinary and the extraordinary waves and causes an energy splitting of the resultant left-, and the right-handed elliptically polarized waves. The optical torque originates from the angular momentum of light, which causes the correlation of the left- and the right-handed circularly polarized waves in the crystal.     

Enhancement of the far-field output power and the properties of the very-small-aperture lasers

We report on a VSAL structure fabricated by a 650 nm edge emitting laser diode with an Au-coated facet and an aperture size of 250 × 500 nm. The far field output power can maintain at 1 mW and the power density is 7.5 mW/μm². Some properties of the VSAL including the threshold current change, the red-shift of the spectral position, and the strong relative-intensity-noise are presented. The physical mechanisms responsible for these phenomena are also discussed, which may contribute to the understanding and application of the potential device for near-field optics.     

Theoretical study of quantum-confined band-edge shifts and radiative lifetimes in oxidized Si(001) quantum films: comparison with experiment for Si/SiO2 quantum wells

The electronic structure and radiative lifetimes of Si(001) quantum films terminated by SiO₄ tetrahedra, which simulate Si/SiO₂ quantum wells (QWs), are calculated by the extended Hückel-type non-orthogonal tight-binding method. It is found that calculated band-gap widenings and radiative lifetimes account for band-edge shifts and photoluminescence (PL) peak shifts and lifetimes measured in amorphous-Si/SiO₂ QWs, suggesting that quantum confinement effects on the extended band-edge states in the amorphous-Si layer are responsible for the observed results. However, it is shown that band-edge shifts and PL energies and lifetimes observed in crystalline-Si/SiO₂ QWs cannot be reproduced properly by the interface model proposed in this study, implying that further studies are needed on the atomic structure of the crystalline-Si/SiO₂ interface.     

Complex Modulation in Plasmon-Assisted Transmission Spectra of a Two-Slit Structure

We study the plasmon-assisted transmission of two kinds of slit structures in a 290-nm-thick silver film on a glass substrate. For the two-slit structure, the total transmission intensity spectra displays a complex modulation, which is attributed to different propagation constants of the surface plasmon polaritons （SPPs） on the silver-air and silver-glass interfaces. Replacing one of the two slits by a shallow corrugation results in a simple sinusoidal intensity modulation because of the only effective SPP excitation and propagation on the silver-air interface. These confirm the role of different SPP propagations and interference in the transmission properties of metal nanoslits.     

Photoluminescence of gold, copper and niobium as a function of temperature

A specially constructed instrument for measuring the low intensity photoluminescence emission spectra of metals is described. It uses low luminescence optical components and dedicated sample mounting techniques. Room temperature measurements agree closely with literature spectra for high-purity gold and are found to be sensitive to 100 ppm impurities. Detailed spectra are presented, which are weakly temperature dependent, for gold, copper and unpolished niobium between room temperature and 100 K. We conclude that this work provides accurate luminescence data for Au from 300 K down to 100 K. Although the (variable temperature) luminescence data for Cu are consistent both with the room temperature experimental data in the literature and theory, we conclude the role of surface adsorbates and/or oxides cannot be ruled out. Theory suggests that Nb has a factor ∼50 lower luminescence intensity than Au and Cu because the real part of the refractive index is a factor ∼5 higher and the density of states ∼2 eV below the Fermi energy is a factor of ∼4 lower than Au and Cu. Measurements are presented for unpolished Nb, but given the lack of signal detection for polished Nb and that theory predicts very weak signals, we conclude that the luminescence signals from pure Nb still remain below the sensitivity of our instrument.     

Negative magnetic permeability of split ring resonators in the visible light region

Negative magnetic permeability of split ring resonator (SRR) is theoretically investigated in the visible light region. In our calculations, we considered the delay of the current inside the metal SRR in order to estimate the permeability of the SRR precisely. From the results, the silver SRR array with small capacitance exhibits negative permeability in all the visible range. The dependence of the permeability on the filling factor of the SRR elements is also discussed.     

Theoretical consideration of pits recording and etching processes in chalcogenide vitreous semiconductors

We propose theoretical consideration, computer modeling and comparison with our recent experimental results for information pits recording and etching processes in chalcogenide vitreous semiconductors using Gaussian laser beam and selective etching. Our calculations demonstrate that photo-transformed region cross-section could be almost trapezoidal or parabolic depending on the photoresist material optical absorption, exposure, etchant selectivity and etching time. Thus our approach open possibilities how to select the necessary recording procedure and etching conditions in order to obtain pits with the optimum shape and sizes in As₄₀S₆₀ chalcogenide semiconductor. Obtained results quantitatively describe the characteristics of pits recorded by the Gaussian laser beam in thin film of As₄₀S₆₀.