Analysis of femtosecond optical pulse propagation in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals using finite-difference time-domain method

In this paper, we have used the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to analyze the optical pulse propagation in a nonlinear, one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC). Hyperbolic secant pulses with various carrier wavelengths are utilized in this study. In a nonlinear regime, a 1DPC introduces a photonic band-gap whose central wavelength and width depend on the input pulse intensity. In the present work, three different cases are considered. These correspond to the carrier wavelengths of the incident pulses being out of, near to, and partially in the band-gap. For each case, the effect of nonlinearity on pulse propagation is investigated. Also, we have analyzed the two-frequency regime, in which each of the two pulses has a different carrier frequency (wavelength). This kind of study can be done directly with FDTD without any further computational burden but it is somewhat complicated using nonlinear coupled-mode equations (NLCME) and nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE), which require separate treatments for each carrier wavelength.     

Eigenstate statistics and optical properties of one-dimensional disordered photonic crystals

Optical eigenstates in one-dimensional disordered photonic crystals were studied. The threshold disorder level was established below which the probability of appearance of an eigenstate at the photonic bandgap center is negligible. The threshold is reached when the relative fluctuation in the optical lengths of the structure periods becomes equal to the square root of one-third of the relative bandgap width. The dependence of the ensemble-averaged structure transmission coefficient on the fluctuation of the period optical length has a break corresponding to the threshold fluctuation.     

Computing for second harmonic generation in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals

A numerical study of second harmonic generation (SHG) in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals based on full nonlinear system of equations, implemented by a combination of the method of finite elements and fixed-point iterations, is reported. This model is derived from a nonlinear system of Maxwell’s equations, which partly overcomes the known shortcoming of some existing models relied on the undepleted-pump approximation. We derive a general solution of SHG in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals structures. The convergence of our method is fast. Numerical simulations also show the conversion efficiency of SHG can be significantly enhanced when the frequencies of the fundamental wave are located at the photonic band edges or are assigned to the designed defect states.     

Ultrafast optical switching in Kerr nonlinear photonic crystals

Nonlinear photonic crystals made from polystyrene materials that have Kerr nonlinearity can exhibit ultrafast optical switching when the samples are pumped by ultrashort optical pulses with high intensity due to the change of the refractive index of polystyrene and subsequent shift of the band gap edge or defect state resonant frequency. Polystyrene has a large Kerr nonlinear susceptibility and almost instantaneous response to pump light, making it suitable for the realization of ultrafast optical switching with a response time as short as a few femtoseconds. In this paper, we review our experimental progress on the continual improvement of all-optical switching speed in two-dimensional and three-dimensional polystyrene nonlinear photonic crystals in the past years. Several relevant issues are discussed and analyzed, including different mechanisms for all-optical switching, preparation of nonlinear photonic crystal samples by means of microfabrication and self-assembly techniques, characterization of optical switching performance by means of femtosecond pump-probe technique, and different ways to lower the pump power of optical switching to facilitate practical applications in optical information processing. Finally, a brief summary and a perspective of future work are provided.     

Ultrafast optical switching in Kerr nonlinear photonic crystals

Nonlinear photonic crystals made from polystyrene materials that have Kerr nonlinearity can exhibit ultrafast optical switching when the samples are pumped by ultrashort optical pulses with high intensity due to the change of the refractive index of polystyrene and subsequent shift of the band gap edge or defect state resonant frequency. Polystyrene has a large Kerr nonlinear susceptibility and almost instantaneous response to pump light, making it suitable for the realization of ultrafast optical switching with a response time as short as a few femtoseconds. In this paper, we review our experimental progress on the continual improvement of all-optical switching speed in two-dimensional and three-dimensional polystyrene nonlinear photonic crystals in the past years. Several relevant issues are discussed and analyzed, including different mechanisms for all-optical switching, preparation of nonlinear photonic crystal samples by means of microfabrication and self-assembly techniques, characterization of optical switching performance by means of femtosecond pump-probe technique, and different ways to lower the pump power of optical switching to facilitate practical applications in optical information processing. Finally, a brief summary and a perspective of future work are provided.     

Subwavelength imaging through one-dimensional metallodielectric photonic crystals at optical frequencies

We present a study of mode characteristics of multilayer metal-dielectric (M-D) structure and use the Eigen mode expansion (EME) method to simulate the subwavelength imaging effect that can be realized at the designed position. We show that the quality of the image is affected not only by absorption but also the finite width of the layers. By proper design and considering the real losses, a super lens with a resolution of about λ₀/6 (λ₀ is the wavelength in the air) can be obtained. Our researches of this structure point to that a transparent material can be composed from non-transparent materials by alternatively stacking different materials of thin nanofilms, which also provide an opportunity to expand the exploration of the wave propagation in metals, both in the linear and nonlinear regimes.     

Study on optical gain of one-dimensional photonic crystals with active impurity

Localized fields in the defect mode of one-dimensional photonic crystals with active impurity are studied with the help of the theory of spontaneous emission from two-level atoms embedded in photonic crystals.Numerical simulations demonstrate that the enhancement of stimulated radiation, as well as the phenomena of transmissivity larger than unity and the abnormality of group velocity close to the edges of photonic band gap, are related to the negative imaginary part of the complex effective refractive index of doped layers. This means that the complex effective refractive index has a negative imaginary part, and that the impurity state with very high quality factor and great state density will occur in the photonic forbidden band if active impurity is introduced into the defect layer properly. Therefore, the spontaneous emission can be enhanced, the amplitude of stimulated emission will be very large and it occurs most probably close to the edges of photonic band gap with the fundamental reason, the group velocity close to the edges of band gap is very small or abnormal.     

Properties of defect modes in one-dimensional photonic crystals containing two nonlinear defects

Transmission properties of one-dimensional photonic crystal with two nonlinear defects were investigated based on the nonlinear transfer matrix method. From the inspection of the optical bistabilities around different defect modes, it was found that the threshold of bistability for the bonding mode is always lower than that for the anti-bonding mode. When intensity of the incident wave increases bistability could happen at any wavelength larger than the resonance wavelength of the linear anti-bonding mode in the gap. The threshold of bistability increases initially with the wavelength, then decreases sharply in reaching the resonance wavelength of the linear bonding mode. The coupling behavior of the two defects was also discussed, and it was found that the threshold of bistability increases with the distance between the two defects. A flat spectrum similar to that formed in the photonic crystal molecules was obtained under certain incident intensity.     

Second harmonic generations in aperiodic optical superlattices with finite width and in one-dimensional defective photonic crystals made of nonlinear optical materials

The characteristics of the second harmonic generations (SHGs) in homogeneous and inhomogeneous systems are investigated. We consider two kinds of structures: one is aperiodic optical superlattices (AOSs) with homogeneous linear susceptibility and the modulated second-order nonlinear susceptibility; the second is linear and nonlinear susceptibilities both the system with inhomogeneous. We derive a general solution of SHG for the AOS with finite lateral width and of SHG in considering the depletion of the pump light power. We carry out the design of AOSs by using simulation annealing (SA) algorithm and show that the constructed AOSs can implement multiple wavelength SHGs with identical effective nonlinear coefficient at the preassigned wavelengths of incident light. We observe great enhancement of SHGs in the one-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) with defects consisting of multiple photonic quantum wells made of nonlinear material when the frequency of fundamental wave aims at one of the defect states. We also propose an effective design approach of aperiodically stacked layers of nonlinear material and air in terms of the SA method. The constructed structure can achieve multiple-wavelength SHGs at the preas-signed wavelengths.      

Phase response of omnidirectional reflection one-dimensional photonic crystals and defect modes

In this paper, we investigate the phase properties of light reflected from one-dimensional omnidirectional reflection photonic crystal. We observe that the phase changes drastically at large incident angles. This asymmetrical phase change should be considered at oblique incidence, and various phase compensators and retarders can be designed by this nonlinear curved surface of phase shift. Furthermore, for the coupled defect 1D PC, the phase change depends mainly on the top of the sharp peak of the weak undulation within the rectangular defect band, because the top of the peak of the undulation is very sharp, i.e. large phase change look like within almost a single frequency. This drastic phase change can be used to design phase controllers.     

A way for enhancing second harmonic generation in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals

We investigate one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals consisting of ferroelectric domains with the modulated polarization directions. Significant enhancement of second harmonic generation (SHG) is observed from numerical simulations when the frequency of fundamental wave is aimed at the photonic band edge. We devise the model structure with optimal configuration of the polarization directions of the ferroelectric domains in terms of simulated annealing algorithm. The conversion efficiencies of the ‘forward’ and ‘backward’ SHGs can be engineered.     

Extension of photonic band gaps in one-dimensional photonic crystals

A method is proposed for extending photonic band gaps by constructing periodic structures from two or more consecutively located photonic crystals with different lattice constants or filling factors. The photonic band gaps with a maximum extension are predicted by superposing the photonic band gap maps on one another. It is demonstrated that both the lowest and higher order band gaps can be merged in photonic crystals with a high refractive index contrast.     

Absorption spectra versus field distribution for metal-dielectric three-dimensional photonic crystals

The absorption spectra of three-dimensional metal-dielectric photonic crystals (PCs) are studied using computer simulation by the finite difference time domain method and the layered Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method. The band structure of a three-dimensional dielectric PC is obtained by the plane wave expansion method. The explanation of absorption spectra of PC based on its comparison with the band structure and Fabry-Perot resonances inside a PC plate is given. The intensity distribution of an electric field using FDTD inside the metal-dielectric PC for three various structures is analyzed. It is shown that spherical cavities in a dielectric PC “focus” the field inside cavities at certain wavelengths. This leads to an increase of absorption at these wavelengths if metal spheres are located in the centers of those cavities. This effect can be considered as an analogue of the Borrmann effect in X-ray spectroscopy.     

Control of photonic band gaps in one-dimensional photonic crystals

The photonic band gaps in one-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) are theoretically investigated. A new method to broaden the photonic band gaps is introduced. Based on the similar method, a kind of photonic crystals is constructed to generate photonic band gaps with proportioned central frequencies. This technology can be used for designing nonlinear PCs for harmonic generation.     

一维函数光子晶体的研究

本文提出一种新型函数光子晶体, 其折射率是空间位置函数. 由费马原理, 我们给出光在一维、 二维和三维函数光子晶体中的运动方程, 以及一维函数光子晶体的色散关系、 带隙结构和透射率, 再利用传输矩阵理论研究函数光子晶体周期数、 入射角和介质层的厚度等对透射率和禁带结构的影响, 计算发现通过选择不同的折射率空间分布函数, 可以得到比传统光子晶体更宽或更窄的禁带结构. 这样为我们设计不同带隙结构的光子晶体提供理论依据.     

Enhanced second-harmonic generation for multiple wavelengths by defect modes in one-dimensional photonic crystals

We present an effective design of aperiodically stacked layers of nonlinear material and air, sandwiched by two truncated photonic crystals, in terms of the simulation annealing method. The constructed structure can achieve multiple-wavelength second-harmonic generation (SHG) at the preassigned wavelengths. We derive a general solution of SHG in 1D inhomogeneous systems and apply it to evaluate the SHG conversion efficiency. Numerical simulations show that the conversion efficiency of SHG can be significantly enhanced when the fundamental wave frequencies are assigned to the designed defect states.     

A diffractive study of optical parametric interactions in nonlinear photonic crystals

With the nonlinear diffraction concept, we present a diffractive study of optical parametric interactions in nonlinear photonic crystals. The nonlinear diffraction concept enables the design of complicated nonlinear photonic crystal structures in an intuitive way. We show that there are two basic linear sequences, the anti-stacking and the para-stacking sequences, existing in a one-dimensional structure; and we present the realization of multiple phase-matching resonances in the combination of the two basic sequences. The parameters affecting the structure factor of a two-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystal are investigated, which indicate that not only the Ewald construction but also the relative domain size determines two-dimensional nonlinear diffractions.     

Ultra-narrow bandwidth optical filters consisting of one-dimensional photonic crystals with anomalous dispersion materials

We present a new type of optical filter with an ultra-narrow bandwidth and a wide field-of-view （FOV）. This kind of optical filter consists of one-dimensional photonic crystal （PC） incorporating an anomalous-dispersion-material （ADM） with, for instance, an anomalous dispersion of 6P3/2←6S1/2 hyperfine structure transition of a caesium atom. The transmission spectra of optical filters are calculated by using the transfer-matrix method. The simulation results show that the designed optical filter has a bandwidth narrower than 0.33GHz and a wide FOV of ±30°as well. The response of transmission spectrum to an external magnetic field is also investigated.