Interaction between a dark spot and a two-dimensional nonlinear photonic lattice with fully incoherent white light

We study experimentally the interaction of a dark spot with a nonlinear photonic lattice with fully incoherent white light emitted from an incandescent bulb in the self-defocussing photovoltaic media when the dark spot is aimed at different positions of lattices with different lattice spacing. In this case a host of novel phenomena is demonstrated, including dark spot induced lattice dislocation-deformation, the annihilation of the dark spot and so on. Results demonstrate that the interaction between incoherent dark spot and photonic lattice is always attraction and the large-spacing photonic lattice is analogous to the continuous medium.     

Metallic nonlinear magnetooptical nonreciprocal isolator

In advanced optical fiber communication systems where reflection light might cause degradation of the signal quality, optical waveguide isolators play an important role. The effect of a metal layer with negative permittivity on the behavior of nonlinear-magnetooptic isolator is studied. The isolator consists of metal film, nonlinear cladding, and magnetooptic substrate. It is found that difference between forward and backward propagation for TM₀ mode increases with increasing the absolute value of the tuning parameter which is the permittivity of the metal film, ?_f. It is also found that the maximum cut-off thickness of the isolator occurs in self-defocusing case around η = 0.65 and at the highest assumed value of ?_f = −8. These results are helpful in fabricating an isolator with high performance.     

Families of spatial solitons in a two-channel waveguide with the cubic-quintic nonlinearity

We present eight types of spatial optical solitons which are possible in a model of a planar waveguide that includes a dual-channel trapping structure and competing (cubic-quintic) nonlinearity. The families of trapped beams include “broad” and “narrow” symmetric and antisymmetric solitons, composite states, built as combinations of broad and narrow beams with identical or opposite signs (“unipolar” and “bipolar” states, respectively), and “single-sided” broad and narrow beams trapped, essentially, in a single channel. The stability of the families is investigated via the computation of eigenvalues of small perturbations, and is verified in direct simulations. Three species-narrow symmetric, broad antisymmetric, and unipolar composite states-are unstable to perturbations with real eigenvalues, while the other five families are stable. The unstable states do not decay, but, instead, spontaneously transform themselves into persistent breathers, which, in some cases, demonstrate dynamical symmetry breaking and chaotic internal oscillations. A noteworthy feature is a stability exchange between the broad and narrow antisymmetric states: in the limit when the two channels merge into one, the former species becomes stable, while the latter one loses its stability. Different branches of the stationary states are linked by four bifurcations, which take different forms in the model with the strong and weak coupling between the channels.     

Dynamics of a light induced self-written waveguide directional coupler in a photopolymer

We propose and study, using the variational approximation as well as numerical simulation, the evolution of a probe beam through a directional coupler formed in a photopolymer system. Both the results compare well. An analytical expression is derived for describing the dynamics of the coupler. The expression compares well with that of the standard linear coupler. The two waveguides are self-written in the photopolymerizable material as a result of the competition between diffraction and refractive index change due to photopolymerization. As a result the writing beam can be self-trapped along the propagation direction.     

Integrated all-optical nonlinear device for re- configurable add/drop and wavelength shifting of WDM signals

A novel configuration is proposed for an all-optical device performing two key functionalities in a communication network based on wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM): reconfigurable add/drop and wavelength shifting of single channels. The device is based on guided second-order nonlinear interactions, such as sum-frequency generation and difference-frequency generation, between the WDM channels and a suitable pump beam. A directional coupler and two parallel waveguides allow the spatial separation between the main WDM signal and the dropped or wavelength-shifted channel for a subsequent routing in the desired path. A first numerical simulation provided a cross-talk level in the dropped channel lower than -41 dB and a wavelength-shifting range of more than 40 nm. Received: 18 May 2001 / Published online: 30 October 2001     

Contour of the attenuated length of an evanescent wave at constant frequency within a band gap of photonic crystal

The plane wave method is normally applied to determine the eigenfrequency of a two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal. A slight change to this eigenvalue equation makes the wave number its eigenvalue providing a direct means to determine the attenuated length of the evanescent modes at the frequency within the photonic band gap. The contour of the length of attenuation of the evanescent modes in a square lattice can be determined using the proposed wave number eigenvalue equation. The wave number eigenvalue equation for the two-dimensional (3D) photonic crystal can also be obtained using a derivation similar to that for the 2D photonic crystal. Possible applications of the proposed calculation-method are presented.     

Comparison of the electro-optic coefficient r33 in well-defined phases of proton exchanged LiNbO3 waveguides

The electro-optic coefficient, r₃₃, of proton exchanged LiNbO₃ waveguides has been measured in well-defined phases of the exchanged layer. Namely, in two low index-jump α-phases, i.e. unannealed soft-exchanged (SPE) and annealed (APE) guides, and in two high index-jump phases, i.e. β₁ guides and, for comparison, ordinary proton exchanged (PE) guides (having a mixture of phases). The following values have been obtained (in pm/V): 22.1±0.6 for SPE; 20.9±0.7 for APE; 0.33±0.01 for β₁; and 0.76±0.04 for PE. Differences between these values are discussed in terms of the structure of the phase involved. Received: 18 May 2001 / Revised version: 22 August 2001 / Published online: 30 October 2001     

Exact spatial soliton solution for nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a type of transverse nonperiodic modulation

In this paper, we analyze (2 + 1)D nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation based on a type of nonperiodic modulation of linear refractive index in the transverse direction. We obtain an exact solution in explicit form for the (2 + 1)D nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation with the nonperiodic modulation. Finally, the stability of the solution is discussed numerically, and the results reveal that the solution is stable to the finite initial perturbations.     

Stability, mobility and power currents in a two-dimensional model for waveguide arrays with nonlinear coupling

A two-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger lattice with nonlinear coupling, modelling a square array of weakly coupled linear optical waveguides embedded in a nonlinear Kerr material, is studied. We find that despite a vanishing energy difference (Peierls-Nabarro barrier) of fundamental stationary modes the mobility of localized excitations is very poor. This is attributed to a large separation in parameter space of the bifurcation points of the involved stationary modes. At these points the stability of the fundamental modes is changed and an asymmetric intermediate solution appears that connects the points. The control of the power flow across the array when excited with plane waves is also addressed and shown to exhibit great flexibility that may lead to applications for power-coupling devices. In certain parameter regimes, the direction of a stable propagating plane-wave current is shown to be continuously tunable by amplitude variation (with fixed phase gradient). More exotic effects of the nonlinear coupling terms like compact discrete breathers and vortices, and stationary complex modes with nontrivial phase relations are also briefly discussed. Regimes of dynamical linear stability are found for all these types of solutions.     

An all-optical polymeric light modulator based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer

A new promising technology of manufacturing waveguide structures using polymeric materials has been invented. It has been applied to construct an integrated, all-optical, polymer-based light modulator based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.     

Superlinear photovoltaic currents in proton-exchanged LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript> waveguides

Photovoltaic currents along the c axis have been measured in α-phase LiNbO₃ proton-exchanged waveguides at several visible wavelengths for a guided-beam configuration. The light-intensity dependence is superlinear and all experimental curves are very well fitted by computer simulations using a two-centre model, with Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ as primary and Nb_Li ⁴⁺/Nb_Li ⁵⁺ as secondary photovoltaic centres. The superlinear behaviour arises from a much higher effective photovoltaic length of Nb_Li ⁴⁺ (small polaron) compared with that of Fe²⁺. In β₁-phase guides, the photocurrents are much smaller than in α-phase guides and apparently do not show superlinear behaviour. Received: 22 October 2002 / Revised version: 6 January 2003 / Published online: 12 May 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +34-91/3978-579, E-mail: m.carrascosa@uam.es     

Flexible Control of Light Propagation Using a Novel Photonic Crystal Hetero-Waveguide Based on Silicon-on-Insulator Slab

We demonstrate a photonic crystal hetero-waveguide based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) slab, consisting of two serially connected width-reduced photonic crystal waveguides with different radii of the air holes adjacent to the waveguide. We show theoretically that the transmission window of the structure corresponds to the transmission range common to both waveguides and it is in inverse proportion to the discrepancy between the two waveguides. Also the group velocity of guided mode can be changed from low to high or high to low, depending on which port of the structure the signal is input from just in the same device, and the variation is proportional to the discrepancy between the two waveguides. Using this novel structure, we realize flexible control of transmission window and group velocity of guided mode simultaneously.     

Design of optical polarization splitters in a single-section deeply etched MMI waveguide

The design of a single-section polarization splitter in a deeply etched semiconductor MMI waveguide is presented. Numerically simulated results indicate that the semiconductor MMI exhibits considerable polarization dependence and, utilizing this effect, a compact 1.6-mm-long polarization splitter may be fabricated to yield more than 8-dB polarization separation and only 0.11-dB optical loss, using a very simple design-approach. Received: 16 May 2001 / Revised version: 14 August 2001 / Published online: 2 November 2001     

Experimental studies of the second-order nonlinear optical response of a novel class of tricyanovinylated thiophene compounds

We measured the second-order nonlinear optical response of a novel class of tricyanovinylated thiophene compounds using electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation. Very large second-order nonlinearity was observed for these compounds. The results indicate that the combination of the tricyanovinyl acceptor and the thiophene conjugating moiety offers excellent molecular second-order optical nonlinearity.     

Optical broadband analog-digital conversion on the base of microring resonator

We propose the fast method of analog-digital conversion of optical signals by the use of waveguide ring resonators of micron size. The results of calculation are presented which allow optimization of the parameters of such optical analog-digital converter (ADC) for specific applications. Conversion operating speed of the ADC proposed is limited by the time of steady output signal establishing. For microresonator of 10 μm radius this time is about 10 ps. Analysis of the proposed optical method of analog-digital conversion shows that such optical ADC is capable to operate with the conversion frequency above 10⁹ counts/s in a broad spectral range. Optical loss in resonator reduces its switching time. However, the switching contrast also decreases. To keep the switching contrast constant it is necessary to increase discretization step of the analog signal power.     

Coupling constant of microcavity waveguides based on coupled mode theory

We analyze the microcavity waveguides and derive the coupling constant based on the coupled mode theory. The formula contains only two parameters with clear physical meanings, the quality factor of the cavity modes and the phase shift that the lightwave acquires when tunnelling between two cavities. It provides an easy way to express and modulate the properties of the waveguides. Our analytical results are supported by the simulations using the transfer matrix method.     

Large Third-Order Optical Nonlinearity of a Novel Copper Phthalocyanine--Ferrocene Dyad

Third-order optical nonlinearity of a novel copper phthalocyanine-ferrocene dyad is measured by femtosecond forward degenerate four-wave mixing （DFWM） technique at 800 nm. The second-order hyperpolarizability of the novel copper phthalocyanine-ferrocene dyad is measured to be 1.74 ×10^-30 esu. This large and ultrafast thirdorder optical nonlinear response is mainly enhanced by the formation of intramolecular charge-transfer which can enhance the delocalized movements of the large π-electrons in the molecules.     

Self-guiding of infrared and visible light in photonic crystal slabs

We experimentally demonstrate diffractionless guidance and efficient routing of light in two-dimensional photonic crystal slabs at infrared and visible wavelengths. Our particular design allows for simultaneous guidance of TE and TM polarized light beams at the same wavelength. Routing performance and possibilities of propagation loss reduction are investigated experimentally. Experimental results are in excellent agreement with three-dimensional simulations.     

Generation of tunable infrared radiation in rubidium titanyl phosphate crystal for the optical measurement of number density, absorption cross-section of methane gas

Tunable near-infrared radiation has been generated in a rubidium titany1 phosphate (RTP) crystal by employing non-collinear difference-frequency mixing (DFM) technique. The input radiation sources are Nd:YAG laser radiation and its second harmonic pumped dye laser radiation. For the generation of 2.0 radiation, the maximum value of the conversion efficiency (quantum) obtained in the process is 49% from the dye (0.6945 μm) to the infrared (2.0 μm) radiation in the 7.9-mm-long crystal. The generated tunable mid-infrared radiation has been used to measure the number density, absorption cross-section and minimum detectable concentration of methane gas in its 2ν₃ band in a multi-pass cell at 30.075 Torr pressure. The number density and column density of the methane molecules are found to be 1.068×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and 3.02×10²¹ cm⁻², respectively, whereas the minimum still-detectable concentration at 1.658 μm wavelength is estimated to be 4.523×10¹⁷/cm³.     

Solutions for the propagation of light in nonlinear optical media with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearities

In this paper, we present solutions for the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation with spatially inhomogeneous nonlinearities describing propagation of light in nonlinear media, under two sets of transverse modulation forms of inhomogeneous nonlinearity. The bright soliton solution and Gaussian solution have been obtained for one set of inhomogeneous nonlinearity modulation. For the other, bright soliton solution, black soliton solution and the train solution have been presented. Stability of the solutions has been determined by exact soliton solutions under certain conditions.