Direct link between microwave and optical frequencies with a 300 THz femtosecond laser comb

We demonstrate a great simplification in the long-standing problem of measuring optical frequencies in terms of the cesium primary standard. An air-silica microstructure optical fiber broadens the frequency comb of a femtosecond laser to span the optical octave from 1064 to 532 nm, enabling us to measure the 282 THz frequency of an iodine-stabilized Nd:YAG laser directly in terms of the microwave frequency that controls the comb spacing. Additional measurements of established optical frequencies at 633 and 778 nm using the same femtosecond comb confirm the accepted uncertainties for these standards.     

Cavityless optical bistability in a thin semiconductor film upon the resonant excitation of excitons and biexcitons

The bistable properties of a thin semiconductor film under conditions of resonant excitation of coherent excitons and biexcitons by photons in one or two different pulses are studied theoretically. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 932–933 (May 1998)     

Investigation of two-dimensional acoustic resonant modes in a particle separator

Within an acoustic standing wave particles experience acoustic radiation forces, a phenomenon which is exploited in particle or cell manipulation devices. When developing such devices, one-dimensional acoustic characteristics corresponding to the transducer(s) are typically of most importance and determine the primary radiation forces acting on the particles. However, radiation forces have also been observed to act in the lateral direction, perpendicular to the primary radiation force, forming striated patterns. These lateral forces are due to lateral variations in the acoustic field influenced by the geometry and materials used in the resonator. The ability to control them would present an advantage where their effect is either detrimental or beneficial to the particle manipulation process. The two-dimensional characteristics of an ultrasonic separator device have been modelled within a finite element analysis (FEA) package. The fluid chamber of the device, within which the standing wave is produced, has a width to height ratio of approximately 30:1 and it is across the height that a half-wavelength standing wave is produced to control particle movement. Two-dimensional modal analyses have calculated resonant frequencies which agree well with both the one-dimensional modelling of the device and experimentally measured frequencies. However, these two-dimensional analyses also reveal that these modes exhibit distinctive periodic variations in the acoustic pressure field across the width of the fluid chamber. Such variations lead to lateral radiation forces forming particle bands (striations) and are indicative of enclosure modes. The striation spacings predicted by the FEA simulations for several modes compare well with those measured experimentally for the ultrasonic particle separator device. It is also shown that device geometry and materials control enclosure modes and therefore the strength and characteristics of lateral radiation forces, suggesting the potential use of FEA in designing for the control of enclosure modes in similar particle manipulator devices.     

Multipulse excitability in a semiconductor laser with optical injection

An optically injected semiconductor laser can produce excitable multipulses. Homoclinic bifurcation curves confine experimentally accessible regions in parameter space where the laser emits a certain number of pulses after being triggered from its steady state by a single perturbation. This phenomenon is organized by a generic codimension-two homoclinic bifurcation and should also be observable in other systems.     

Raman spectra of CdS nanocrystals in Nafion: longitudinal optical and confined acoustic phonon modes

Quantum confinement effects on the longitudinal optical and acoustic phonons in CdS nanocrystals in the strongly confined regime in the polymer matrix Nafion are studied using Raman spectroscopy. The LO-phonon modes show size-dependent asymmetric broadening though the broadening and asymmetry are less than those predicted by the phonon confinement models. Two types of confined acoustic modes corresponding to n=1, l=0 and n=1, l=2 spheroidal vibrations are observed. Softening of the spheroidal modes is observed in the strongly confined regime.     

Lasing in the far IR spectral range under femtosecond optical excitation of the InAs semiconductor in a magnetic field

Generation of a coherent electromagnetic radiation in the far IR (THz) spectral range upon excitation of a semiconductor InAs crystal by 70-fs Ti: sapphire laser pulses is studied. The effect of a magnetic field of different orientation on generation in the submillimeter-wavelength range is analyzed. Placing the crystal into the magnetic field of an optimized permanent magnet with a strength of 5 kOe aligned along the surface of the semiconductor increased the power of generated radiation by a factor of six compared with that in the absence of the field. For the average pump-laser output power of 150 mW and repetition rate of 80 MHz, the average power of the THz radiation reached 100 nW. For detection of ultrashort pulses of the THz radiation, we used, for the first time, a highly sensitive uncooled optoacoustic detector, which detected signals with a power lower than 1 nW.     

Writing of internal gratings in optical glss with a femtosecond laser

The writing of an internal diffraction grating in optical glass plate is demonstrated using low-density plasmaformation excited by a high-intensity femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser.The same diffraction efficiency at±1,±2,and 0 order is achieved by multiple layers writing.The dependences of diffractive efficiencyon the irradiated energy,the speed of writing,the numerical aperture(NA)of the focusing objective,and materials are investigated in detail.The grating is birefringent.It is attributed to residual stressinteraction between glass and femtosecond laser pulse.     

New nonlinear dynamics in a semiconductor laser with optical self—feedback

We demonstrate a new kind of instability of the external cavity semiconductor laser,In some parameter regimes,the external cavity system will produce short and strong optical pulses in aperiodic intervals.This instability also shows low-frequency characteristics.     

Excitability in a quantum dot semiconductor laser with optical injection

We experimentally analyze the dynamics of a quantum dot semiconductor laser operating under optical injection. We observe the appearance of single- and double-pulse excitability at one boundary of the locking region. Theoretical considerations show that these pulses are related to a saddle-node bifurcation on a limit cycle as in the Adler equation. The double pulses are related to a period-doubling bifurcation and occur on the same homoclinic curve as the single pulses.     

Storage and release of femtosecond laser pulses in a resonant photonic crystal

Femtosecond laser pulses with suitable pulse areas are shown to decelerate and stop inside a resonant photonic crystal. The release of the stored fields can be achieved through pulse collision by use of an external optical pulse as a control field. The duty cycle efficiency of the storage and release of light is shown to be as much as 96%. The proposed technique is applied to a real photonic system with finite thickness of atomic layers.     

Simulation of a ridge-type semiconductor laser with horizontal coupling of lateral modes

A ridge-type semiconductor laser with horizontal coupling of lateral modes is proposed, and lasing characteristics are simulated. A groove is formed in the center of the mesa, and the lateral modes of the laser beams are determined by the coupling of the lateral modes confined by the two ridges, which are formed in the mesa. With an increase in the depth of the groove, light output operating in the fundamental lateral mode is enhanced and threshold current is decreased. When the depth of the groove is \(1.2\,\upmu \hbox {m}\) and the width of the groove is \(<\) 1.98  \(\upmu \hbox {m}\) , the kink does not appear up to the injected current of 2 A.     

Chaos generation in a semiconductor ring laser with an optical injection

Two chaos generation schemes are demonstrated numerically based on a semiconductor ring laser (SRL) with either a constant or a chaotic optical injection from an external distributed feedback (DFB) laser. Under a certain bias current, the chaotic output can be generated by the SRL with appropriate injection parameters. Parameter map is achieved numerically to show types of oscillation in the SRL. Bifurcation diagrams and Lyapunov exponent spectra roughly describe the routes to chaos for the SRL with disturbance. A bandwidth-enhanced chaos generation can be describes based on the chaotic optical injection scheme. The bandwidth of the bandwidth-enhanced chaos generated is about 12 GHz, which achieves approximately a two-fold increase compared with the constant injection scheme.     

Low frequency fluctuations in a multimode semiconductor laser with optical feedback

We study a multimode semiconductor laser subject to a moderate optical feedback. The steady state is destabilized by either a simple Hopf bifurcation leading to in phase dynamics or by a degenerate Hopf bifurcation leading to antiphase dynamics. The degenerate bifurcation is also a source of multiple coexisting attractors. We show that a simple interpretation of the low frequency fluctuations in the multimode regime is provided by a chaotic itinerancy among the many coexisting unstable attractors produced by the degenerate Hopf bifurcation.     

Frequency locking in a semiconductor laser with double incoherent optical feedback

Frequency locking (FL) in a semiconductor laser with double incoherent optical feedback is experimentally studied, and the characteristics of the locking states are analyzed through comparing the RF spectrum of double incoherent optical feedback and single incoherent optical feedback. Moreover, by varying the external loops length ratio, different orders of frequency locking states are observed. The influence of feedback strength and cavity length on locking performance is preliminarily investigated and the optimized FL state is obtained. This experimental investigation may offer a method to obtain frequency spacing tunable discrete broad-band signals.     

Modes competition in a dual modes HeNe laser with optical feedback

The optical feedback characteristics in a short cavity dual modes HeNe laser are studied under different modes strength condition. Modes competition can be obviously observed during optical feedback. The whole laser intensity curve has intensity branches and its leaning direction is related to the moving direction of the external feedback mirror. There are two cross points at different voltage levels between the two orthogonally polarized lights in a period of the optical feedback fringe and the order that the cross points come out is different when the feedback mirror moves at different direction which can be used for direction discrimination. Sometimes there are two peaks of the same size in a period of the optical feedback curve which can be used to improve the resolution of an optical feedback system.     

Determination of frequencies of electron-electron collisions in aluminum heated by a femtosecond laser pulse

Heating of electrons and lattice of aluminum caused by interaction with a femtosecond laser pulse is described quantitatively. Coefficients of absorption of s- and p-polarized pulses are calculated. Frequencies of electron-electron collisions in aluminum are determined from comparison of experimentally measured and calculated coefficients of absorption.