Slow-light enhanced optical forces between longitudinally shifted photonic-crystal nanowire waveguides

We reveal that slow-light enhanced optical forces between side-coupled photonic-crystal nanowire waveguides can be flexibly controlled by introducing a relative longitudinal shift. We predict that close to the photonic band edge, where the group velocity is reduced, the transverse force can be tuned from repulsive to attractive, and the force is suppressed for a particular shift value. Additionally the shift leads to symmetry breaking that can facilitate longitudinal forces acting on the waveguides, in contrast to unshifted structures where such forces vanish.     

Time-bandwidth problem in room temperature slow light

For many applications of slow or stopped light, the delay-time-bandwidth product is a fundamental issue. So far, however, slow-light demonstrations do not show a large delay-time-bandwidth product, especially in room temperature solids. Here we demonstrate that the use of artificial inhomogeneous broadening has the potential to solve this problem. A proof-of-principle experiment is done using slow light produced by two-beam coupling in a photorefractive crystal Ce:BaTiO3 where Bragg selection is used to provide the artificial inhomogeneity. Examples of how to generalize this concept for use with other room temperature slow-light solids are also given.     

A model of intrinsic symmetry breaking

Different from the symmetry breaking associated with a phase transition, which occurs when the controlling parameter is manipulated across a critical point, the symmetry breaking presented in this Letter does not need parameter manipulation. Instead, the system itself suddenly undergoes symmetry breaking at a certain time during its evolution, which is intrinsic symmetry breaking. Through a polymer model, it is revealed that the origin of the intrinsic symmetry breaking is nonlinearity, which produces instability at the instance when the evolution crosses an inflexion point, where this instability breaks the original symmetry.     

Slow-light-enhanced upconversion for photovoltaic applications in one-dimensional photonic crystals

We present an approach to realizing enhanced upconversion efficiency in erbium (Er)-doped photonic crystals. Slow-light-mode pumping of the first Er excited state transition can result in enhanced emission from higher-energy levels that may lead to finite subbandgap external quantum efficiency in crystalline silicon solar cells. Using a straightforward electromagnetic model, we calculate potential field enhancements of more than 18× within he slow-light mode of a one-dimensional photonic crystal and discuss design trade-offs and considerations for photovoltaics.     

Electromagnetically induced transparency and slow light in a simple complementary metamaterial constructed by two bright slot-structures

We numerically demonstrate a plasmonic analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency in a simple complementary metamaterial, the unit cell of which consists of two bright slot-structures in a homogenous gold film deposited on a glass substrate. A pronounced transparency peak within a broad reflectance resonance spectrum is activated through the coupling in the asymmetric elements when the symmetry of two slot-structures is broken. Moreover, the strength and width of the reflectance transparency peak can be tuned by controlling the asymmetric degree or spacing of two slot-structures. In addition, the presence of the reflectance transparency window is also accompanied by slow-light effect, where its group velocity is reduced by a factor of over 100. Therefore, this complementary metamaterial could have the potential applications in slow-light and filtering devices.     

Numerical study on SBS slow light systems using a super-Gaussian filtered incoherent pump

We numerically investigate the performance improvement and its limitations using super-Gaussian filtered incoherent pumping in Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) slow light systems, especially for 2.5-Gb/s return-to-zero (RZ) OOK data streams. As compared to regular Gaussian filtering schemes, super-Gaussian filters can reduce the signal broadening without sacrificing the generated delay. On the other hand, although the figure-of-merits (FOM) in terms of the normalized delay and signal Q-factor products can be improved as well, additional sub-pulses may appear and subsequently the curve of FOM versus slow-light bandwidth exhibits a fluctuated behavior.     

Dynamic control of the terahertz rainbow trapping effect based on a silicon-filled graded grating

We theoretically propose a scheme to realize the dynamic control of the properties of the terahertz(THz) rainbow trapping effect(RTE) based on a silicon-filled graded grating(SFGG) in a relatively broad band via optical pumping.Through the theoretical analysis and finite-element method simulations, it is conceptually demonstrated that the band of the RTE can be dynamically tuned in a range of ~0.06 THz. Furthermore, the SFGG can also be optically switched between a device for the RTE and a waveguide for releasing the trapped waves. The results obtained here may imply applications for the tunable THz plasmonic devices, such as on-chip optical buffers, broad band slow-light systems, and integrated optical filters.     

Tunable all-optical delays via Brillouin slow light in an optical fiber

We demonstrate a technique for generating tunable all-optical delays in room temperature single-mode optical fibers at telecommunication wavelengths using the stimulated Brillouin scattering process. This technique makes use of the rapid variation of the refractive index that occurs in the vicinity of the Brillouin gain feature. The wavelength at which the induced delay occurs is broadly tunable by controlling the wavelength of the laser pumping the process, and the magnitude of the delay can be tuned continuously by as much as 25 ns by adjusting the intensity of the pump field. The technique can be applied to pulses as short as 15 ns. This scheme represents an important first step towards implementing slow-light techniques for various applications including buffering in telecommunication systems.     

Quantized pumping and topology of the phase diagram for a system of interacting bosons

Interacting lattice bosons at integer filling can support two distinct insulating phases, which are separated by a critical point: the Mott insulator and the Haldane insulator [E.?G. Dalla Torre, E. Berg, and E. Altman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 260401 (2006).]. The critical point can be gapped out by breaking lattice inversion symmetry. Here, we show that encircling this critical point adiabatically pumps one boson across the system. When multiple chains are coupled, the two insulating phases are no longer sharply distinct, but the pumping property survives. This leads to strict constraints on the topology of the phase diagram of systems of quasi-one-dimensional interacting bosons.     

Energy efficient nonlinear optics in silicon: are slow-light structures more efficient than nanowires?

We compare the energy performance of four-wave mixing in nanowires and slow-light photonic crystals and outline the regimes where each platform exhibits salient advantages and limitations, including analysis of the impact of future fabrication improvement. These results suggest a route towards energy efficient silicon integrated photonics.     

Experimental constraints of using slow-light in sodium vapor for light-drag enhanced relative rotation sensing

We report on experimental observation of electromagnetically induced transparency and slow-light (v_g ≈ c/607) in atomic sodium vapor, as a potential medium for a recently proposed experiment on slow-light enhanced relative rotation sensing [Shahriar et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. (submitted for publication), http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0505192.]. We have performed an interferometric measurement of the index variation associated with a two-photon resonance to estimate the dispersion characteristics of the medium that are relevant to the slow-light based rotation sensing scheme. We also show that the presence of counter-propagating pump beams in an optical Sagnac loop produces a backward optical phase conjugation beam that can generate spurious signals, which may complicate the measurement of small rotations in the slow-light enhanced gyroscope. We identify techniques for overcoming this constraint. Conclusions reached from the results presented here will pave the way for designing and carrying out an experiment that will demonstrate the slow-light induced enhancement of rotation sensing.     

High sensitive and large dynamic range quasi-distributed sensing system based on slow-light π-phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings

In this paper, we theoretically analyze the slow-light π-phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (π-FBG) and its applications for single and multipoint/quasi-distributed sensing. Coupled-mode theory (CMT) and transfer matrix method (TMM) are used to establish the numerical modeling of slow-light π-FBG. The impact of slow-light FBG parameters, such as grating length (L), index change (Δn), and loss coefficient (α) on the spectral properties of π-FBG along with strain and thermal sensitivities are presented. Simulation results show that for the optimum grating parameters L = 50 mm, Δn = 1.5×10⁻⁴, and α = 0.10 m^-1, the proposed slow-light π-FBG is characterized with a peak transmissivity of 0.424, the maximum delay of 31.95 ns, strain sensitivity of 8.380 με^-1, and temperature sensitivity of 91.064 °C^-1. The strain and temperature sensitivity of proposed slow-light π-FBG is the highest as compared to the slow-light sensitivity of apodized FBGs reported in the literature. The proposed grating have the overall full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.2245 nm, and the FWHM of the Bragg wavelength peak transmissivity is of 0.0798 pm. The optimized slow-light π-FBG is used for quasi-distributed sensing applications. For the five-stage strain quasi-distributed sensing network, a high strain dynamic range of value 1469 με is obtained for sensors wavelength spacing as small as 2 nm. In the case of temperature of quasi-distributed sensing network, the obtained dynamic range is of 133 °C. For measurement system with a sufficiently wide spectral range, the π-FBGs wavelength grid can be broadened which results in substantial increase of dynamic range of the system.     

Spectrally efficient slow light using multilevel phase-modulated formats

A phase-preserving and spectrally efficient slow-light scheme has been proposed and demonstrated by utilizing advanced multilevel phase-modulated formats. A 60 ps symbol delay with error-free demodulation of both I and Q channels for 10 Gbit/s return-to-zero differential-quadrature-phase-shift-keyed (DQPSK) signals via a broadband stimulated Brillouin scattering-based slow-light medium is achieved experimentally. Simulation results on 20 Gbit/s DQPSK and 30 Gbit/s D8PSK propose to transmit very high spectrally efficient multilevel formats through a bandwidth-limited slow-light element.     

Third-harmonic generation in slow-light chalcogenide glass photonic crystal waveguides

We demonstrate third-harmonic generation (THG) in a dispersion-engineered slow-light photonic crystal waveguide fabricated in AMTIR-1 chalcogenide glass. Owing to the relatively low loss and low dispersion in the slow-light (c/30) regime, combined with the high nonlinear figure of merit of the material (～2), we obtain a relatively large conversion efficiency (1.4×10(-8)/W(2)), which is 30× higher than in comparable silicon waveguides, and observe a uniform visible light pattern along the waveguide. These results widen the number of applications underpinned by THG in slow-light platforms, such as the direct observation of the spatial evolution of the propagating mode.     

Enhancing the spectral sensitivity of interferometers using slow-light media

We demonstrate experimentally that the spectral sensitivity of an interferometer can be greatly enhanced by introducing a slow-light medium into it. The experimental results agree very well with theoretical predictions that the enhancement factor of the spectral sensitivity is equal to the group index n(g) of the slow-light medium.     

Symmetry restoration in the asymmetric linear σ model at finite temperature

TheSU(2)xSU(2) asymmetric linear sigma model is studied in a mean field approximation. A first order transition persists up to a critical value of the symmetry breaking term where it terminates at a higher order point. For the physical value of the symmetry breaking we only see remmants of the phase transition.     

Delay-gain decoupling in Brillouin-assisted slow light

In Brillouin-assisted slow-light the induced delay is always linked to a particular gain; i.e., the delay is directly proportional to the gain expressed in decibels. However, for certain applications this may be restrictive, and techniques to decouple gain and delay are thus of considerable practical interest. We propose a way to effectively decouple these two parameters that, subject to inherent physical constraints, can be used to obtain a delay line capable of providing arbitrary gain (or alternatively an amplifier that can provide arbitrary delay for a fixed gain). The decoupling mechanism relies upon operating the amplifier in the pump-depletion regime. Other advantages of this approach, as well as its limitations in the context of slow-light, are discussed.     

Fundamental limitations to gain enhancement in periodic media and waveguides

A common strategy to compensate for losses in optical nanostructures is to add gain material in the system. By exploiting slow-light effects it is expected that the gain may be enhanced beyond its bulk value. Here we show that this route cannot be followed uncritically: inclusion of gain inevitably modifies the underlying dispersion law, and thereby may degrade the slow-light properties underlying the device operation and the anticipated gain enhancement itself. This degradation is generic; we demonstrate it for three different systems of current interest (coupled-resonator optical waveguides, Bragg stacks, and photonic crystal waveguides). Nevertheless, a small amount of added gain may be beneficial.     

Silicon slow-light-based photonic mixer for microwave-frequency conversion applications

We describe and demonstrate experimentally a method for photonic mixing of microwave signals by using a silicon electro-optical Mach-Zehnder modulator enhanced via slow-light propagation. Slow light with a group index of ~11, achieved in a one-dimensional periodic structure, is exploited to improve the upconversion performance of an input frequency signal from 1 to 10.25 GHz. A minimum transmission point is used to successfully demonstrate the upconversion with very low conversion losses of ~7 dB and excellent quality of the received I/Q modulated QPSK signal with an optimum EVM of ~8%.     

Transmission of slow light through photonic crystal waveguide bends

The spectral dependence of the bending loss of cascaded 60 degrees bends in photonic crystal (PhC) waveguides is explored in a slab-type silicon-on-insulator system. An ultralow bending loss of (0.05 +/- 0.03) dB/bend is measured at wavelengths corresponding to the nearly dispersionless transmission regime. In contrast, the PhC bend is found to become completely opaque for wavelengths corresponding to the slow-light regime. A general strategy is presented and experimentally verified to optimize the bend design for improved slow-light transmission.