We describe a resonator-based optical gyroscope whose sensitivity for measuring absolute rotation is enhanced via use of the anomalous dispersion characteristic of superluminal light propagation. The enhancement is given by the inverse of the group index, saturating to a bound determined by the group velocity dispersion. We also show how the offsetting effect of the concomitant broadening of the resonator linewidth may be circumvented by using an active cavity. For realistic conditions, the enhancement factor is as high as ${10}^{6}$. We also show how normal dispersion used for slow light can enhance relative rotation sensing in a specially designed Sagnac interferometer, with the enhancement given by the slowing factor.

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Ultrahigh enhancement in absolute and relative rotation sensing using fast and slow light

During femtosecond laser fabrication, photons are mainly absorbed by electrons, and the subsequent energy transfer from electrons to ions is of picosecond order. Hence, lattice motion is negligible within the femtosecond pulse duration, whereas femtosecond photon-electron interactions dominate the entire fabrication process. Therefore, femtosecond laser fabrication must be improved by controlling localized transient electron dynamics, which poses a challenge for measuring and controlling at the electron level during fabrication processes. Pump-probe spectroscopy presents a viable solution, which can be used to observe electron dynamics during a chemical reaction. In fact, femtosecond pulse durations are shorter than many physical/chemical characteristic times, which permits manipulating, adjusting, or interfering with electron dynamics. Hence, we proposed to control localized transient electron dynamics by temporally or spatially shaping femtosecond pulses, and further to modify localized transient materials properties, and then to adjust material phase change, and eventually to implement a novel fabrication method. This review covers our progresses over the past decade regarding electrons dynamics control (EDC) by shaping femtosecond laser pulses in micro/nanomanufacturing: (1) Theoretical models were developed to prove EDC feasibility and reveal its mechanisms; (2) on the basis of the theoretical predictions, many experiments are conducted to validate our EDC-based femtosecond laser fabrication method. Seven examples are reported, which proves that the proposed method can significantly improve fabrication precision, quality, throughput and repeatability and effectively control micro/nanoscale structures; (3) a multiscale measurement system was proposed and developed to study the fundamentals of EDC from the femtosecond scale to the nanosecond scale and to the millisecond scale; and (4) As an example of practical applications, our method was employed to fabricate some key structures in one of the 16 Chinese National S&T Major Projects, for which electron dynamics were measured using our multiscale measurement system.

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Electrons dynamics control by shaping femtosecond laser pulses in micro/nanofabrication: modeling, method, measurement and application

Hydrothermal reaction of (S)-1,1‘1‘ ‘-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene-1,3,5-triyl-tris(methylene)-tris-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid (TBPLA) with Ni(ClO4)2·6H2O gave pale green block crystals of 1. X-ray crystal structure analysis showed the complex to be a trinuclear descrete homochiral molecule with each Ni center sitting in distorted octahedron geometries. Anisotropic permittivity measurements reveal that 1 exhibits huge dielectric anisotropy along its three different crystal axes that is ca. 3.5 times of er (E//c)/er (E//b) with temperature and frequency independence.

Dielectric Anisotropy of a Homochiral Trinuclear Nickel(II) Complex

Holes bound to acceptor defects in oxide crystals are often localized by lattice distortion at just one of the equivalent oxygen ligands of the defect. Such holes thus form small polarons in symmetric clusters of a few oxygen ions. An overview on mainly the optical manifestations of those clusters is given. The article is essentially divided into two parts: the first one covers the basic features of the phenomena and their explanations, exemplified by several paradigmatic defects; in the second part numerous oxide materials are presented which exhibit bound small polaron optical properties. The first part starts with summaries on the production of bound hole polarons and the identification of their structure. It is demonstrated why they show strong, wide absorption bands, usually visible, based on polaron stabilization energies of typically 1 eV. The basic absorption process is detailed with a fictitious two-well system. Clusters with four, six and twelve equivalent ions are realized in various oxide compounds. In these cases several degenerate optically excited polaron states occur, leading to characteristic final state resonance splittings. The peak energies of the absorption bands as well as the sign of the transfer energy depend on the topology of the clusters. A special section is devoted to the distinction between interpolaron and intrapolaron optical transitions. The latter are usually comparatively weak. The oxide compounds exhibiting bound hole small polaron absorptions include the alkaline earth oxides (e.g. MgO), BeO and ZnO, the perovskites BaTiO3 and KTaO3, quartz, the sillenites (e.g. Bi12TiO20), Al2O3, LiNbO3, topaz and various other materials. There are indications that the magnetic crystals NiO, doped with Li, and LaMnO3, doped with Sr, also show optical features caused by bound hole polarons. Beyond being elementary paradigms for the properties of small polarons in general, the defect species treated can be used to explain radiation and light induced absorption especially in laser and non-linear oxide materials, the role of some defects in photorefractive compounds, the coloration of various gemstones, the structure of certain catalytic surface centres, etc. The relation to further phenomena is discussed: free small polarons, similar distorted centres in the sulfides and selenides, acceptor defects trapping two holes.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0953-8984/18/43/R01/pdf

O− bound small polarons in oxide materials

Creating materials with time-variant properties is critical for breaking reciprocity that imposes fundamental limitations on wave propagation. However, it is challenging to realize efficient and ultrafast temporal modulation in a photonic system. Here, leveraging both spatial and temporal phase manipulation offered by an ultrathin nonlinear metasurface, we experimentally demonstrated nonreciprocal light reflection at wavelengths around 860 nm. The metasurface, with travelling-wave modulation upon nonlinear Kerr building blocks, creates spatial phase gradient and multi-terahertz temporal phase wobbling, which leads to unidirectional photonic transitions in both the momentum and energy spaces. We observed completely asymmetric reflections in forward and backward light propagations over a large bandwidth around 5.77 THz within a sub-wavelength interaction length of 150 nm. Our approach highlights a potential means for creating miniaturized and integratable nonreciprocal optical components. Light propagating in one direction only could pave the way towards miniaturized components for faster, more efficient data transfer in optical circuits. Xingjie Ni and colleagues at the Pennsylvania State University demonstrated the unidirectional flow of near-infrared light in free space based on a 150-nanometre-thick nano-engineered surface, i.e., metasurface. Their approach adds to the body of research examining ways to disrupt the common wisdom that light travelling in one direction can also travel in the other. In the new system, the ultrathin metasurface consisting of a silver reflector plate supporting block-shaped, silicon nanoantennaswas dynamically modulated to generate time-varying parameters. The infrared light interacts with the ultrathin metasurface, ultimately resulting in a reflection that does not propagate in the opposite direction.

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Nonreciprocal metasurface with space-time phase modulation.

It is shown experimentally and theoretically that photorefractive wave coupling can be used for dramatic ($\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.025\text{ }\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}$) deceleration of light pulses whose width is larger than (or comparable with) the nonlinear response time. This classical nonlinear scheme exhibits similarities with the technique based on the quantum effect of electromagnetically induced transparency. The main distinctive feature of our scheme is amplification of the delayed output pulse. Advantages of the novel technique and its prospects for manipulation with light photons are discussed.

Light pulse slowing down up to 0.025 cm/s by photorefractive two-wave coupling.

A considerable deceleration of light pulses in crystals with nearly compensated space-charge field proves that the strong dispersion of dynamic photorefractive gratings in the vicinity of Bragg resonance is of primary importance for light slowing down.

Slowing down of light in photorefractive crystals with beam intensity coupling reduced to zero.

Studies of light-induced charge transfer in Sn2P2S6 by combined EPR/optical absorption spectroscopy

Interferometry and holography are two domains that are based on observation and recording of interference fringes from two light beams. While the aim of the first technique is to reveal and map the phase difference of two wave fronts, the main task of the second technique is to reconstruct one of the two recording waves via diffraction of the other wave from the recorded fringe pattern (hologram). To create fringes, mutually coherent waves from the same laser are commonly used. It is shown here that fringes can be observed and holograms can be recorded with ultrashort, sub-picosecond pulses even of different colour, generated in our experiment with two parametric amplifiers seeded, both by the same mode-locked Ti-sapphire laser. The appearance of permanent and transient gratings is confirmed by recording of an image-bearing hologram, by observation of two-beam coupling gain in a pump-probe experiment and by frequency conversion in Raman-Nath self-diffraction from a moving grating.

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Interference and holography with femtosecond laser pulses of different colours

The coherent oscillation, because of nearly degenerate four-wave mixing in photorefractive crystals with two types of movable charge carriers, occurs at two spectral lines symmetrically shifted with respect to the pump frequency. Consequently the output oscillation exhibits the high contrast intensity modulation. The frequency separation of two oscillation modes (and modulation frequency of the output intensity) depend on the incident light intensity and spatial frequency of the developing grating. A model is presented explaining this type of oscillation by the two-maxima shape of the gain spectrum in crystals with sufficiently different relaxation times of two space-charge gratings, one formed by movable electrons and the other one by movable holes. The experimental data for coherent oscillator with tin hypothiodiphosphate (Sn2P2S6) are in reasonable quantitative agreement with the calculations.

Alexandr Shumelyuk

Papers

Light pulse slowing down up to 0.025 cm/s by photorefractive two-wave coupling.

Slowing down of light in photorefractive crystals with beam intensity coupling reduced to zero.

Studies of light-induced charge transfer in Sn2P2S6 by combined EPR/optical absorption spectroscopy

Interference and holography with femtosecond laser pulses of different colours

Multiline coherent oscillation in photorefractive crystals with two species of movable carriers