The term photonic crystals appears because of the analogy between electron waves in crystals and the light waves in artificial periodic dielectric structures. During the recent years the investigation of one-, two-and three-dimensional periodic structures has attracted a widespread attention of the world optics community because of great potentiality of such structures in advanced applied optical fields. The interest in periodic structures has been stimulated by the fast development of semiconductor technology that now allows the fabrication of artificial structures, whose period is comparable with the wavelength of light in the visible and infrared ranges.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6354/16969/00781867.pdf

Photonic crystals

Slow light with a remarkably low group velocity is a promising solution for buffering and time-domain processing of optical signals. It also offers the possibility for spatial compression of optical energy and the enhancement of linear and nonlinear optical effects. Photonic-crystal devices are especially attractive for generating slow light, as they are compatible with on-chip integration and room-temperature operation, and can offer wide-bandwidth and dispersion-free propagation. Here the background theory, recent experimental demonstrations and progress towards tunable slow-light structures based on photonic-band engineering are reviewed. Practical issues related to real devices and their applications are also discussed. The unique properties of wide-bandwidth and dispersion-free propagation in photonic-crystal devices have made them a good candidate for slow-light generation. This article gives the background theory of slow light, as well as an overview of recent experimental demonstrations based on photonic-band engineering.

/pdf/slow-light-in-photonic-crystals-59fjoaj79v.pdf

Slow light in photonic crystals

The history, fabrication, theory, numerical modeling, optical properties, guidance mechanisms, and applications of photonic-crystal fibers are reviewed

Photonic-Crystal Fibers

Have you ever felt that the very title, Progress in Optics, conjured an image in your mind? Don’t you see a row of handsomely printed books, bearing the editorial stamp of one of the most brilliant members of the optics community, and chronicling the field of optics since the invention of the laser? If so, you are certain to move the bookend to make room for Volume 16, the latest of this series. It contains seven chapters on widely diverging topics, written by well-known authorities in their fields. These are: 1) Laser Selective Photophysics and Photochemistry by V. S. Letokhov, 2) Recent Advances in Phase Profiles (sic) Generation by J. J. Clair and C. I. Abitbol, 3 ) Computer-Generated Holograms: Techniques and Applications by W.-H. Lee, 4) Speckle Interferometry by A. E. Ennos, 5 ) Deformation  Invariant, Space-Variant Optical  Pattern Recognition by D. Casasent and D. Psaltis, 6) Light Emission from High-Current Surface-Spark Discharges by R. E. Beverly, and 7) Semiclassical Radiation  Theory within a  QuantumMechanical Framework by I. R. Senitzkt. The  breadth of topic  matter  spanned  by  these  chapters makes it impossible, for this reviewer at least, to pass judgement on the comprehensiveness, relevance, and completeness of every chapter. With an editorial board as prominent as that of Progress in Optics, however, it seems hardly likely that such comments should be necessary. It should certainly be possible to take the authority of each author as credible. The only remaining judgment to be  made on these chapters is their readability. In short, what are they like to read? The first sentence of the first chapter greets the eye with an obvious typographical error: “The creation of coherent laser light source, that have tunable radiation, opened the . . . .” Two pages later we find: “When two types of atoms or molecules of different isotopic composition ( A and B ) have even one spectral line that does not overlap with others, it is pos-

Progress in optics

WITH the ever-widening scope of modern mathematical analysis and its many ramifications, it is quite impossible to include, in a single volume of reasonable size, an adequate and exhaustive discussion of the calculus in its more advanced stages. It therefore becomes necessary, in planning a thoroughly sound course in the subject, to consider several important aspects of the vast field confronting a modern writer. The limitation of space renders the selection of subject-matter fundamentally dependent upon the aim of the course, which may or may not be related to the content of specific examination syllabuses. Logical development, too, may lead to the inclusion of many topics which, at present, may only be of academic interest, while others, of greater practical value, may have to be omitted. The experience and training of the writer may also have, more or less, a bearing on both these considerations.Advanced CalculusBy Dr. C. A. Stewart. Pp. xviii + 523. (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1940.) 25s.

Advanced Calculus I

We describe a multipole formulation that can be used for high-accuracy calculations of the full complex propagation constant of a microstructured optical fiber with a finite number of holes. We show how the imaginary part of the microstructure, which describes confinement losses not associated with absorption, varies with hole size, the number of rings of holes, and wavelength, and give the minimum number of rings of holes required for a specific loss for given parameters.

/pdf/confinement-losses-in-microstructured-optical-fibers-1l4vsfxv6y.pdf

Confinement losses in microstructured optical fibers

We review recent advances related to slow light in periodic structures, where the refractive index varies along one or two directions, i.e. gratings and planar photonic crystals. We focus on how these geometries are conducive to enhancing the nonlinear interaction between light and matter. We describe the underlying theory developed for shallow gratings, but whose conclusions can be extended to planar photonic crystal waveguides, in particular the enhancement of third-order nonlinear processes with slow light. We review some experiments showing how gratings have been used for pulse compression and the generation of slow gap solitons. We then present recent nonlinear experiments performed in photonic crystal waveguides that demonstrate the strong reinforcement of nonlinear third-order optical phenomena with slow light. We discuss the challenges associated with slow light in these 2D structures and their unique advantage—dispersion engineering—for creating broadband nonlinear devices for all-optical signal processing. By breaking down the relation between dispersion and group velocity imposed in gratings, these structures also offer new opportunities for generating soliton-like effects over short length scales, at low powers and with short pulses.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2040-8978/12/10/104003/pdf

Slow light enhanced nonlinear optics in periodic structures

http://people.physics.anu.edu.au/~nna124/PLA-2010.pdf

Collisions and turbulence in optical rogue wave formation

We discuss density of states functions for photonic crystals, in the context of the two-dimensional problem for arrays of cylinders of arbitrary cross section. We introduce the mutual density of states (MDOS), and show that this function can be used to calculate both the local density of states (LDOS), which gives position information for emission of radiation from photonic crystals, and the spectral density of states (SDOS), which gives angular information. We establish the connection between MDOS, LDOS, SDOS and the conventional density of states, which depends only on frequency. We relate all four functions to the band structure and propagating states within the crystal, and give numerical examples of the relation between band structure and density of states functions.

Density of states functions for photonic crystals.

We briefly review our recent nonlinear propagation experiments in optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). These experiments demonstrate nonlinear pulse compression, and pulse shaping, and also show how a train of pulses may be generated from a single input pulse. Our results also demonstrate the existence of Bragg grating solitons, solitons which exist by balancing of the nonlinearity of the glass and the dispersion of the grating.

C.M. de Sterke

Papers

Confinement losses in microstructured optical fibers

Slow light enhanced nonlinear optics in periodic structures

Collisions and turbulence in optical rogue wave formation

Density of states functions for photonic crystals.

High-intensity pulse propagation in uniform gratings and grating superstructures