Extremely sensitive readout of a stable "etalon of length" is achieved with laser frequency-locking techniques. Rotation of the entire electro-optical system maps any cosmic directional anisotropy of space into a corresponding frequency variation. We found a fractional length change $\frac{\ensuremath{\Delta}l}{l}=(1.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2.5)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}15}$, with the expected ${P}_{2}(cos\ensuremath{\theta})$ signature. This null result represents a 4000-fold improvement on the best previous measurement of Jaseja et al.

Improved laser test of the isotropy of space

Recently it has been shown that it is possible to achieve directional emission out of a subwavelength aperture in a periodically corrugated metallic thin film. We report on theoretical and experimental studies of a related phenomenon concerning light emitted from photonic crystal waveguides that are less than a wavelength wide. We find that the termination of the photonic crystal end facets and an appropriate choice of the wavelength are instrumental in achieving very low numerical apertures. Our results hold promise for the combination of photonic crystal waveguides with conventional optical systems such as fibers, waveguides, and freely propagating light beams.

Highly Directional Emission from Photonic Crystal Waveguides of Subwavelength Width

Active control and cancellation of residual amplitude modulation (RAM) in phase modulation of an optical carrier is one of the key technologies for achieving the ultimate stability of a laser locked to an ultrastable optical cavity. Furthermore, such techniques are versatile tools in various frequency modulation-based spectroscopy applications. In this Letter we report a simple and robust approach to actively stabilize RAM in an optical phase modulation process. We employ a waveguide-based electro-optic modulator (EOM) to provide phase modulation and implement an active servo with both DC electric field and temperature feedback onto the EOM to cancel both the in-phase and quadrature components of the RAM. This technique allows RAM control on the parts-per-million level where RAM-induced frequency instability is comparable to or lower than the fundamental thermal noise limit of the best available optical cavities.

Reduction of residual amplitude modulation to 1 × 10^-6 for frequency modulation and laser stabilization

A silver film-based superlens, a plasmonic microzone plate, is put forth for the purpose of superfocusing at visible regime. The numerical analysis results reveal that it has unique focusing characteristics of longer focal length and depth of focus with resolving power beyond diffraction limit in comparison to the conventional zone plates. Working at near field, it increases working distance l at near field from l <lambda/10 to l approximate to lambda similar to 5 lambda. This feature makes it a promising superlens to be used as a probe for the optical systems with high resolution imaging and detection as well as feedback control system immune for autofocusing. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Plasmonic microzone plate: Superfocusing at visible regime

Four types of plasmonic lenses for the purpose of superfocusing designed on the bases of approximate negative refractive index concept, subwavelength metallic structures, waveguide mode were introduced, and curved chains of nanoparticles, respectively, were introduced. Imaging mechanism, fabrication, and characterization issues were presented. Theoretical analyses of the illumination with different polarization states on focusing performance of the plasmonic lenses were given also. In addition, a hybrid Au-Ag plasmonic lens with chirped slits for the purpose of avoiding oxidation of Ag film was presented.

Plasmonic Lenses: A Review

Residual amplitude modulation is one of the major sources of instability in ultra-sensitive optical detections based on frequency modulation. Using a MgO·LiNbO3 electro-optic crystal, we systematically measure the temperature and polarization dependence of residual amplitude modulation and our experimental results are in good agreement with a previous theoretical analysis. After optical phase modulation, two independent arms including optical detection and frequency demodulation are employed to closely examine the instability of the residual amplitude modulation. Residual amplitude modulation below 25 ppm is obtained with an active cancellation scheme in which the crystal temperature is varied so as to zero the baseline drifts with different origins. Possible improvements for better suppression and stability are discussed.

Measurement and control of residual amplitude modulation in optical phase modulation.

The influence of V-shaped plasmonic nanostructures caused by focused ion beam milling on transmission properties are addressed in this paper. In order to evaluate the influence, a finite-difference and time-domain numerical method is employed for simulation of the plasmonic structures flanked with the corrugations with equal groove depth at the exit side of a metal film which is coated on a quartz substrate. Our simulation results have shown that a V-shaped subwavelength central slit/aperture is helpful for beam shaping. It plays a positive and dominant role in transmissivity. However, the V-shaped grooves cause a red shift of the peak wavelength and a broadening of the cut-off wavelength. This leads to the beam diverging in the region of the far field. In the case of the existence of both the V-shaped central slit and the V-shaped grooves, the influence of the grooves is less compared to that of the central slit, and can be ignored theoretically.

Influence of V-shaped plasmonic nanostructures on beam propagation

This paper aims at two practical design issues encountered with electro-optic amplitude modulators, namely (1) the long-term optical power drift when a single electro-optic crystal is used and (2) the mechanical resonances of the crystal that limit the control bandwidth. We investigated an active control scheme using a single crystal to offset the drifts of different origins such as polarization, crystal birefringence, and electronics. The control system worked continuously for at least 15 h without interruption and a power instability of 8 x 10(-4) was achieved in a 3-h measurement. This technique can be employed in electro-optic applications where two matched crystals are usually used to compensate the birefringence-related drifts. Meanwhile, mechanical resonances in two crystals (LiNbO3 and KTiOPO4) were mapped out and their influences on the control bandwidth were quantitatively investigated. Residual noises of two intensity-stabilized lasers (a Helium-Neon laser and a dye laser) were analyzed in detail. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-term and wideband laser intensity stabilization with an electro-optic amplitude modulator

An optical probe with a single aperture flanked by depth-tuned surface corrugations is presented. It can generate enhanced optical transmission at the exit of a slit and lower reflection at the top side of the compound dielectric/metal structure. The probe is designed and discussed on the basis of enhanced surface plasmon resonance for the purpose of high-resolution inspection use. A multidielectric probe consisting of air/glass/C/Ag/air is put forward. The influence of the thickness of the carbon film on the reduction of reflection is analyzed in detail combined with the relevant funneling effect induced by waveguide mode propagation through a central slit. Our simulation results show that a carbon film with a thickness of 150 nm and a 200-nm Ag film with the designed parabolic corrugations can reach our design target of the enhanced optical transmission and minimum reflection.

Transmission and reflection navigated optical probe with depth-tuned surface corrugations

Two 1,064-nm Nd:YAG lasers frequency stabilized by high-finesse optical cavities are developed to investigate various noise mechanisms in ultra-stable optical oscillators. Active control of residual amplitude modulation using a separate sensing path is implemented and its effectiveness in the presence of a resonant optical cavity is theoretically analyzed and experimentally verified by measuring the rejection ratios in optical heterodyne beat between a perturbed laser and a stable reference. Laser frequency noises originated from vibration, residual amplitude modulation, quantum-limited shot noise, and electronic noise are experimentally analyzed. With active control, residual amplitude modulation is suppressed to below 1 x 10(-6) at 0.02-1,000 s, reaching a minimum of 2 x 10(-7) at similar to 2 s. A frequency stability of 2 x 10(-15) is obtained from 0.1 to 10 s, and the optical heterodyne beat of the two Nd: YAG lasers shows 1-Hz linewidth with a measurement time of 4.096 s. In addition, the experimentally determined linewidths agree well with the calculation according to a simplified relationship between the linewidth and the underlying flicker noise that modulates the laser frequency.

Chun Wang

Papers

Measurement and control of residual amplitude modulation in optical phase modulation.

Influence of V-shaped plasmonic nanostructures on beam propagation

Long-term and wideband laser intensity stabilization with an electro-optic amplitude modulator

Transmission and reflection navigated optical probe with depth-tuned surface corrugations

Analysis of frequency noise in ultra-stable optical oscillators with active control of residual amplitude modulation