Giuseppe Coppola

Bio: Giuseppe Coppola is an academic researcher from National Research Council. The author has contributed to research in topics: Digital holography & Holography. The author has an hindex of 40, co-authored 256 publications receiving 5489 citations. Previous affiliations of Giuseppe Coppola include Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli & University of Naples Federico II.

2D lithium niobate microstructures: fabrication, characterization, and applications

Abstract: This work concerns the fabrication, optical characterization and potential applications of two types of microstructures manufactured in congruent lithium niobate. The first type consists of a simple 2D hexagonal lattice of inverted ferroelectric domains fabricated by standard electric field poling at room temperature. The second structure is the chemically etched version of the first one. Long etching in hot HF acid results in differential etching of opposite ferroelectric domain faces. In this way obtain a 3D structure is obtained in which the hexagonal domain array becomes an array of truncated pyramids. Both these structures are characterized through a digital interferometric analysis. The samples are inserted in the arm of a Mach-Zenhder interferometer and the digital holograms acquired are used to numerically reconstruct both the amplitude and the phase of the wavefront transmitted by the sample. Finally, we report on the possible applications of the fabricated structures. The hexagonally poled structure can be used as a variable binary phase array. In fact both sides of the poled sample are covered with a thin conductive layer (ITO), which acts as transparent electrode. By applying an external electric field it is possible to change the difference between the two phase levels, via the linear electro-optic effect, and, consequently, the distribution of light intensity in the diffracted orders. On the other hand, the 3D structured etched sample can be used as an micrometer size integral imaging system.

Effect of Plasma Surface Treatment on the Impact Behavior of Basalt/Epoxy Composites

Abstract: In this study, the effects of surface treatment of a low-temperature atmospheric oxygen plasma on basalt/epoxy composites were investigated to improve the hydrophobility of the composite surface. After the plasma treatment, the unmodified and surface treated composite laminates have been experimentally characterized by performing contact angle measurements, low-velocity impact tests and indentation depth on the impacted laminates. Results have showed a dependence of such composite properties on the plasma coating deposition and on the treatment parameters outlining the need to optimize both the plasma power and exposition time to plasma in order to assess the efficiency of the plasma treatment and establish the optimal processing conditions.

Interferometric system for the simultaneous measurement of the index of refraction and of the thickness of transparent materials, and related procedure

Abstract: Interferometric system for the simultaneous measurement of the index of refraction and of the thickness of transparent materials with a single measurement operation. In said system is employed an interferometer as a “shear interferometer” with the advantage of varying the wavelength of the luminous source. The index of refraction and the thickness are determined in two phases. Firstly it is determined the optical path analyzing the displacement of interferometric signal obtained by orthogonal incidence; successively, by means of phase recovery techniques and the previously determined optical path value, it is possible to obtain the index of refraction of the material. From the knowledge of the index and of the optical path it is obtained the material thickness. The system is made up of: a laser source ( 1 ), with variable emission wavelength, a collimator ( 4 ), a sample ( 5 ), a precision rotating base ( 7 ), aphotodiode ( 9 ), an oscilloscope ( 10 ), un bus IEEE- 488 ( 12 ) ed a PC ( 11 ). The invention is pertinent to the technical field of the optics and to the technical field of the characterization of materials and manufacturing of optical instruments.

Unlabeled Semen Analysis by Means of the Holographic Imaging

Abstract: The morphology, the motility, and the biochemical structure of the spermatozoon have often been correlated with the outcome of in vitro fertilization and have been shown to be the sole parameters of the semen analysis in predicting the success of intracytoplasmic sperm injection and intracytoplasmic morphologically selected sperm injection. In this context, digital holography has demonstrated to be an attractive technique to perform a label-free, noninvasive, and high-resolution technique for characterization of live spermatozoa. The aim of this chapter is to summarize the recent achievements of digital holography in order to show its high potentiality as an efficient method for healthy and fertile sperm cell selection, without injuring the specimen and to explore new possible applications of digital holography in this field.

Fabrication and characterization of zinc oxide based rib waveguide

Abstract: In this work we investigate the possibility to use Zinc Oxide (ZnO) thin films, deposited by RF magnetron sputtering, for the realization of integrated optical structures working at 1550 nm. Structural properties of sputtered zinc oxide thin films were studied by means of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements, while optical properties were investigated by spectrophotometry and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE). In particular, ellipsometric measurements allowed to determine the dispersion law of the ZnO complex refractive index (see manuscript) = n - jk through the multilayer modeling using Tauc-Lorentz (TL) dispersion model. We have found a preferential c-axis growth of ZnO films, with slightly variable deposition rates from 2.5 to 3.8 a/s. Conversely, the refractive index exhibits, from UV to near IR, a considerable and almost linear variation when the oxygen flux value in the deposition chamber varies from 0 to 10 sccm. In order to realize a waveguide structure, a 3-mm-thick ZnO film was deposited onto silicon single crystal substrates, where a 0.5-mm-thick thermal SiO 2 buffer layer was previously realized, acting as lower cladding. Dry and wet chemical etching processes have been investigated to achieve controllable etching rate and step etching profile, with the aim to realize an optical rib waveguide. The etched surfaces were inspected using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. Moreover, we carried out the experimental measurements of the fringes pattern and Free Spectral Range (FSR) of an integrated Fabry- Perot etalon, obtained by cleaving of a single mode rib waveguide.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Photonic crystals

Abstract: 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.

Micrometre-scale silicon electro-optic modulator

Abstract: Metal interconnections are expected to become the limiting factor for the performance of electronic systems as transistors continue to shrink in size. Replacing them by optical interconnections, at different levels ranging from rack-to-rack down to chip-to-chip and intra-chip interconnections, could provide the low power dissipation, low latencies and high bandwidths that are needed. The implementation of optical interconnections relies on the development of micro-optical devices that are integrated with the microelectronics on chips. Recent demonstrations of silicon low-loss waveguides, light emitters, amplifiers and lasers approach this goal, but a small silicon electro-optic modulator with a size small enough for chip-scale integration has not yet been demonstrated. Here we experimentally demonstrate a high-speed electro-optical modulator in compact silicon structures. The modulator is based on a resonant light-confining structure that enhances the sensitivity of light to small changes in refractive index of the silicon and also enables high-speed operation. The modulator is 12 micrometres in diameter, three orders of magnitude smaller than previously demonstrated. Electro-optic modulators are one of the most critical components in optoelectronic integration, and decreasing their size may enable novel chip architectures.

Silicon optical modulators

Abstract: Optical technology is poised to revolutionize short-reach interconnects. The leading candidate technology is silicon photonics, and the workhorse of such an interconnect is the optical modulator. Modulators have been improved dramatically in recent years, with a notable increase in bandwidth from the megahertz to the multigigahertz regime in just over half a decade. However, the demands of optical interconnects are significant, and many questions remain unanswered as to whether silicon can meet the required performance metrics. Minimizing metrics such as the device footprint and energy requirement per bit, while also maximizing bandwidth and modulation depth, is non-trivial. All of this must be achieved within an acceptable thermal tolerance and optical spectral width using CMOS-compatible fabrication processes. This Review discusses the techniques that have been (and will continue to be) used to implement silicon optical modulators, as well as providing an outlook for these devices and the candidate solutions of the future.

A high-speed silicon optical modulator based on a metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitor

Abstract: Silicon has long been the optimal material for electronics, but it is only relatively recently that it has been considered as a material option for photonics1. One of the key limitations for using silicon as a photonic material has been the relatively low speed of silicon optical modulators compared to those fabricated from III–V semiconductor compounds2,3,4,5,6 and/or electro-optic materials such as lithium niobate7,8,9. To date, the fastest silicon-waveguide-based optical modulator that has been demonstrated experimentally has a modulation frequency of only ∼20 MHz (refs 10, 11), although it has been predicted theoretically that a ∼1-GHz modulation frequency might be achievable in some device structures12,13. Here we describe an approach based on a metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) capacitor structure embedded in a silicon waveguide that can produce high-speed optical phase modulation: we demonstrate an all-silicon optical modulator with a modulation bandwidth exceeding 1 GHz. As this technology is compatible with conventional complementary MOS (CMOS) processing, monolithic integration of the silicon modulator with advanced electronics on a single silicon substrate becomes possible.