A fast-Fourier-transform method of topography and interferometry is proposed. By computer processing of a noncontour type of fringe pattern, automatic discrimination is achieved between elevation and depression of the object or wave-front form, which has not been possible by the fringe-contour-generation techniques. The method has advantages over moire topography and conventional fringe-contour interferometry in both accuracy and sensitivity. Unlike fringe-scanning techniques, the method is easy to apply because it uses no moving components.

Fourier-transform method of fringe-pattern analysis for computer-based topography and interferometry

Light modulation is an essential operation in photonics and optoelectronics. With existing and emerging technologies increasingly demanding compact, efficient, fast and broadband optical modulators, high-performance light modulation solutions are becoming indispensable. The recent realization that 2D layered materials could modulate light with superior performance has prompted intense research and significant advances, paving the way for realistic applications. In this Review, we cover the state of the art of optical modulators based on 2D materials, including graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides and black phosphorus. We discuss recent advances employing hybrid structures, such as 2D heterostructures, plasmonic structures, and silicon and fibre integrated structures. We also take a look at the future perspectives and discuss the potential of yet relatively unexplored mechanisms, such as magneto-optic and acousto-optic modulation.

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Optical modulators with 2D layered materials

Thirty years ago, Coullet et al. proposed that a special optical field exists in laser cavities bearing some analogy with the superfluid vortex. Since then, optical vortices have been widely studied, inspired by the hydrodynamics sharing similar mathematics. Akin to a fluid vortex with a central flow singularity, an optical vortex beam has a phase singularity with a certain topological charge, giving rise to a hollow intensity distribution. Such a beam with helical phase fronts and orbital angular momentum reveals a subtle connection between macroscopic physical optics and microscopic quantum optics. These amazing properties provide a new understanding of a wide range of optical and physical phenomena, including twisting photons, spin-orbital interactions, Bose-Einstein condensates, etc., while the associated technologies for manipulating optical vortices have become increasingly tunable and flexible. Hitherto, owing to these salient properties and optical manipulation technologies, tunable vortex beams have engendered tremendous advanced applications such as optical tweezers, high-order quantum entanglement, and nonlinear optics. This article reviews the recent progress in tunable vortex technologies along with their advanced applications.

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Optical vortices 30 years on: OAM manipulation from topological charge to multiple singularities

The absorption and emission properties of transition metal (TM)-doped zinc chalcogenides have been investigated to understand their potential application as room-temperature, mid-infrared tunable laser media. Crystals of ZnS, ZnSe, and ZnTe, individually doped with Cr/sup 2+/, Co/sup 2+/, Ni/sup 2+/, or Fe/sup 2+/ have been evaluated. The absorption and emission properties are presented and discussed in terms of the energy levels from which they arise. The absorption spectra of the crystals studied exhibit strong bands between 1.4 and 2.0 /spl mu/m which overlap with the output of strained-layer InGaAs diodes. The room-temperature emission spectra reveal wide-band emissions from 2-3 /spl mu/m for Cr and from 2.8-4.0 /spl mu/m for Co, Cr luminesces strongly at room temperature; Co exhibits significant losses from nonradiative decay at temperatures above 200 K, and Ni and Fe only luminesce at low temperatures, Cr/sup 2+/ is estimated to have the highest quantum yield at room temperature among the media investigated with values of /spl sim/75-100%. Laser demonstrations of Cr:ZnS and Cr:ZnSe have been performed in a laser-pumped laser cavity with a Co:MgF/sub 2/ pump laser. The output of both lasers were determined to peak at wavelengths near 2.35 /spl mu/m, and both lasers demonstrated a maximum slope efficiency of approximately 20%. Based on these initial results, the Cr/sup 2+/ ion is predicted to be a highly favorable laser ion for the mid-IR when doped into the zinc chalcogenides; Co/sup 2+/ may also serve usefully, but laser demonstrations yet remain to be performed.

Transition metal-doped zinc chalcogenides: Spectroscopy and laser demonstration of a new class of gain media

The ultrafast relaxation and recombination dynamics of photogenerated electrons and holes in epitaxial graphene are studied using optical-pump Terahertz-probe spectroscopy. The conductivity in graphene at Terahertz frequencies depends on the carrier concentration as well as the carrier distribution in energy. Time-resolved studies of the conductivity can therefore be used to probe the dynamics associated with carrier intraband relaxation and interband recombination. We report the electron-hole recombination times in epitaxial graphene for the first time. Our results show that carrier cooling occurs on sub-picosecond time scales and that interband recombination times are carrier density dependent.

Ultrafast Optical-Pump Terahertz-Probe Spectroscopy of the Carrier Relaxation and Recombination Dynamics in Epitaxial Graphene

We demonstrate the enhanced four-wave mixing of monolayer graphene on slow-light silicon photonic crystal waveguides. 200-μm interaction length, a four-wave mixing conversion efficiency of −23 dB is achieved in the graphene-silicon slow-light hybrid, with an enhanced 3-dB conversion bandwidth of about 17 nm. Our measurements match well with nonlinear coupled-mode theory simulations based on the measured waveguide dispersion, and provide an effective way for all-optical signal processing in chip-scale integrated optics.

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Enhanced four-wave mixing in graphene-silicon slow-light photonic crystal waveguides

By using femtosecond laser pulses to ablate microsized targets that are dispersed in liquid media, nanocrystalline Cr(2+)-doped ZnSe nanowires have been successfully fabricated for the first time. The phase and stoichiometries of the original materials are preserved while the sizes are reduced down to 30-120 nm for these nanowires. X-ray diffraction results show that the products are nanocrystalline ZnSe with cubic sphalerite structure. Scanning electron microscope results indicate that the products be ZnSe nanowires. The nanowires are usually 30-120 nm in diameter and several tens of micrometers in length. Photoluminescence of the nanocrystalline Cr(2+)-doped ZnSe nanowires shows strong emission at around 2000-2500 nm under excitation of 1300-2250 nm wavelength at room temperature. By using the Cr(2+)-doped ZnSe multiple nanowires as the gain medium, mid-infrared oscillation at 2194 nm has been established. The oscillation wavelength of the multiple nanowires laser is 150 nm shifted to shorter wavelengths in comparison with that of microsized powder random laser.

Nanocrystalline Cr(2+)-doped ZnSe nanowires laser.

A non-iterative spatial phase-shifting algorithm based on principal component analysis (PCA) is proposed to directly extract the phase from only a single spatial carrier interferogram. Firstly, we compose a set of phase-shifted fringe patterns from the original spatial carrier interferogram shifting by one pixel their starting position. Secondly, two uncorrelated quadrature signals that correspond to the first and second principal components are extracted from the phase-shifted interferograms by the PCA algorithm. Then, the modulating phase is calculated from the arctangent function of the two quadrature signals. Meanwhile, the main factors that may influence the performance of the proposed method are analyzed and discussed, such as the level of random noise, the carrier-frequency values and the angle of carrier-frequency of fringe pattern. Numerical simulations and experiments are given to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method and the results show that the proposed method is fast, effectively and accurate. The proposed method can be used to on-line detection fields of dynamic or moving objects.

Spatial carrier phase-shifting algorithm based on principal component analysis method

We demonstrate the enhanced fast photoresponsivity in graphene hybrid structures by combining the ultrafast dynamics of graphene with improved light-matter interactions in slow-light photonic crystal waveguides. With a 200 μm interaction length, a 0.8 mA/W photoresponsivity is achieved in a graphene-silicon Schottky-like photodetector, with an operating bandwidth in excess of 5 GHz and wavelength range at least from 1480 nm to 1580 nm. Fourfold enhancement of the photocurrent is observed in the slow light region, compared to the wavelength far from the photonic crystal bandedge, for a chip-scale broadband fast photodetector.

Enhanced photoresponsivity in graphene-silicon slow-light photonic crystal waveguides

We have studied the random laser action in Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) ethylene glycol solution with Al nanoparticles. The experiment results are obtained by pumping with a nanosecond (7 ns) laser pulse, which demonstrated the existence of effective random laser emission. It is found that the threshold of the random laser depends on the concentration of the Rh6G and the concentration of Al nanoparticles. The concentration and diameter of Al nanoparticles have effects on the optical path; a higher concentration or a larger diameter results in a shorter optical path length. Also multimode survival and mode competition have been observed at a relatively high concentration (0.08 M) of Rh6G, where the concentration of Al nanoparticles is 0.0015 M.

Shouhuan Zhou

Papers

Enhanced four-wave mixing in graphene-silicon slow-light photonic crystal waveguides

Nanocrystalline Cr(2+)-doped ZnSe nanowires laser.

Spatial carrier phase-shifting algorithm based on principal component analysis method

Enhanced photoresponsivity in graphene-silicon slow-light photonic crystal waveguides

Effective random laser action in Rhodamine 6G solution with Al nanoparticles