Optical Waveguide Theory

Curious wave phenomena that occur in optical fibres due to the interplay of instability and nonlinear effects are reviewed.

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Instabilities, breathers and rogue waves in optics

Graphene plasmons were predicted to possess ultra-strong field confinement and very low damping at the same time, enabling new classes of devices for deep subwavelength metamaterials, single-photon nonlinearities, extraordinarily strong light-matter interactions and nano-optoelectronic switches. While all of these great prospects require low damping, thus far strong plasmon damping was observed, with both impurity scattering and many-body effects in graphene proposed as possible explanations. With the advent of van der Waals heterostructures, new methods have been developed to integrate graphene with other atomically flat materials. In this letter we exploit near-field microscopy to image propagating plasmons in high quality graphene encapsulated between two films of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). We determine dispersion and particularly plasmon damping in real space. We find unprecedented low plasmon damping combined with strong field confinement, and identify the main damping channels as intrinsic thermal phonons in the graphene and dielectric losses in the h-BN. The observation and in-depth understanding of low plasmon damping is the key for the development of graphene nano-photonic and nano-optoelectronic devices.

Highly confined low-loss plasmons in graphene-boron nitride heterostructures

Space-division multiplexing (SDM) uses multiplicity of space channels to increase capacity for optical communication. It is applicable for optical communication in both free space and guided waves. This paper focuses on SDM for fiber-optic communication using few-mode fibers or multimode fibers, in particular on the critical challenge of mode crosstalk. Multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) equalization methods developed for wireless communication can be applied as an electronic method to equalize mode crosstalk. Optical approaches, including differential modal group delay management, strong mode coupling, and multicore fibers, are necessary to bring the computational complexity for MIMO mode crosstalk equalization to practical levels. Progress in passive devices, such as (de)multiplexers, and active devices, such as amplifiers and switches, which are considered straightforward challenges in comparison with mode crosstalk, are reviewed. Finally, we present the prospects for SDM in optical transmission and networking.

Space-division multiplexing: the next frontier in optical communication

Optical fiber gratings have developed into a mature technology with a wide range of applications in various areas, including physical sensing for temperature, strain, acoustic waves and pressure. All of these applications rely on the perturbation of the period or refractive index of a grating inscribed in the fiber core as a transducing mechanism between a quantity to be measured and the optical spectral response of the fiber grating. This paper presents a relatively recent variant of the fiber grating concept, whereby a small tilt of the grating fringes causes coupling of the optical power from the core mode into a multitude of cladding modes, each with its own wavevector and mode field shape. The main consequence of doing so is that the differential response of the modes can then be used to multiply the sensing modalities available for a single fiber grating and also to increase the sensor resolution by taking advantage of the large amount of data available. In particular, the temperature cross-sensitivity and power source fluctuation noise inherent in all fiber grating designs can be completely eliminated by referencing all the spectral measurements to the wavelength and power level of the core mode back-reflection. The mode resonances have a quality factor of 105, and they can be observed in reflection or transmission. A thorough review of experimental and theoretical results will show that tilted fiber Bragg gratings can be used for high resolution refractometry, surface plasmon resonance applications, and multiparameter physical sensing (strain, vibration, curvature, and temperature).

Tilted fiber Bragg grating sensors

Single-longitudinal-mode erbium-doped fiber laser with the fiber-Bragg-grating-based asymmetric two-cavity structure

A photonic-assisted microwave mixer using a Sagnac-loop-based modulator and polarization-dependent modulation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In this scheme, a dual-parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) is incorporated in a Sagnac loop, where light is single-sideband (SSB) modulated along one direction with no modulation along the opposite direction due to the traveling-wave velocity mismatch in DPMZM. The SSB-modulated light and unmodulated optical carrier (OC) with opposite propagation directions and orthogonal polarizations are combined via a polarization beam combiner, and thus, a partial orthogonal SSB-modulated signal is obtained, which is then injected into a Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM) via a polarization controller to ensure the polarization of the unmodulated OC paralleling with the transverse electric (TE) principal axis of MZM. Thus, only the OC is modulated by the data, and the first-order sidebands pass through the MZM directly without modulation based on the polarization dependence of MZM. After a polarizer for polarization interference and a photodetector for optical-to-electrical conversion, a phase-stable microwave signal is obtained. By adjusting the bias point of MZM, clear eye diagrams, and waveforms of 1 Gb/s on-off keying (OOK), amplitude-shift keying (ASK), and binary-phase-shift keying (BPSK) signals at 8 GHz are experimentally achieved.

Photonic Microwave Signal Mixing Using Sagnac-Loop-Based Modulator and Polarization-Dependent Modulation

In this letter, we present a structured polarization-maintaining chirped fiber Bragg grating (PM-CFBG) for temperature-independent and strain-independent twist measurement. The structured PM-CFBG, which has two transmission peaks, is created by tapering directly on the PM-CFBG. The grating transmissivity of structured PM-CFBG changes linearly with twist while it is insensitive to strain and temperature. The wavelength interval changes proportionally to the temperature, but remains the same as the strain increases. This novel sensor can be used to measure temperature, strain, and twist simultaneously.

Temperature-Independent and Strain-Independent Twist Sensor Based on Structured PM-CFBG

We presented a simple method for measuring the mode purity of linearly polarized orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes in optical fibers. The method is based on the analysis of OAM beam projections filtered by a polarizer. The amplitude spectrum and phase spectrum of a data ring derived from the beam pattern are obtained by Fourier transform. Then the coefficients of the mixed electric field expression can be determined and the mode purity can be obtained. The proposed method is validated and it is experimentally demonstrated in a two-mode fiber.

Linearly polarized orbital angular momentum mode purity measurement in optical fibers.

High absorption efficiency is particularly desirable for various microtechnological applications. In this paper, a nearly perfect terahertz absorber for transverse magnetic (TM) polarization based on T-shaped InSb array is proposed and numerically investigated. Incident wave at the Fabry-Perot resonant frequency can be totally absorbed into the narrow grooves between the two adjacent T-shaped InSb arms. The absorption mechanism is theoretically and numerically studied by using the Fabry-Perot model and the finite element method (FEM), respectively. It is found that the proposed absorber has large angle tolerance. Moreover, the absorption peak can be controlled by varying the temperature. Furthermore, a new absorption peak will emerge while breaking the symmetry of the T-shaped InSb array. This tunable and angle-independent THz perfect absorber may find important applications in THz devices such as microbolometers, coherent thermal emitters, solar cells, photo detectors, and sensors.

Shuisheng Jian

Papers

Single-longitudinal-mode erbium-doped fiber laser with the fiber-Bragg-grating-based asymmetric two-cavity structure

Photonic Microwave Signal Mixing Using Sagnac-Loop-Based Modulator and Polarization-Dependent Modulation

Temperature-Independent and Strain-Independent Twist Sensor Based on Structured PM-CFBG

Linearly polarized orbital angular momentum mode purity measurement in optical fibers.

Tunable Terahertz Plasmonic Perfect Absorber Based on T-Shaped InSb Array