THz radiation has assumed a great importance thanks to the efforts in the development of technological tools used in this versatile band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Here we propose a reflecting bi-mirror axicon-like device with wavelength-independent long focusing performances in the THz band, by exploiting the high thermo-mechanical deformation of the elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This deformation permits to achieve significant optical path modulations in the THz band and effective focusing. The surface of a PDMS layer is covered with a gold thin film, acting as heater thanks to its absorption for wavelengths below ~500 nm . An invariance property of the Fresnel integral has been exploited to verify experimentally the THz performances of the device with an ordinary visible laser source, finding excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions at 1 and 3 THz. The same property allowed also to verify experimentally that the axicon focus has a longitudinal extension much greater than that one exhibited by a benchmark cylindrical mirror with the same optical power. The axicon is thermo-mechanically stable up to a heating power of 270 mW, although it might be potentially exploited at higher powers with a minor degradation of the optical performances.

This paper presents the concept of a novel adaptable sensing solution currently being developed under the EU Commission founded PHOTONGATE project. This concept will allow to quantify multiple analytes of the same or different nature (chemicals, metals, bacteria, etc.) in a single test with levels of sensitivity and selectivity at/or over those offered by current solutions. PHOTONGATE relies on two core technologies: a bio-chemical technology (molecular gates) which will confer the specificity and, therefore, the capability to be adaptable to the analyte of interest, and which combined with porous substrates will increase the sensitivity, and a photonic technology based on Local Surface Plasmonic Resonance (LSPR) structures serves as transducer for light interaction. Both technologies are in the micron range, facilitating the integration of multiple sensors within a small area (mm²). The concept will be developed for its application in health diagnosis and food safety sectors. It is thought as an easy-to-use modular concept, which will consist of the sensing module, mainly of a microfluidics cartridge that will house the photonic sensor, and a platform for fluidic handling, optical interrogation, and signal processing. The platform will include a new optical concept, fully Europe Union Made, avoiding optical fibers and expensive optical components.

The investigation of plasma channels induced by focused ultra-short 1030-nm laser pulses in bulk of synthetic HPHT diamond revealed strong dependence of their size and shape on the used numerical aperture of the lens (NA=0.15-0.45). It was shown that at loose focusing conditions, it is possible to significantly increase the length of the plasma channel with a slight increase in pulse power, while tight focusing allows to obtain more compact structures in the same range of used powers. Such dependence paves the way to new possibilities in 3D processing of transparent dielectrics, allowing, for example, to vary the spatial parameters of modified regions without changing the setup, but only by controlling the lens aperture, which seems very promising for industrial applications.

Germanium (Ge) nanostrip is embedded in polymer and studied as a waveguide. Measurement reveals that this new type of semiconductor/polymer heterogeneous waveguide exhibits strong absorption for the TE mode from 1500 nm to 2004 nm, while the propagation loss for the TM mode declines from 20.56 dB/cm at 1500 nm to 4.89 dB/cm at 2004 nm. The transmission characteristics serves as an essential tool to verify the optical parameters (n-κ) of the thin strips, addressing to the ambiguity raised by spectroscopic ellipsometry regarding highly absorbing materials. Furthermore, the observed strong absorption for the TE mode at 2004 nm is well beyond the cut-off wavelength of the crystalline bulk Ge (~1850 nm at room temperature). This redshift is modeled to manifest the narrowing of the Tauc-fitted bandgap due to the grain order effect in the amorphous Ge layer. The accurate measurement of the nanometer-scale light-absorbing strips in a waveguide form is a crucial step toward the accurate design of integrated photonic devices that utilize such components.

A multispectral superconducting nanowire single photon detector sensitive to different incident photon wavelength bands, is proposed. The SNSPD consists of a Distributed Bragg Reflector, a gold mirror, and two regions employing four NbN nanowires. Using the DBR both as a filter and a reflector, two distinct detection bands are created. The first detection band has a peak absorbance of > 0.75 at a wavelength of 1143 nm, while the second band has an absorbance of > 0.70 in the wavelength range 1440 to 2000 nm. The design of the device can be tuned to provide sensitivity in different wavelength bands. While SNSPDs do not typically provide photon wavelength sensitivity, the band-selection design proposed in this work opens up potential applications for future quantum communication technology.

The valley pseudospin properties of electrons in two–dimensional hexagonal materials result in lots of fascinating physical phenomena, which opens up the new field of valleytronics. The valley-contrasting physics aims at distinguishing the valley degree of freedom based on valley–dependent effects. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that both of the valley–selective high harmonic generation and valley–selective electronic excitation can be achieved by using an orthogonal two–color (OTC) laser field in gapped graphene. It is shown that the asymmetry degrees of harmonic yields in the plateaus, cutoff energies of generated harmonics and electron populations from two different valleys can be precisely controlled by the relative phase of the OTC laser field. Thus the selectivity of the dominant valley for the harmonic radiation and electronic polarization can be switched by adjusting the relative phase of the OTC laser field. Our work offers an all–optical route to produce the valley–resolved high harmonic emissions and manipulate the ultrafast valley polarization on a femtosecond timescale in condensed matter.

An all-dielectric metasurface composed of orthogonal-slit silicon disks is proposed in this study. By modifying the unit structure of the metasurface with the bound states in the continuum (BIC) theory, a sharp Fano resonance can be generated. The resonance properties of the metasurface are investigated by analyzing the effects of the structural parameters on the resonance using the eigenmode analysis method. The Q factor and the resonance wavelength can be adjusted by varying the slit width, the disk thickness, and the disk radius. The electromagnetic characteristics and mechanism of the toroidal dipole-BIC (TD-BIC) are explored in depth through an analysis of the multipole expansion of the scattered power, along with the electromagnetic field and the current distribution at resonance. This research provides a novel approach for excitation of a strong TD-BIC resonance and proposes potential applications in optical switches, high-sensitivity optical sensors, and related areas.

We investigate the production of an isolated attosecond pulse (IAP) via the phase-matching gating of high-harmonic generation by intense laser pulses. Our study is based on the integration of the propagation equation for the fundamental and generated fields with nonlinear polarisation found via the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. We study the XUV energy as a function of the propagation distance (or the medium density) and find that the onset of the IAP production corresponds to the change from linear to quadratic dependence of this energy on the propagation distance (or density). Finally, we show that the upper limit of the fundamental pulse duration for which the IAP generation is feasible is defined by the temporal spreading of the fundamental pulse during the propagation. This nonlinear spreading is defined by the difference of the group velocities for the neutral and photoionised medium.

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) have gained significant attention due to their ability to modify the surface morphology of materials at the micro-nanoscale and show great promise for surface functionalization application. In this study, we specifically investigate the formation of LIPSS in silicon substrates and explore their impact on Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) applications. This study reveals a stepwise progression of LIPSS formation in silicon, involving three distinct stages of LIPSS: 1) integrated Low-Spatial-Frequency LIPSS (LSFL) and High-Spatial-Frequency LIPSS (HSFL), 2) principally LSFL and 3) LSFL at the edge of the irradiated spot, elucidating the complex interplay between laser fluence, pulse number, and resulting surface morphology. Furthermore, from an application standpoint, these high-quality multi-scale periodic patterns lead to the next step of texturing the entire silicon surface with homogeneous LIPSS for SERS application. The potential of LIPSS-fabricated silicon substrates for enhancing SERS performance is investigated using thiophenol as a test molecule. The results indicate that the Au-coated combination of LSFL and HSFL substrate showcased the highest enhancement factor (EF) of 1.38 × 10^6. This pronounced enhancement is attributed to the synergistic effects of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) and Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs), intricately linked to HSFL and LSFL characteristics. These findings contribute to understanding LIPSS formation in silicon and their applications in surface functionalization and SERS, paving the way for sensing platforms.

K-Rb-83Kr based atomic co-magnetometer for measuring moving MEGs is theoretically studied in this paper. Parameters such as the spin exchange rates, the spin dephasing rates and the polarization of the nuclear spins are studied to configure the co-magnetometer. Results show that the nuclear spin could generate around 700 nT magnetic field under which the nuclear spin could compensate wide range of magnetic fields. We also showed the hybrid optical pumping vapor cell fabrication process in this paper. Alkali metals were mixed in a glove box and then was connected to the alkali vapor cell fabrication system. The vapor cell fabrication process is illustrated in this paper.

Aimed for the difficulty and complexity of detecting the piston error for segmented telescope, this paper proposed a new piston error measurement method based on a hybrid artificial neural net-work. Firstly, we use Resnet network to learn the mapping relationship between the focal plane degradation image and the signs of the piston error. Then, based on the established theoretical re-lationship between modulation transfer function and the piston error, BP neural network is used here to learn the mapping relationship between the MTF and the absolute value of the piston error. After the training of the hybrid network is completed, a wide-range and high-precision detection of the piston error of the sub-mirrors can be achieved using the combined output of the two net-works only a focal plane image of a point source with broadband illumination is used as input. The detection range can reach the whole coherent length of the input broadband light, and the detec-tion accuracy can reach 10nm. The method proposed in this paper has the advantages of high de-tection accuracy, wide detection range, low hardware cost, small network scale and low training difficult.

Self-phase modulation (SPM) broadening of laser spectra was studied in a transmission mode in natural and synthetic diamonds at variable laser wavelengths (515 and 1030 nm), pulse energies and widths (0.3 - 12 ps, positively chirped pulses), providing their filamentary propagation. Besides the monotonous SPM broadening of the laser spectra versus pulse energy, more pronounced for the (sub)picosecond pulsewiths and more doped natural diamond, periodical low-frequency modulation was observed in the spectra at the shorter laser pulsewidths, indicating dynamic Bragg filtering of the supercontinuum due to ultrafast plasma and nanoplasmonic effects. Damping of broadening and ultramodulation for the longer picosecond pulsewidths was related to thermalized electron-hole plasma regime established for the laser pulsewidths longer, than 2 ps. Unexpectedly, at higher pulse energies and corresponding longer microfilaments, the number of spectral modulation features increases, indicating dynamic variation of the periods in the longitudinal plasma Bragg gratings along the filaments due to prompt secondary laser-plasmon interactions.

This study explores into a comprehensive examination of an optical cavity system that integrates Raman and Yb-doped gain media, with a focus on understanding their interactions. The research implies a characterization of each gain medium within the cavity while subjecting them to diverse co-pumping conditions with the other. When the Raman-lasing cavity is co-pumped by exciting the Yb-doped section, the resulting composite laser exhibits significant threshold reductions and there is an optimal co-pumping regime that enhances energy transfer from pump to Stokes. As for the complementary cavity, where the Yb-doped gain is influenced by the co-pumped Raman gain, at moderate pump powers a light-controlling-light behavior phenomenon arises. Within this regime, the 1064-nm signal suppresses the Yb-generated 1115-nm signal, suggesting potential applications in intracavity optical modulation. For higher pump levels, a cooperative effect emerges whereby both lasers mutually enhance each other. Minor variations in the primary 974-nm pump power, even by just a few milliwatts, result in significant capabilities for switching or modulating the Stokes signal. Under these conditions of mutual enhancement, the hybrid optical system validates notable improvements regarding energy transfer efficiency and threshold reduction. This research provides valuable insights into the intricate dynamics of optical cavity systems and reveals promising avenues for applications in advanced optical modulation technologies.

In this study, we presented a simple highly sensitive sensor based on commercially available solid core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for measuring the refractive index (RI) of analytes. The numerical simulation based on the finite element method (FEM) has been examined to compute the optical properties such as confinement loss, power spectrum, and transmission intensity of the sensor. The most sensitive and inert plasmonic materials (gold and silver) have been assumed to be coated inside the fiber with the range of analytes RI from 1.32 to 1.40. The performance of the proposed sensor has been evaluated by tracing the several optical features like wavelength sensitivity, amplitude sensitivity, resolution of the sensor, and figure of merit. As a result, the comparative study between silver and gold elements has been carried out in which the maximum sensitivity received as 1.15 μm/RIU and 1.10 μm/RIU respectively. Whereas, on the base of power spectrum the obtained sensitivity was 513 μm/RIU for the gold layer. Moreover, the effect of other structural parameters (air holes and plasmonic layers thickness) on the sensing performance has been taken into an account. According to the simulation analysis and results, this sensor would have a great potential in various sensing applications of biomedical and liquid refractive index.

The cubic nonlinearity of graphene oxide (GO) monolayer was characterized by open and closed Z-scan using a nano-second laser of 10 Hz repetition rate with a Gaussian spatial beam profile. The reverse saturable absorption or positive nonlinearity from open Z-scan and valley-peak traces or positive nonlinearity from closed Z-scan was displayed. The reverse saturable absorption could be from a two-photon or two-step excitation process due to the larger absorption in the lower visible and upper UV wavelength region compared with the excitation source. The nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction coefficient were estimated to be ~ 2.62x10-8 m/W and 3.9x10-15 m2/W, respectively. This study also reveals the effect of nonlinear absorption on nonlinear refraction traces.

Red color conversion materials have often been used in conventional white LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to enhance the insufficient deep red component and thus improve the color rendering property. Quantum dots (QDs) are one of the candidates due to their flexibility in controlling the emission wavelength, which is attributed to the quantum confinement effect. Two types of remote QD components, i.e., QD films and QD caps, were prepared and applied to conventional white LED illumination to improve the color rendering properties. Thanks to the red component near 630 nm caused by the QD components, the color rendering indices(CRIs) of both Ra and R9 could be increased to over 95. It was found that both the diffusing nature of the reflector and the light recycling process in the vertical cavity between the bottom reflector and the top optical films play important roles in improving the color conversion efficiency of remote QD components. The present study showed that the proper application of remote QDs combined with a suitable optical cavity can control the correlated color temperature of the illumination over a wide range, thus realizing different color appearances of white LED illumination. In addition, a high CRI of over 95 could be achieved due to sufficient excitation from fewer QDs due to the strong optical cavity effect.

A scalable optical convolutional neural network (SOCNN) based on free-space optics and Koehler illumination was proposed to address the limitations of the previous 4f correlator system. Unlike Abbe illumination, Koehler illumination provides more uniform illumination and reduces crosstalk. SOCNN allows for scaling up of the input array and the use of incoherent light sources. Hence, the problems associated with 4f correlator systems can be avoided. We analyzed the limitations in scaling the kernel size and parallel throughput and found that SOCNN can offer a multilayer convolutional neural network with massive optical parallelism.

In this paper, we consider the behavior of the local energy flow velocity of the fundamental air – core mode at the core – cladding boundary in two types of hollow – core fibers: hollow – core fibers with a negative curvature of the core boundary and single – capillary fibers with similar geometrical parameters. It is demonstrated that the behavior of both axial and radial components of the local energy velocity of the fundamental air – core mode is completely different for these two types of hollow – core fibers. The negative curvature of the core boundary leads to an alternating behavior of the radial projection of the local energy velocity and a decrease by two orders of magnitude compared to the values of this projection for a single capillary. In our opinion, this behavior of the local energy velocity of the fundamental air – core mode is caused by a periodic set of Poynting vector vortices that appear in the cladding capillary walls.

We study the influence of high-order twisting phases on polarization states and optical angular momentum of a vector light field with locally linear polarization and a hybrid state of polarization (SoP). The initial SoP of a twisted vector optical field (TVOF) modulated by the high-order twisting phase possesses various symmetric distributions. The propagating properties of a high-order TVOF with locally linear polarization and hybrid SoP are explored, including the intensity compression, expansion, and conversion between the linear and circular polarization components. In particular, orbital angular momentum (OAM) appears in a high-order TVOF during propagation where no OAM exists in the initial field. The variation of OAM distribution in cross-section becomes more frequent with the increase of the twisting phase order. In addition, a non-symmetric OAM distribution appears in an anisotropic TVOF, leading to the rotation of the beam around the propagation axis during propagation. These results provide a new approach for optical field manipulation in a high-order TVOF.

We investigate numerically the interactions of in-phase Airy beams modulated by a fundamental Gaussian beam and fourth-order diffraction in Kerr nonlinear media. Directly numerical simulations show that normal (anomalous) fourth-order diffractions and in-phase (out-of-phase) Gaussian beam affect the interactions of solitons generated from Airy beams in unique manners. Different from previous results that interactions between in-phase (out-of-phase) conventional beams are always attractive (repulsive), many anomalous interactions of Airy beams are obtained. Stable bound states of breathing Airy soliton pairs can be formed with the help of fourth-order diffraction and fundamental Gaussian beam.

In the field of clinical medicine, the real-time monitoring of carbon dioxide gas exhaled by the human body is of great significance. At present, the detection devices in the market are mainly detected by sucking a small amount of gas in the nasal cavity to the detection device, and there are some problems such as too long sampling tubes, easy blockage or distortion, and abnormal gas dispersion. In this paper, a micro-nano optical fiber sensor that can directly detect the concentration of end-tidal carbon dioxide is proposed. The measurement is achieved by using the principle of high evanescent field absorption, and the operating band is 2.004 μm. The sensor uses micro-nano optical fiber as the sensing area, and then detects the presence of carbon dioxide gas exhaled by human body through optical power attenuation. The function of micro-nano fiber is to realize the transmission of signal light and also serve as the absorption medium of the gas to be measured. In addition, the variation of light power also reflects the respiratory cycle of the human body. The sensor can realize rapid real-time response to carbon dioxide gas detection, with small size, low cost, and easy to replace. It has great application potential in clinical scenarios such as Gastrointestinal Endoscopes that require real-time monitoring of human respiration.

As a rapidly expanding family of two-dimensional (2D) materials, MXenes have recently gained considerable attention due to their appealing properties. Here, by developing a solution-based coating method that enables transfer-free and layer-by-layer film coating, we investigate the layer-dependent nonlinear optical absorption of Ti₃C₂T_x films ‒ an important member of the MXene family. By using the Z-scan technique, we characterize the nonlinear absorption of the prepared MXene films consisting of different numbers of monolayers. The results show that there is a strong and layer-dependent nonlinear absorption behavior, transitioning from revisable saturable absorption (RSA) to saturable absorption (SA) as the layer number increases from 5 to 30. Notably, the nonlinear absorption coefficient β varies significantly within this range, changing from ~7.13 × 10² cm/GW to ~-2.69 × 10² cm/GW. We also characterize the power-dependent nonlinear absorption of the MXene films at various incident laser intensities, and a decreasing trend in β is observed for increasing laser intensity. These results reveal the intriguing layer-dependent nonlinear optical properties of 2D MXene films, highlighting their versatility and potential for implementing high-performance nonlinear photonic devices.

The hydrodynamics of plasma formed in the interaction of 100-ns UV KrF laser pulses with foam targets with volume densities from 5 to 500 mg/cm3 was studied. Initial and dynamic transmittance at 248-nm wavelength have been measured. At intensities about 1012 W/cm2, the propagation rates of radiation through foam targets reached 80 km/s, while plasma stream velocities from both front and rear sides of targets were approximately the same ~ 75 km/s, which confirms a volumetric absorption of radiation within the target thickness and the explosive nature of the plasma formation and expansion.

The refractive index of solids guages their transparency to incident light, while the energy gap determines the threshold for light absorption. This paper provides a mathematical formulation for the relationship between refractive index and energy gap. It is also established that this formulation aided in the unification of the Moss, Ravindra, and Herve-Vandamme relationships.

Basic mechanisms of laser interaction with synthetic diamond are reviewed. The features of the major regimes of diamond surface etching are considered. Besides well-known graphitization and ablation processes, the nanoablation and accumulative graphitization, which attracted the attention relatively recently, are described in detail. The focus is placed on femtosecond (fs) laser exposure which provides a formation of dense cold electron-hole plasma in focal zone and a minimum overheating in surrounding area. This potentially opens the way to develop unique laser-based technologies combining physical and chemical processes for precise surface treatment and functionalization. The physical limitations determining how precisely the diamond surface can be treated by short-pulsed laser radiation and possible pathways to overcome them with the end to remove ultra-thin layers of the material are discussed. Particular attention is devoted to the novel possibility to induce local formation of point active defects - nitrogen vacancy (NV) complexes in the laser-irradiated zone. Both the regimes of NV centers generation with and without graphitization of diamond lattice are reviewed. It is thus shown that intensive pulse laser radiation is a perfect tool for processing of synthetic diamonds on the micro, nano and even on an atomic level that can be well controlled and managed.

Plasmonics is the study of resonant oscillations of free electrons in metals caused by incident electromagnetic radiation. Surface plasmons can focus and steer light on the subwavelength scale. Apart from metals, plasmonic phenomena can be observed in soft matter systems such as electrolytes where resonant charge oscillations can be induced for ions in solution. Due to their larger mass, they are plasmon-active in a lower frequency regime and on a larger wavelength scale. Spatial confinement allows increasingly strong charge interactions and gives rise to nonlocality or spatial dispersion effects. These effects manifest as additional longitudinal propagation modes and are known to cause plasmonic broadening and resonance shifts in metal nanostructures. We derive and discuss the nonlocal optical response of ionic plasmons using a hydrodynamic, two-fluid model in a planar homogeneous three-layer system with electrolyte-dielectric interfaces. Studying such systems enables us to identify and understand plasmonic phenomena in biological and chemical systems.

Coded aperture 3D imaging techniques have been rapidly evolving in the recent years. The two main directions of evolution are in aperture engineering to generate the optimal optical field and in development of computational reconstruction to reconstruct the object’s image from the intensity distribution with a minimal noise. The goal is to find the ideal aperture-reconstruction method pair and if not, to optimize one to match the other for designing an imaging system with required 3D imaging characteristics. Lucy-Richardson-Rosen algorithm (LR²A), a recently developed computational reconstruction method was found to perform better than its predecessors such as matched filter, Weiner filter, phase-only filter, Lucy-Richardson algorithm and non-linear reconstruction (NLR) for certain apertures when the point spread function (PSF) is a real and symmetric function. For other cases of PSF, NLR performed better than the rest of the methods. In this tutorial, LR²A has been presented as a generalized approach for any optical field along with MATLAB codes for reconstruction of any image when the PSF is known. The common problems and pitfalls in using LR²A has been discussed. Simulation and experimental studies for common optical fields such as spherical, Bessel, vortex beams and exotic optical fields such as Airy, scattered and self-rotating beams have been presented. From this study, it can be seen that it is possible to transfer the 3D imaging characteristics from non-imaging type exotic fields to indirect imaging systems faithfully using LR²A. The application of LR²A to medical images such as colonoscopy images and cone beam computed tomography images with synthetic PSF has been demonstrated. We believe that the tutorial will provide a deeper understanding of computational reconstruction using LR²A.

With the development of the volume of information exchange and perception increases, the demands for intelligent, miniaturized and integrated optical devices for information acquisition are also increasing. As the core component of optical networks for transmitting information, how to further optimize its structural characteristics to generate richer optical characteristics and apply them to information exchange and optical field control has become a key research hotspot. The introduction of chiral twist characteristics has led to new phenomena and applications in optical field transmission and transformation for traditional optical fibers or microstructured optical fibers (MOF). Therefore, this review mainly starts from the principle of chiral optical fibers, introduces their preparation and latest application scenarios, and finally looks forward to their potential future development prospects.

Nanoporous films of Eu-doped organosilicate glass (OSG) have been synthesized using sol-gel technology and spin-coating, employing evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA), on silicon wafers. The Eu doping is achieved by dissolution of Eu(NO3)3·6H2O in the precursor solution. The deposited films are characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ellipsometric porosimetry (EP), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy. It is observed that Eu doping makes the films more hydrophilic and reduces the pore size and open porosity. The reduction Eu3+ → Eu2+ occurs in the pores of OSG films, which is confirmed by depth profiling XPS. However, Eu3+ still presents on the film’s top surface. Presence of Eu3+ and Eu2+ gives characteristic luminescence emission in the range of 600‒630 nm (Eu3+) and 290‒400 nm (Eu2+). The Eu2+/Eu3+ concentrations ratio depends on CH3 groups concentration in the films. Moreover, concentration of Eu2+ ions in the pores can be reduced by exposure in inductively coupled (ICP) oxygen plasma. The observed shift of the luminescence spectra towards the UV region, in comparison to previously reported Eu-doped organosilicate films, can be attributed to the energy transfer occurring between the host material and Eu2+ ions.

Group IV alloys of GeSn have been extensively investigated as a competing material alternative in short-wave to mid-infrared photodetectors (PDs). The relatively large defect densities present in GeSn alloys are the major challenge in developing practical devices, owing to the low-temperature growth and lattice mismatch with Si or Ge substrates. In this paper, we comprehensively analyze the impact of defects on the performance of GeSn p-i-n homojunction PDs. We first present our theoretical models to calculate various contributing components of the dark current including minority carrier diffusion in p- and n-regions, carrier generation-recombination in the active intrinsic region, as well as the tunneling effect. We then analyze the effect of defect density in the GeSn active region on carrier mobilities, scattering times and the dark current. A higher defect density increases the dark current, resulting in reduction in detectivity of GeSn p-i-n PDs. In addition, at low Sn concentrations, defect-related dark current density is dominant, while the generation dark current becomes dominant at a higher Sn content. These results point to the importance of minimizing defect densities in the GeSn material growth and device processing, particularly for higher Sn compositions necessary to expand the cutoff wavelength to mid- and long-wave infrared regime. The study provides more of realistic expectations and guidelines for evaluating GeSn p-i-n PDs as a competitor to the III-V and II-VI-based infrared PDs currently on the commercial market.

The transformation of the state of polarization of a light beam by its linear interaction with a material medium can be modeled through the Stokes-Mueller formalism. The Mueller matrix associated with a given interaction depends on many aspects of the measurement configuration. In particular, different Mueller matrices can be measured for a fixed material sample depending on the spectral profile of the light probe. For a given light probe and a given sample with inhomogeneous spatial behavior, the polarimetric descriptors of the point-to-point Mueller matrices can be mapped leading to respective polarimetric images. The procedure can be repeated sequentially by using light probes with different central frequencies. In addition, the point-to-point Mueller matrices consecutively measured can be combined synthetically through convex sums leading to respective new Mueller matrices, in general with increased polarimetric randomness, thus exhibiting specific values for the associated polarimetric descriptors, including the indices of polarimetric purity, and generating new polarimetric images which are different from those obtained from the original Mueller matrices. In this work, the fundamentals for such synthetic generation of additional polarimetric images are described, providing a new tool that enhances the exploitation of Mueller polarimetry.

Recent studies have indicated that terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) can stably and efficiently acquire output spectra using an affordable and compact multimode laser diode (MMLD) with delayed optical feedback as the light source. This research focused on a numerical analysis of the optimal conditions for employing an MMLD with delayed optical feedback (chaotic oscillating laser diode) in THz-TDS, utilizing multimode rate equations. The findings revealed that the intermittent chaotic output generated by the MMLD, characterized by concurrent picosecond pulse oscillations lasting several tens of picoseconds, proves to be highly effective for THz-TDS. By appropriately setting the amounts of injection current and optical feedback, and the delay time of optical feedback, intermittent chaotic oscillation can be attained within a considerably broad parameter range. Moreover, both the MMLD output spectrum and the THz-TDS output spectrum exhibit a consistently stable shape at the microsecond scale, demonstrating the attractor properties inherent in an MMLD with delayed optical feedback.

Resonant light scattering by mesoscale dielectric spheres has received enormous attention and found many interesting applications. The recently emerged field of Mesotronics provides novel opportunities for wavelength-scaled optics and new fundamental aspects are still being uncovered. It has recently been demonstrated that high-order Mie resonances can be excited in homogeneous low-dissipation mesoscale dielectric spheres, leading to the generation of intense magnetic fields. This Letter describes a simple and effective way to drastically enhance the superresonance effect. Proof-of-principle results for the first time show that yet one more novel phenomenon of increasing the intensity of the magnetic field without changing the resonant Mie size parameter of the sphere by introducing an air cavity. In such a dielectric cenosphere (from two Greek words “kenos” - hollow and “sphaira” - sphere), by correct choosing of the air cavity size, it is possible to increase the intensity of the electromagnetic fields at the poles of the sphere by an order of magnitude due to increasing of amplitude of resonant partial wave coefficient.

The study of photonic crystals has emerged as an attractive area of research in nanoscience in the last years. In this work we study the properties of a two-dimensional photonic crystal composed of dielectric rods. The unit cell of the system is composed of six rods organized on the sites of a C6 triangular lattice. We induce a topological phase by introducing an angular perturbation ϕ in the pristine system. The topology of the system is then determined by using the so-called k.p perturbed model. Our results show that the system presents a topological and a trivial phases, depending on the sign of the angular perturbation ϕ. The topological character of the system is probed by evaluating the electromagnetic energy density and analyzing its distribution in the real space, in particular on the maximal Wyckoff points. We also find two edge modes at the interface between the trivial and topological photonic crystals, which present a pseudospin topological behavior. By applying the Bulk-Edge correspondence, we study the pseudospin edge modes and conclude that they are robust against defects, disorder and reflection. Moreover, the localization of the edge modes leads to the confinement of light and the interface behaves as a waveguide for the propagation of electromagnetic waves. Finally, we show that the two edge modes present energy flux propagating in opposite directions, which is the photonic analogue of the quantum spin Hall effect.

Recent researches indicated that metal nanoparticles which have the unique optical properties can be used to enhance the spectral response of the photovoltaic modules. Since most of the nanoparticles have enhancement effects in a specific wavelength range, improving the spectral response of the photovoltaic modules in a broadband range is crucial for their applications in imaging, energy harvesting, and optical communication. In this study, flower-like silver particles are applied to achieve the enhancement effects in a broadband range. The optical absorption of photovoltaic modules is improved in a broad wavelength range of 400~2000 nm by immobilizing flower-like silver particles onto an amorphous Si p-i-n structure, and the peak responsivity of the spectral response is enhanced by about 10 times. Theoretical investigation further elaborates that the enhancement originates from the near-field effects of silver particles due to the interaction of different parts of the flower-like silver particles. Through these studies, we demonstrate that, utilizing the subwavelength silver particles with roughness surface can achieve the spectral response of the photovoltaic modules enhanced in broadband range, which can improve the utilization efficiency of optical energy for the applications of sensing, imaging, optical communication, and energy harvesting.

The response of plasmonic metal particles to an electromagnetic wave undergoes significant features at the nanoscale level. Different properties of the internal composition of a metal, such as its ionic background and the free electron gas, begin to manifest more prominently. As the dimensions of the nanostructures decrease, the classical local theory gradually becomes inadequate. Therefore, Maxwellʹs equations need to be supplemented with a relationship determining the dynamics of current density which is the essence of nonlocal plasmonic models. In this field of physics, the standard (linearized) hydrodynamic model (HDM) has been widely adopted with great success, serving as the basis for a variety of simulation methods. However, ongoing efforts are also being made to expand and refine it. Recently, the GNOR (general nonlocal optical response) modification of the HDM has been used, with the intention of incorporating the influence of electron gas diffusion. Clearly, from the classical description of fluid dynamics, a close relationship between viscosive damping and diffusion arises. This offers a relevant motivation for introducing the GNOR modification in an alternative manner. The standard HDM and its existing GNOR modification also do not include the influence of interband electron transitions in the conduction band and other phenomena that are part of many refining modifications of the Drude‐Lorentz and other models of metal permittivity. In this article, we present a modified version of GNOR‐HDM that incorporates the viscosive damping of the electron gas and a generalized Drude‐Lorentz term. In the selected simulations, we also introduce Landau damping which corrects the magnitude of the standard damping constant of the electron gas based on the size of the nanoparticle. We have chosen a spherical particle as a suitable object for testing and comparing HD models and their modifications because it allows finding precise analytical solutions for the interaction and, simultaneously, it is a relatively easily fabricable nanostructure in practice. Our contribution also includes our own analytical method for solving the HDM interaction of a plane wave with a spherical particle. This method forms the core of calculations of the characteristic quantities, such as the extinction cross‐sections and the corresponding components of electric fields and current densities.

Reconfigurable chiral metasurfaces with dynamic polarization manipulation capability are highly required in optical integrated systems. In this paper, we simultaneously realized giant and large-range switchable asymmetric transmission (AT) and circular conversion dichroism (CCD) in a vanadium dioxide (VO2) based metasurface. The AT and CCD of the insulator VO2 based metasurface reach 0.95 and 0.92, respectively. Utilizing the insulator-to-metallic phase transition of VO2, the AT and CCD could be continuously switched to near zero. Furthermore, the physics mechanism of the giant and switchable AT and CCD are analyzed. The proposed metasurface with large-range switchable AT and CCD is promising in the applications of biochemistry detection, chiral imaging and biosensing.

We report on a 2D-gap surface plasmon metasurface based composed of a bottom metal layer, middle insulator layer, and top metal nanostructure of gold nanoblocks (nanoantennas). The proposed structure enables us to generate simultaneous multi plasmonic resonances and offers the possibility to tune them, within the near-infrared domain. The simplicity of the metasurface makes it promising for compact optical platforms based on reflection mode operation with potential application in multi-channel biosensors, second-harmonic generation, and multi-wavelength surface-enhanced spectroscopy among other interesting fields

Vectorial optical fields have sparked considerable interest with potential applications such as optical nano-fabrication, optical micromachining, quantum information processing, optical imaging, and so on. Traditional compact vectorial optical generators with amplitude modulation perform poorly in terms of diffraction effect reduction. In order to address this issue, the refractive 4f system in amplitude modulation is longitudinally aligned using an optimization approach presented in this research. The phase images used for longitudinal alignment are loaded into the liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM), and the distance between the lens and the mirror in the reflective 4f system is adjusted for longitudinal alignment by compensating for the neglected phase in the integrated module of the compact vectorial optical field generator. The spot images collected by the CCD are processed using the improved eight-direction Sobel operator, and the longitudinal alignment in the reflective 4f system is determined by the sharpness of the image. The sharpness of the lines' edges and the overall image are both enhanced after optimization compared to before optimization. The results show that the proposed method can significantly reduce the longitudinal alignment error of the reflective 4f system in the amplitude modulation of the compact vectorial optical field generator, lessen the diffraction effect, and improve the performance of the system.

Laser direct writing allows for the fabrication of complex structures, which is particularly advantageous in micro-optic applications. However, the increasing demand for optics quality requires the lowest optical power loss, which can occur from unwanted reflections. This research demonstrates the possibility of forming an anti-reflective coating on hybrid-polymer micro-lenses fabricated by employing laser direct writing (LDW), without changing their geometry. Such coating deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) decreased the reflection from 3.3 % to 0.1 % at the wavelength of 633 nm for one surface of SZ2080™.

The buildup dynamics of diode-pumped passively mode-locked solid-state laser is thoroughly explored by the real-time measurement with temporal sampling rate up to 40 GHz. A concise cavity is developed to ensure the transient dynamics purely arising from the gain medium and saturable absorber. Experimental results reveal that the laser output in the buildup process exhibits numerous passively Q-switched pulses followed with a damped relaxation oscillation prior to the stable mode locking. Furthermore, it is confirmed that the laser output has already displayed single clean mode-locked pulses inside the first several Q-switched envelopes before stepping into the stage of relaxation oscillation. The present real-time exploration is expected to provide important information for practical applications with temporal modulation of the pump intensity.

In order to improve the charge collection efficiency, we simulated and experimentally tested the doping structure of the electron multiplication layer in EBCMOS. In this paper, we simulate the charge collection efficiency of EBCMOS under different doping methods by modeling the collisional scattering of electrons with solid atoms in semiconductor materials and combining the transport trajectories of electrons in the electron multiplication layer, the simulation results indicate that using a layered doping structure to reduce the thickness of the index heavily doped layer can effectively optimize the electric field distribution in the electron multiplier layer and reduce the recombination rate of electrons. The optimized doping structure has a significant effect on improving charge collection efficiency. Based on the simulation results, doped samples were prepared and tested. The test results showed that the charge collection efficiency obtained under the condition of a P-type silicon substrate thickness of 7μm and an index heavily doped layer thickness of 1μm was 72.65%, reducing the thickness of the index heavily doped layer to 0.1μm, the charge collection efficiency obtained can reach 86.27%, which proves that reducing the thickness of the index heavily doped layer can effectively improve the charge collection efficiency of EBCMOS devices.

A review is here provided about the thermal effects on the optical chirality. To this goal, chiral objects dispersed in an embedding fluid are examined for their magnetoelectric coupling. Thermal effects on several chiral meta-atoms and their ensembles are examined. To this goal, DNA-like helical structures are examined in detail. Mechanical aspect of thermo-elasticity is reviewed along with transverse deformations, while drawing analogies from condensed-matter physics. In this respect, chirality-induced spin selection is reviewed along with the temperature-mediated elec-tron-phonon interactions. A wide range of materials such as polymers and biological cells are also examined for temperature effects. A transition temperature delineating a sign flip in the chirality parameter is identified as well. Chirality-associated functionalities such as ratchet motions, switching, and modulations are investigated for their respective thermal effects. Issues of fabri-cating chiral meta-atoms are also discussed.

We report on the use of quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) for multi-gas detection. Photo-acoustic (PA) spectra of mixtures of water (H2O), ammonia (NH3) and methane (CH4) were measured in the mid-infrared (MIR) wavelength range using a MIR (mid-infrared) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) light source. Highly overlapping absorption spectra is a common challenge for gas spectroscopy. To mitigate this, we use a partial least-squares regression (PLS) method to estimate the mixing ratio and concentrations of the individual gasses. The concentration range explored in the analysis varies from a few parts-per-million (ppm) to thousands of ppm. Spectra obtained from HITRAN and experimental single-molecule reference spectra of each of the molecular species were acquired and used as training data sets. These spectra were used to generate simulated spectra of the gas mixtures (linear combinations of the reference spectra). Here in this proof-of-concept experiment we demonstrate that after an absolute calibration of the QEPAS cell, the PLS analyses could be used to determine concentrations of single molecular species with a relative accuracy within a few % for mixtures of H2O, NH3 and CH4 and with an absolute sensitivity of approximately 300(±50) ppm/V, 50(±5) ppm/V and 5(±2) ppm/V for water, ammonia and methane, respectively. Thus, demonstrating that QEPAS assisted by PLS is a powerful approach to estimate concentrations of individual gas components with considerable spectral overlap, which is a typical scenario for real-life adoptions and applications.

In the past decade, considerable efforts have been devoted to the development of semitransparent organic solar cells. Numerous materials and architectures have been proposed for the future commercialization of these devices. Among these, the use of ternary active layers demonstrated a great promise for the development of efficient semi-transparent organic solar cells with the potential for future applications including self-powered greenhouses and powered windows. Researchers seek alternative solutions to the trade-off between device power conversion efficiency (PCE) and average visible transmittance (AVT), with photoactive materials being the key parameters that govern both (PCE) and (AVT) as well as device stability. Several new organic materials, including polymers and small molecules, were synthesized, and used in conjunction with a variety of techniques to achieve semitransparent conditions. In this review paper, we will look at the working principle and key parameters of semi-transparent organic solar cells, as well as the methods that have been used to improve the performance of ternary-based semi-transparent organic solar cells. The main approaches were concluded to be spectral enhancement and transparency increment of the active layer through bandgap tuning, utilizing novel organic semiconductors, and design architecture of the active layers.

The accommodative response of the human eye is predominantly driven by foveal vision but reacts also to off-foveal stimuli. Here, we report on monocular accommodation measurements using parafoveal and perifoveal annular stimuli centered around the fovea and extending up to 8 degree radial eccentricity for young emmetropic and myopic subjects. The stimuli were presented through a sequence of random defocus step changes induced by a pupil-conjugated tunable lens. A Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor with an infrared beacon was used to measure real-time changes of ocular aberrations up to and including the 4th radial order across a 3 mm pupil at 20 Hz. Our findings show a significant reduction in accommodative response with increased radial eccentricity.

Volumetric modification of transparent materials by femtosecond laser pulses is successfully used in a wide range of practical applications. The level of modification is determined by the locally absorbed energy density, which depends on numerous factors. In this work, it is shown experimentally and theoretically that, in a certain range of laser pulse energies, the peak of absorption of laser radiation for doughnut-shaped (DS) pulses is several times higher than for Gaussian ones. This makes the DS pulses very attractive for material modification and direct laser writing applications. Details of the interaction of laser pulses of Gaussian and doughnut shapes with fused silica obtained by numerical simulations are presented for different pulse energies and compared with the experimentally obtained data. The effect of absorbed energy delocalization with increasing laser pulse energy is demonstrated for both beam shapes while, at relatively low pulse energies, the DS beam geometry provides a stronger local absorption compared to Gaussian one. Implications of a DS pulse action on post-irradiation material evolution are discussed based on thermoelastoplastic modeling.

In this work we explore the utilization of plasmonic resonance (PR) in silver nanowires to enhance the performance of organic solar cells. Plasmonic resonance is a phenomenon in which nanoscale conductive materials exhibit oscillation of conduction electrons, resulting in the creation of an electric field. Enhancing light absorption is crucial for improving organic solar cell efficiency and incorporating metallic nanostructures to induce surface plasmon resonance (SPR) shows promise in achieving this goal. We discuss the two key mechanisms of plasmonic effects: far-field scattering and near-field resonance modes. Far-field scattering extends the optical path of incident light, while near-field plasmonic effects involve localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and plasmonic cavity modes, enhancing absorption by strengthening electric fields near the nanostructures. Silver nanowires are the focus of this study, and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation software is used to investigate their plasmonic resonance behavior in a ZnO/Silver nanowires/ZnO (ZAZ) electrode structure. The simulations reveal the dominance of LSPR in this configuration, with intense electric fields inside the nanowire and propagation into the surrounding medium, offering opportunities for enhanced light absorption in the organic solar cell's active layer.

Microwave transversal filters, which are implemented based on the transversal filter structure in digital signal processing, offer a high reconfigurability for achieving a variety of signal processing functions without changing hardware. When implemented using microwave photonic (MWP) technologies, also known as MWP transversal filters, they provide competitive advantages over their electrical counterparts, such as low loss, large operation bandwidth, and strong immunity to electromagnetic interference. Recent advances in high-performance optical microcombs provide compact and powerful multi-wavelength sources for MWP transversal filters that require a larger number of wavelength channels to achieve high performance, allowing for the demonstration of a diverse range of filter functions with improved performance and new features. Here, we present a comprehensive performance analysis for microcomb-based MWP spectral filters based on the transversal filter approach. First, we investigate the theoretical limitations in the filter spectral response induced by finite tap numbers. Next, we analyze the distortions in the filter spectral response resulting from experimental error sources. Finally, we assess the influence of input signal’s bandwidth on the filtering errors. These results provide a valuable guide for the design and optimization of microcomb-based MWP transversal filters for a variety of applications.

A switchable and tunable terahertz (THz) metamaterial based on photosensitive silicon and Vanadium dioxide (VO2) was proposed. By using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, the transmission and reflective properties of the metamaterial were investigated theoretically. The results imply that, the metamaterial can realize a dual electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) or two narrow-band absorption depending on the temperature of the VO2. Additionally, the magnitude of the EIT and two narrow-band absorption can be tuned by varying the conductivity of photosensitive silicon (PSi) via pumping light. Correspondingly, the slow light effect accompanying the EIT can also be adjusted.

We present a theoretical modeling of a cylindrical tunable liquid crystal lens based on the modulation of the anchoring energy. This latter can be easily obtained by means of photoaligning techniques. The liquid crystal cell we propose exhibits strong anchoring at the top substrate and an anchoring energy with parabolic profile at the bottom substrate. The model describes the dependence of the focal length on the applied voltage and presents a theoretical study of lens aberrations. The results obtained are of general relevance and can be used to optimize the performances of every kind of liquid crystal lens with parabolic profile.

The dynamics of the topological charge of a vortex optical beam propagating in a turbulent air with accounting for the cubic nonlinearity is theoretically considered. On a number of examples, we show that the optical beam self-focusing manifests itself ambiguously depending on optical wave power. At near-critical values of beam power, self-focusing leads to enhanced spatial localization of optical vortices and substantial suppression of vortex walk-off relative to the beam axis caused by air turbulence. However, with increasing of optical intensity the modulation instability imposed by cubic nonlinearity becomes significant and contributes jointly with medium turbulence to faster divergence of vortex beams.

With the intensive development of data transmitting and processing devices of the terahertz (THz) frequency range, an important part of which are integrated plasmonic components and communication lines, it becomes necessary to measure correctly the optical constants of their conductive surfaces. In the paper we describe a reliable method for determining the effective permittivity εm of a metal surface from the measured characteristics (refractive and absorption indices) of THz surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). The novelty of the method is the conduction of measurements on a metal surface with a dielectric layer of subwavelength thickness, suppressing the radiative losses of SPPs, which are not taken into account by the SPP dispersion equation. The method was tested on a number of flat "gold sputtering - zinc sulfide layer - air" structures with the use of the THz radiation (λ0 = 141 μm) of the Novosibirsk free electron laser (NovoFEL). The SPP characteristics were determined from interferograms measured with a plasmon Michelson interferometer. It was found that the method allowed a significant increase in the accuracy of εm in comparison with measurements on the same metal surface without a dielectric layer.

Powerful emitters of the ultraviolet C (UVC) light in the wavelength range of 230-280nm are necessary for the development of effective and safe optical disinfection technologies, high-sensitive optical spectroscopy and non-line-of-sight optical communication. This review considers such UVC-emitters with electron-beam pumping of heterostructures with quantum wells in the (Al,Ga)N material system. The important advantages of these emitters include the absence of the critical problem of p-type doping and the possibility of achieving record (up to several tens of watts for peak values) output optical power values in the UVC range. The review consistently considers about a decade of world experience in the implementation of various UV emitters with various types of thermionic, field-emission, and plasma-cathode electron guns (sources) used to excite various designs of active (light-emitting) regions in heterostructures with quantum wells AlxGa1-xN/AlyGa1-yN (x = 0 − 0.5, y = 0.6 − 1) fabricated either by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition or by plasma-activated molecular beam epitaxy. Special attention is paid to the production of heterostructures with multiple quantum wells/two-dimensional(2D) quantum disks GaN/AlN with a monolayer (1ML ~ 0.25nm) thickness, which ensures a high internal quantum efficiency of radiative recombination in the UVC range, low elastic stresses in heterostructures, and a high output UVC-optical powers.

The self-organization properties of C70 fullerene molecules in a xylene/tetrahydrofuran binary mixture were studied for the first time by optical absorption, refractometry, and dynamic light scattering. A correlation has been established between the change in the refractive index of the C70/xylene/tetrahydrofuran solution and the degree of self-organization of C70 molecules in the medium at various concentrations and storage periods of the solution. It is shown that the features of the optical absorption spectrum of C70/xylene/tetrahydrofuran at a fixed low concentration of the fullerene are sensitive to its storage time. It was determined that the beginning time of the formation of C70 nanoclusters and their final size depend on the concentration of fullerene and the time of keeping the solution. The observed nature of the C70 fullerene solution in a binary mixture may help to elucidate the mechanism of self-organization in the future.

Femtosecond laser-induced fluorescence (FLIF) and femtosecond laser-induced optical breakdown spectroscopy (FIBS) are important tools for remote diagnostics of atmospheric aerosols using LiDAR techniques. They are based on light emission excitation in disperse medium via the multiphoton nonlinear processes in aerosol particles induced by high-power optical pulses. To date, the main challenge restraining the large-scale application of the FLIF and FIBS in atmospheric studies is the lack of valued theory of the stimulated light emission in liquid microparticles with sufficiently broad range of sizes. In this paper, we fill this gap and present the theoretical model of dye water droplets emission under high-intense laser exposure that adequately simulates the processes of multiphoton excited fluorescence and optical breakdown plasma emission in microparticles and gives quantitative estimates of the angular and power characteristics of the nonlinear emission. The model is based on the numerical solution to the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equations for the stimulating (primary) and nonlinear (secondary) waves provided by the random nature of molecule emission in particles. We show that droplet fluorescence stimulated by the multiphoton absorption generally becomes more intensive with increasing particle size. Moreover, far-field plasma emission from liquid particles demonstrates larger angular diversity when changing droplet radius in comparison with the multiphoton excited fluorescence, which is mainly due to the excitation of the internal optical field resonances in spherical particles.

A physical scrutiny of experimental results published in Physical Review Letters (December 2015, M. Giustina, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 250401, and L. K. Shalm et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 250402) is undertaken. These articles reported that measured outcomes were fitted with quantum states possessing a dominant component of non-entangled photons, thereby contradicting their own claim of quantum nonlocality. With probabilities of photon detections lower than 0.1 %, the alleged quantum nonlocality cannot be classified as a resource for developing quantum computing devices, despite recent publicity. Experimental evidence of a feasible process for quantum-strong correlations has been identified (M. Iannuzzi, et al., Phys. Lett. A, 384 (9), 126200, 2020) in terms of correlations between independent and multi-photon states evaluated as Stokes vectors on the Poincaré sphere. As single-photon sources are not needed, the design and implementation of quantum computing operations will be significantly streamlined.

This study aims to theoretically address the design and analysis of an efficient pressure sensor designed by using a polymer-based defective 1D annular photonic crystal (APC). The 1D APC comprises an alternate arrangement of Si and SiO2 in a cylindrical fashion, incorporating a central defect layer. The investigation of the reflectance characteristics of the proposed structure is conducted by separately considering the polystyrene (PS) and the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymer materials as the defect layer. The pressure-sensitive refractive index of the polymers and the constituent materials of the APC plays a vital role in envisaging the pressure-sensing application. The cornerstone of this study is represented by the shift analysis in the wavelength of the defect mode inside the band gap using different applied pressures by employing the modified transfer matrix method (MTMM). Various geometrical parameters like the defect polymer layer’s thickness and the APC period were carefully optimized to achieve higher sensing performance. The proposed design demonstrated a remarkable pressure sensitivity and FoM of 51.29 nm/GPa and 301.7 GPa-1, respectively, which is considerably high in the current research scenario. It is believed that the proposed structure can be an apt candidate as an innovative high-performance pressure sensor, and it can play a key role in photonic integrated circuits.

Large-area nanostructuring of glasses using intense laser beam remains a difficult task due to the extreme non-linear absorption of the laser energy by the material. Precise optimization of the process parameters is essential for fabricating nanostructures with large area coverage. In this study, we report the findings on creating high spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL) on borosilicate glass through direct laser writing, using a femtosecond laser with a wavelength λ = 800 nm, pulse duration τ = 35 fs, and repetition frequency frep = 1 kHz. The orientation of the HSFL was found to be parallel to the electric field vector. We measured the single pulse ablation threshold (Fth=3.87±0.26 J/cm2) and incubation factor (S=0.68±0.03) of Borosilicate glasses for precise control for large area surface structuring. Single-spot experiments indicate that uniform LIPSS formation is limited by melt formation inside the irradiated area for higher fluence and a larger number of irradiated laser pulses. The orientation of the scan axis with the laser beam polarization is found to be significantly influencing the uniformity of the large area processing. We found that the orientation of the scan axis with the laser beam polarization significantly affects the uniformity of large-area processing, with redeposition and melt formation being higher when the scan axis is perpendicular to the laser beam polarization. Large-area processing of the borosilicate glass surface is done by line-by-line scanning over the surface with a scan orientation parallel to the laser beam polarization. The optical characterization reveals that the transmittance and reflectance of the borosilicate glass decreased significantly after processing. Also, the wettability of the surface has been changed from hydrophilic to super hydrophilic after processing. These chemical contamination-free and uniformly distributed structures have potential applications in optics, microfluidics, photovoltaics, and biomaterials.

The Ocean Color - Simultaneous Marine and Aerosol Retrieval Tool (OC-SMART) is a robust data processing platform that supports a large array of multi-spectral and hyper-spectral sensors. It provides accurate aerosol optical depths and remote sensing reflectances (Rrs estimates) that can be used to generate products such as absorption coefficients due to phytoplankton and detritus/Gelbstoff as well as backscattering coefficients due to particulate matter. The OC-SMART platform yields improved performance in complex environments by utilizing scientific machine learning (SciML) in conjunction with comprehensive radiative transfer computations. This paper expands the capability of OC-SMART by quantifying uncertainties in ocean color retrievals. Bayesian inversion is used to relate measured top of atmosphere radiances and a priori data to estimate posterior probability density functions and associated uncertainties. A framework of the methodology and implementation strategy is presented and uncertainty estimates for Rrs retrievals are provided to demonstrate the approach by applying it to MODIS, OLCI Sentinel-3, and VIIRS sensor data.

The cornea is the optical window to the brain. Its optical and structural properties are responsible for optical transparency and vision. The shape, elasticity, rigidity or stiffness are given by its biomechanical properties, whose stability results in ocular integrity and intraocular pressure dynamics. Here, we report in vivo observation of structural changes and biomechanical alterations of the human cornea induced by acoustic wave pressure within the frequency range of 50-350 Hz and 90 dB of sound pressure level. Central corneal thickness (CCT) and eccentricity (e2) were measured using Scheimpflug imaging and biomechanical properties [corneal hysteresis (CH) and intraocular pressure (IOP] were assessed with air-puff tonometry in 6 young healthy subjects. At the specific 150 Hz acoustic frequency, the variation in CCT and e2 were of 0.058 and 7.33 µm, respectively. Biomechanical alterations were also observed in both IOP (decrease of 3.60 mmHg) and CH that showed an increase of 0.40 mmHg.

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) based sensors exhibit enormous potential in the areas of medical diagnosis, food safety regulation and environmental monitoring. While, the broadband spectral lineshape of LSPR hampers the observation of wavelength shifts in sensing processes, thus preventing their widespread applications in sensors. Here, we describe an improved plasmonic sensor based on Fano resonances between LSPR and Rayleigh anomaly (RA) in a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) meta-grating, which is constructed by silver nanoshells array, an isolation grating mask and a continuous gold film. The MIM configuration offers more freedoms to control the optical properties of LSPR, RA and the Fano resonance between them. Strong couplings between LSPR and RA form a series of narrowband reflection peaks (with a linewidth of ~20 nm in full width at half maximum (FWHM) and a reflectivity closing to 100%) within a LSPR based broadband extinction window in experiment, making the meta-grating promising for applications of high-efficiency reflective filters. While, a well-optimized Fano resonance between LSPR and RA by carefully adjusting the angles of incident light can switch such nano-device to an improved biological/chemical sensor with the figure of merit (FOM) large than 60 and capability for detecting the local refractive index changes caused by the bonding of target molecules on surface of the nano-devices. The figure of merit of hybrid sensor in detection of target molecules is 6 and 15 times higher than the simple RA and LSPR based sensors, respectively.

In this study novel recommendations are presented and substantiated for selecting the number of modes and optical thicknesses of flat lattice slabs that make up the microreliefs, which minimize the computational complexity of the rigorous coupled-wave analysis calculation of the diffraction efficiency (DE) of a sawtooth two-layer two-relief microstructure, while maintaining the specified reliability of the calculation results. The computational complexity can be controlled by allowing one or another level of oscillation of the DE curves depend on the angle of incidence of the radiation incident on the microstructure. In particular, the complexity of the multi-thousand DE calculations in the optimization process can be reduced by using the proposed methodology as well as increased computational complexity to certify the accuracy of the solution obtained as a result of implemented optimization.

This study investigates the impact of narrow-band terahertz pulses on the ferroelectric order parameter in Ba0.8Sr0.2TiO3 films on various substrates. The 375 nm thick BST film on an MgO (001) substrate exhibits enhanced THz-induced second harmonic generation when excited by THz pulses with a central frequency of 1.6 THz, due to the resonant excitation of the soft phonon mode. Conversely, the BST film on a Si (001) substrate shows no enhancement, due to its polycrystalline state. The 800 nm thick BST film on an MgO (111) substrate demonstrates maximum of second harmonic generation signal when excited by THz pulses at 1.8 THz, that is also very close to it`s soft mode frequency (1.9 THz). Notably, the frequency spectrum of the BST/MgO (111) film reveals peaks at both the fundamental and doubled frequencies, highlighting the quadratic dependence of SHG intensity on the THz pulse's electric field strength.

Inscription of embedded photoluminescent microbits inside a bulk natural diamond, LiF and CaF2 crystals was performed in sub-filamentation (geometrical focusing) regime by 525nm 0.2ps laser pulses focused by 0.65NA micro-objective as a function of pulse energy, exposure and inter-layer separation. The resulting microbits were visualized by 3Dscanning confocal Raman/photoluminescence microscopy as conglomerates of photo-induced quasi-molecular color centers and tested regarding their annealing. Minimal lateral and longitudinal microbit separations, enabling their robust read-out, were measured in LiF as 1.5 and 13 microns, respectively, to be improved regarding information storage capacity by more elaborate focusing systems. These findings pave a way to novel optical storage platforms utilizing ultrashort-pulse laser inscription of photoluminescent microbits as carriers of archival memory.

A printed Vivaldi antenna that is optically transparent, ultra-wideband (UWB), and reconfigurable has been developed, fabricated, and tested at millimeter wave frequencies. It covers a broad frequency range of 20-30 GHz by using three PIN diodes. The diodes control the current flow to direct the beam of the antenna. The results of numerical simulations and measurements match at millimeter wave frequencies. The design of this antenna is unique as it allows for a reduction in size and ease of integration while also providing the ability to change the radiation pattern by up to 300 degrees, making it suitable for 5G and 6G communications. Additionally, this antenna can also be useful for RF applications that require dynamic switching of radiation patterns and cognitive radio.

Metal plasmonic nanostructures have promising applications in biosensing due to their ability to facilitate light-matter interaction. However, the damping of the metal leads to a wide full width at half maximum (FWHM) spectrum and results which restricts its sensing capabilities. In this research, we present a novel non-full-metal nanostructure, namely indium-tin oxide (ITO)-Au nanodisk arrays consisting of top ITO nanodisk arrays and a bottom gold layer, and compare the coupling mode with the full-metal nanodisk arrays. The FWHM of proposed ITO-Au nanodisk array reduces to one fifth of that all metal nanodisk arrays, which is generated mode-coupling by surface plasmon modes at metal interfaces with magnetic resonance mode. Furthermore, the thickness variation of nanodisks has no impact on the sensing performance of this ITO-based nanostructure, ensuring excellent tolerance during preparation. We fabricated both structures by using template transfer and vacuum deposition techniques and calibrated their sensing performances by detect Immunoglobulin G (IgG) protein molecules. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that ITO-Au nanodisk arrays provide an effective solution for biosensing applications.

Optical fiber sensors based on tapered optical fiber (TOF) structure have attracted a considerable amount of attention from researchers due to the advantages of simple fabrication, high stability, diverse structures, and have great potential for applications in many fields such as physics, chemistry and biology. Compared with ordinary optical fibers, TOF with their unique structural characteristics significantly improve the sensitivity and response speed of fiber-optic sensors and broaden the application range. This review presents an overview of the latest research status and characteristics of fiber-optic sensors and TOF sensors. Then the working principle of TOF sensors, fabrication schemes of TOF structures, novel TOF structures in recent years, and the growing emerging application areas are described. Finally, the development trends and challenges of TOF sensors are prospected. The objective of this review is to convey novel perspectives and strategies for the performance optimization and design of TOF sensors based on fiber-optic sensing technologies.

We study the synchronous dynamics of three diffusively coupled erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDLFs) in the unidirectional ring configuration without external pump modulation. The dynamical behavior of the system is analyzed using time series, Fourier spectra, Poincaré sections, bifurcation diagrams, and Lyapunov exponents for different values of the coupling strength. For weak coupling, we observe a well-known route to chaos from a stable equilibrium through a Hopf bifurcation and a series of torus bifurcations as the coupling strength is increased. An interesting result is found for large values of the coupling strength, where the phase locking is close to zero. This allows a significant increase in the peak energy of the EDFLs pulses, i.e., above the coupling strength the lasers switch to a Q-switching mode with large-amplitude short pulses. This result allows us to propose a new method for increasing the laser pulse energy based on the control of the bistability by the rotating wave in the array of three unidirectionally ring-coupled EDFLs as a function of the coupling strength. In our system, we were able to increase the peak laser power by almost 20 times more than a continuous single EDFL.

As one of the most critical parameters to evaluate the quality and performance of mobile phones, real-time temperature monitoring of the mobile phone integrated chips is vitally important in the electronics industry. Although several different strategies for chip surface temperature measurement have been proposed in recent years, distributed temperature monitoring with the high spatial resolution is still a hot issue to be solved urgently. In this work, a fluorescent film material with photothermal properties containing thermosensitive upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is fabricated for chip surface temperature monitor-ing. The presented fluorescent films have thicknesses ranging from 23 to 90 μm and are both flexible and elastic. Using the fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) technique, the temperature sens-ing properties of these fluorescent films are investigated. The maximum sensitivity of the fluo-rescent film was measured to be 1.43% K-1 at 299 K. By testing the temperature at different posi-tions of the optical film, a distributed temperature monitoring with a high spatial resolution down to 10 μm on the chip surface is successfully achieved. It is worth mentioning that the film maintains stable performance even under pull stretch up to 100%. The correctness of the method is verified by taking infrared images of the chip surface with an infrared camera. These results demonstrate that the as-prepared optical film is a promising anti-deformation material for high spatial resolution temperature monitoring on-chip surfaces.

Laser energy per unit surface, necessary to trigger the material removal, decreases with the pulse shortening becoming the pulse-time independent in the sub-picosecond range. These pulses are shorter the electron-to-ion energy transfer time and electronic heat conduction time minimizing the energy losses. The electrons receiving the energy larger than the threshold, drag the ions off the surface in the mode of electrostatic ablation. We show that the pulse shorter than the ion period (Shorter-the-Limit (StL)) ejects conduction electrons with the energy larger than the work function (from a metal) leaving the bare ions immobile in a few atomic layers. The electrons emission is followed by the bare ion’s explosion, ablation, and THz radiation from expanding plasma. We compare this phenomenon to the classic photo effect, nanocluster Coulomb explosions, show differences and consider possibilities for detecting the new mode of ablation experimentally by emitted THz radiation and consider applications of high-precision nano-machining with this low intensity irradiation.

Through the arrow decomposition of the Mueller matrix, respective sets of sixteen independent polarimetric images of biological tissues are obtained for enpolarizing, retarding and depolariz-ing descriptors. In addition to the mean intensity coefficient and the three indices of polarimetric purity, the absolute values and Poincaré orientations of diattenuation, polarizance, entrance re-tardance and exit retardance vectors are considered. In this work we use for the first time this set of polarimetric observables for the visualization of biological structures, both of animal and vege-tal origin. Results show images with enhanced visualization derived from the spatial variation of such significant polarimetric properties. The experimental results are discussed, showing the suit-ability of such set of observables for applications in biophotonics imaging, providing not only ex-cellent visualization of biological tissues, but also showing structures not visible in non-polarimetric images.

As the most commonly used hydrogel material in contact lenses, the amount of water in a lens affects its optical properties and comfort for the wearer. Therefore, an important challenge is to determine the safety and efficacy of contact lenses by accurately and non-destructively measuring the water content in real time. In this study, we demonstrate the accurate detection of water content in hydrogel contact lenses using a high-precision ATR format in a portable terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system. The technique can resolve small variations in the dielectric constant in solution, which is difficult to achieve with traditional transmission and reflection measurement modes. Information is obtained from the interaction between the sample and the swift waves propagating along the prism surface. The swift waves can excite longitudinal modes that are not directly accessible by conventional techniques. It is worth noting that the reference wave can be measured by removing the sample without disturbing the optical path. We also enhance the plasma effect at the interface with the hydrogel by using PVDF dielectric films of different polarities. We observed that the water content and refractive index changes in the ATR mode show different response patterns for nonpoled PVDF and poled PVDF membranes. This suggests that reflection and relative phase can be accurately evaluated in the THz-ATR technique, resulting in an accurate method for determining complex dielectric constants in the reflection geometry. This will allow accurate measurement of both surface and in vivo water content in hydrogels in the future and is a potential technical route for application in bioaqueous tissue measurements.

The relativistic effects of the dynamical properties of light at angular incidence were analyzed from the perspectives of Bohr indeterminacy and Heisenberg uncertainties and statistical dispersion. It was found that these effects report minimal uncertainties that agree with one or the other according to the angular range of incidence and that decrease with increasing refringence of the medium, constituting a specific relativistic uncertainty at angular incidence. An anomaly is indicated for the uncertainty principle in the Quantum Theory (QT) setting for small angles of incidence, where the accuracy of the angular position does not imply an increase in the uncertainty of the linear momentum. The anomalies arise because TQ does not predict the alternation between the classical and relativistic regimes of photon inertia at angular incidence. Specific relativistic uncertainty particularizes the uncertainty principle in the transmission of light between media pairs at angular incidence for the relativistic scenario, considering an observer that registers the relativistic effects of measurements that interfere with the observed system, in another inertial referential.

Optical parametric amplification (OPA) represents a powerful solution to achieve broadband amplification in wavelength ranges beyond the scope of conventional gain media, for generating high-power optical pulses, optical microcombs, entangled photon pairs and a wide range of other applications. Here, we demonstrate optical parametric amplifiers based on silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) waveguides integrated with two-dimensional (2D) layered graphene oxide (GO) films. We achieve precise control over the thickness, length, and position of the GO films using a transfer-free, layer-by-layer coating method combined with accurate window opening in the chip cladding using photolithography. Detailed OPA measurements with a pulsed pump for the fabricated devices with different GO film thicknesses and lengths show a maximum parametric gain of ~24.0 dB, representing a ~12.2 dB improvement relative to the device without GO. We perform a theoretical analysis of the device performance, achieving good agreement with experiment and showing that there is substantial room for further improvement. This work demonstrates a new way of achieving high photonic integrated OPA performance by incorporating 2D materials.

The pulse duration in short-pulse schemes for Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission Free Electron Lasers (SASE FELs) is limited by the FEL coherence time. A recently proposed concept allows to overcome the coherence time barrier and to get much shorter pulses. When the lasing part of an electron bunch is much shorter than the coherence time, one can suppress the radiation in the long main undulator while preserving microbunching within that short lasing slice. Then a short radiation pulse is produced in a relatively short radiator. A possible suppression method, an excessive reverse undulator taper, is discussed and illustrated numerically in this paper. We also performed first experimental tests of this method at the soft X-ray FEL user facility FLASH. The measured pulse duration approaches 1 fs (FWHM) at the wavelength of 5 nm.

Optimum design and accurate control of the internal structure of the laser target materials remain an important goal for various laser physics experiments, especially for generating high flux photon and neutron beams. The low-density material is considered to be one of the most difficult for X-ray study due to its high transparency and imperceptible contrast. To produce clear visualization of foam containing sparse structures we used a high-quality monochromatic X-ray beam of synchrotron radiation source PETRA-III at DESY. The X-ray beam parameters allow tomographic scanning with application of phase contrast retrieval algorithms. A series of 3D images of foam-suspended glass microsphere inside the plastic cylinder were obtained with the quality high enough to observe the internal structure and to visualize uniformity, displacement and surface roughness on both sides of the microsphere. The main object under investigation was a CH-plastic capillary including 10 mg/cc CHO-foam with the centered glass microsphere. The results of this work demonstrate that tomographic visualization based on a high quality X-ray radiation and phase contrast analysis is an effective and useful technique for development of new laser targets containing structured low density materials.

Lead halide perovskite has become a promising candidate for high-performance photodetector (PD) applications due to its attractive optical and electrical properties such as high optical absorption coefficient, high carrier mobility, and long carrier diffusion length. However, the presence of highly toxic lead in these devices has limited their practical applications and even hindered their progress toward commercialization. Therefore, the scientific community has been committed to searching for low-toxic and stable perovskite-type alternative materials. Lead-free double perovskite materials, which are still in the preliminary stage of exploration, have achieved inspiring results in recent years. In this review, we mainly focused on two types of lead-free double perovskite based on different Pb substitution strategies, including A2M(I)M(Ⅲ)X6 and A2M(IV)X6. We reviewed the research progress and prospects of lead-free double perovskite photodetectors in the past three years. And more importantly, from the perspective of optimizing inherent defects in materials and improving device performance, we proposed some feasible pathways and made an encouraging perspective for the future development of lead-free double perovskite photodetectors.

This paper presents the light scattering matrices of atmospheric aggregated hexagonal ice particles appearing in cirrus clouds. In this work aggregates consist of the same particles with different spatial orientation and number of these particles. Two types of particle shape were studied: (1) hexagonal column; (2) hexagonal plate. For both shapes we study compact and non-compact cases of arrangement of particles in aggregates. As a result, four sets of aggregates were made: (1) compact columns; (2) non-compact columns; (3) compact plates; (4) non-compact plates. Each set consists of eight aggregates with different number of particles from 2 to 9. For practical reason the bullet-rosette and the aggregate of hexagonal columns with different sizes was also calculated. The light scattering matrices were calculated for the case of arbitrary spatial orientation within the geometrical optics approximation for sets of compact and non-compact aggregates and within the physical optics approximation for two additional aggregates. It was found that light scattering matrix elements for aggregates are depend on arrangement of particles they are consisted.

Laser Direct Writing (LDW), also known as 3D multi-photon laser lithography of resins, is a promising technique for fabricating complex free-form elements, including micro-optical functional components. Regular organic or hybrid (organic-inorganic) resins are often used, with latter exhibiting better optical characteristics, as well as having the option to be heat-treated into inorganic glass-like structures, particularly useful for resilient micro-optics. While this work is a continuation of SZ2080™ calcination development , the Laser-Induced Damage Threshold (LIDT) of such sol-gel-derived glass micro-structures, particularly those that undergo heat treatment, has not been well-characterized. In this pilot study, we investigated the LIDT using the Series-on-One (S-on-1) protocol of functional micro-lenses produced via LDW and subsequently calcinated. Our results demonstrate that the LIDT can be significantly increased, even multiple times, by this approach, thus enhancing the resilience and usefulness of these free-form micro-optics. This work represents the first investigation in terms of LIDT into the impact of calcination on LDW produced sol-gel-derived glass micro-structures, and provides important insights for the development of robust micro-optical devices.

Reconstruction of acoustic relaxation absorption curve is a powerful approach to ultrasonic gas sensing, but requires known of a series ultrasonic absorption at various frequencies around effective relaxation frequency. Ultrasonic transducer is a most widely deployed sensor for ultrasonic wave propagation measurement and works only at a fixed frequency or specific environment like water, so a large number of ultrasonic transducers operating at various frequencies are required to recover an acoustic absorption curve with a relative large bandwidth, which cannot suit for large-scale practical applications. This paper proposes a wideband ultrasonic sensor using a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) fiber laser for gas concentration detection through acoustic relaxation absorption curve reconstruction. With a relative wide and flat frequency response, the DBR fiber laser sensor measures and restores a full acoustic relaxation absorption spectrum of CO2 using a decompression gas chamber between 0.1 and 1 atm to accommodate the main molecular relaxation processes, and interrogates with a non-equilibrium Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) interferometer to gain a sound pressure sensitivity of -45.4 dB. The measurement error of the acoustic relaxation absorption spectrum is less than 1.32%.

Broadband reverse saturable absorption is systematically investigated via Z-scan, transient absorption spectrum (TAS). The excited state absorption and negative refraction of Orange IV are observed in the Z-scan experiment at 532 nm. Meanwhile, two-photon induced excited-state absorption and pure two-photon absorption are observed at 600 nm and 700 nm with the pulse width of 190 fs, respectively. An ultrafast broadband absorption in visible wavelength region is observed via TAS. The different nonlinear absorption mechanism at multiple wavelengths is discussed and interpreted from the results of TAS. In addition, the ultrafast dynamics of negative refraction in the excited state of Orange IV is investigated via degenerate phase object pump probe, from which the weak long-lived excited state is extracted. All studies indicate that Orange IV has the potential to be further optimized into a superior broadband reverse saturable absorption material and also has certain reference significance for the study of optical nonlinearity in organic molecules containing azobenzene groups.

In this paper, a range-gated lidar system utilizing an LN crystal as the electro-optical switch and a SCMOS (Scientific Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) imaging device is designed. To achieve range-gated, we utilize two polarizers and a LN (LiNbO3) crystal to form an electro-optical switch. The optical switch is realized by applying a pulse voltage at both ends of the crystal due to the crystal's conoscopic interference effect and electro-optical effect. The advantage of this system is that low-bandwidth detectors such as CMOS and CCD (Charge-coupled Device) can be used to replace conventional high-bandwidth detectors such as ICCD (Intensified Charge Coupled Device), and time it has better imaging performance under specific conditions at the same. However, after using an electro-optical crystal as an optical switch, a new inhomogeneity error will be introduced due to the conscopic interference effect of the electro-optical crystal, resulting in range error of the lidar system. To reduce the influence of inhomogeneity error on the system, this paper analyzes the sources of inhomogeneity error caused by the electro-optical crystal and gives the crystal inhomo-geneity mathematical expression. A compensation method is proposed based on the above inho-mogeneity mathematical expression. An experimental lidar system is constructed in this paper to verify the validity of the compensation method. The experimental results of the range-gated lidar system show that in a specific field of view (2.6mrad), the lidar system has a good imaging per-formance, its ranging standard deviation is 3.86cm and further decreased to 2.86cm after com-pensation, which verifies the accuracy of the compensation method.

Visible light communication (VLC) can offer the advantages of license and electromagnetic interference (EMI) free wireless transmission. As optical signal does not interference with the radio-frequency (RF) signal, VLC can be used to augment RF wireless communication to provide extra communication capacity while without degrading the performance of both signals. In order to achieve high performance VLC transmission, optical alignment between the optical transmit (Tx) and receiver (Rx) is very critical to enhance the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Optical beam-steering at the Tx can be utilized to ensure narrow optical beam can reach the Rx; however, complicated and active tracking are required. Lenses or compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) can be install in front of the Rx for focusing to enhance the SNR. However, these will limit the Rx field-of-view (FOV) and making the VLC transmission more subjected to misalignment issue. Hence, many creative optical antennas have been proposed and demonstrated using special optical materials as well as special Rx to enhance the FOV of VLC systems. However, they have their limitations, such as data rates and FOVs. In this work, we put forward and demonstrate a bi-direction free-space VLC system supporting multiple moveable Rxs using a light-diffusing optical fiber (LDOF). The downlink (DL) signal is launched from an head-end or central office (CO) far away to the LDOF at the client side via a free-space transmission. When the DL signal is launched to the LDOF, which acts as an optical antenna to re-transmit the DL signal to different moveable Rxs. The uplink (UL) signal is sent via the LDOF towards the CO. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, the LDOF is 100 cm long and the free space VLC transmission between the CO and the LDOF is 100 cm. 210 Mbit/s DL and 850 Mbit/s UL transmissions, meeting the pre-forward-error-correction bit error rate (pre-FEC BER = 3.8 × 10−3) threshold are achieved.

The near-infrared (NIR) organic dyes with strong ultrafast nonlinear optical (NLO) activities are of importance for various applications. However, such kinds of dyes are still scarce. In this work, we have compared the NLO properties of two NIR Aza-BODIPY derivatives, in which the strong electron-donating groups, namely 4-(N, N-dimethylamino) phenyl and 1-ethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline groups, are connected with the cores of Aza-BODIPY. Z-Scan experimental results show that two Aza-BODIPY derivatives exhibit strong saturation absorption and large modulation depth under the excitation of femtosecond pulses at 800 nm. Under 1300 nm excitation, two derivatives exhibit strong nonlinear refraction. In addition, the Aza-BODIPY derivatives also display effective two-photon excited fluorescence emission in the wavelength range of 1200-1600 nm. Based on the experimental results, it is found that 1-ethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline group can more effectively enhance the NLO properties of Aza-BODIPY derivatives compared with the 4-(N, N-dimethylamino) phenyl group, thus providing new possibilities for the design and development of NIR NLO materials.

The discovered light modulation capabilities of diatom silicious valves make them an excellent toolkit for photonic devices and applications. In this work, a reproducible surface-enhanced Raman-scattering (SERS) enhancement was achieved with hybrid substrates employing diatom silica valves coated with an ultrathin uniform gold film. Three structurally different hybrid substrates, based on the valves of three dissimilar diatom species, have been compared to elucidate the structural contribution to SERS enhancement. The comparative analysis of obtained results showed that substrates containing cylindrical Aulacoseira sp. valves achieved the highest enhancement up to 14-fold. Numerical analysis based on the frequency domain finite element method was carried out to supplement the experimental results. Our results demonstrate that diatom valves of different shapes can enhance the SERS signal, offering a toolbox for SERS-based sensors, where the magnitude of the enhancement depends on valve geometry and ultrastructure.

In synthetic diamond plate, the intrapulse correlated dynamics of self-phase modulation and spontaneous Raman scattering by optical phonons were for the first time directly investigated for tightly focused (focusing numerical aperture NA = 0.25) positively-chirped visible-range ultrashort laser pulses with variable durations (0.3-9.5 ps) and energies, transmitted through the sample. The observed modulation of the transmitted light spectra and Stokes Raman scattering spectra for the different pulse durations were related to nonthermal excitation of nonlinear phonon polarization and its eventual picosecond-scale suppression due to thermal decay of optical phonons on the timescale of electron-phonon thermalization in the material.

Discovery of stable and broad frequency combs in monochromatically pumped high-Q optical Kerr microresonators caused by generation of temporal solitons can be regarded as one of the major breakthroughs in nonlinear optics during the last two decades. Transfer of the soliton-comb concept to χ(2) microresonators promises lowering of the pump power, new operation regimes, and entering new spectral ranges; scientifically, it is of a big challenge. Here we represent an overview of stable and accessible soliton-comb regimes in monochromatically pumped χ(2) microresonators discovered during the last several years. The main stress is made on lithium niobate based resonators. The overview pretends to be rather simple, complete, and comprehensive: It incorporates the main factors affecting the soliton-comb generation, such as the choice of the pumping scheme (pumping to the first or second harmonic), the choice of phase matching scheme (natural or artificial), the effects of temporal walk-off and dispersion coefficients, and also the influence of frequency detunings and Q-factors. Most of discovered nonlinear regimes are self-starting – they can be accessed from noise upon a not very abrupt increase of the pump power. The soliton-comb generation scenarios are not universal – they can be realized only under proper combinations of the above mentioned factors. We indicate what kind of restrictions on the experimental conditions have to be imposed to get the soliton-comb generation.

Microwave photonic (MWP) transversal signal processors offer a compelling solution for realizing versatile high-speed information processing by combining the advantages of reconfigurable electrical digital signal processing and high-bandwidth photonic processing. With the capability of generating a number of discrete wavelengths from micro-scale resonators, optical microcombs are powerful multi-wavelength sources for implementing MWP transversal signal processors with significantly reduced size, power consumption, and complexity. By using microcomb-based MWP transversal signal processors, a diverse range of signal processing functions have been demonstrated recently. In this paper, we provide a detailed analysis for the processing inaccuracy that are induced by the imperfect response of experimental components. First, we investigate the errors arising from different sources including imperfections in the microcombs, the chirp of electro-optic modulators, chromatic dispersion of the dispersive module, shaping errors of the optical spectral shapers, and noise of the photodetector. Next, we provide a global picture quantifying the impact of different error sources on the overall system performance. Finally, we introduce feedback control to compensate the errors caused by experimental imperfections and achieve significantly improved accuracy. These results provide a guide for optimizing the accuracy of microcomb-based MWP transversal signal processors.

Point defect-based single-photon emitters (SPEs) in GaN have aroused a great deal of interest due to their room-temperature operation, narrow line width and high emission rate. The room-temperature SPEs at the telecommunication bands have also been realized recently by localized defects in GaN in experiments, which are highly desired for the practical applications of SPEs in quantum communication with fiber compatibility. However, the origin and underlying mechanism of the SPEs remain unclear to date. Herein, our first-principle calculations predict and identify an intrinsic point defect NGa in GaN that owns a zero-phonon line (ZPL) at telecommunication windows. By tuning the triaxial compressive strain of the crystal structure, the ZPL of NGa can be modulated from 0.849 eV to 0.984 eV, covering the fiber telecommunication windows from the O band to the E band. Besides the ZPL, the formation energy, band structure, transition process and lifetime of the SPEs under different strains are investigated systematically. Our work gives insight into the emission mechanism of the defect SPEs in GaN and also provides effective guidance for achieving wavelength-tunable SPEs working in fiber telecommunication windows.

A total internal reflection photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based on hexagonal core is proposed for gas sensing in a specific wavelength range. The higher sensitivity and lower confinement loss were realized by the structure of the proposed PCF consists of two layers with circular holes rotated hexagonally around a core region and six slotted air-hole in the cladding based on numerical analysis. The simulation results show that the enhancement of the relative sensitivity has been done by enhancing the diameter of the hexagonal shape air-hole cladding (d1) and the hexagonal arranged holes around the central solid core (d0) in this design. Also, the confinement loss has been reduced by enhancing the ratio of length to width of slotted holes (l/w) and decreasing the cladding air-hole diameters (d1). As the refractive index increases, the wavelength shifts toward the long wavelength. And in a certain temperature range, the transmission characteristics of the device does not change with the temperature. The results are helpful for designing high performance PCF for gas sensing applications.

Microlens arrays (MLAs) which are increasingly popular micro-optical elements in compact integrated optical systems were fabricated by femtosecond direct laser write (fs-DLW) technique in the low-shrinkage SZ2080TM photoresist. High fidelity definition of 3D surfaces on IR transparent CaF2 substrates allowed to achieve ∼ 50% transmittance at chemical fingerprinting spectral region 2-5 μm wavelengths since MLAs were only ∼ 10 μm high corresponding to the numerical aperture of 0.3 (the lens height is comparable with the IR wavelength). To combine diffractive and refractive capabilities in miniaturised optical setup, a graphene oxide (GO) grating acting as a linear polariser was also fabricated by fs-DLW by ablation of a 1 μm-thick GO thin film. Such an ultra-thin GO polariser can be integrated with the fabricated MLA to add dispersion control at the focal plane. Pairs of MLAs and GO polarisers were characterised throughout visible-IR spectral window and numerical modeling was used to simulate their performance. Good match between experimental results of MLA focusing and simulations was achieved.

Modifiable THz spectral shapes are important tools that facilitate the comprehensive study of phonon dynamics in condensed matter systems. The generation of narrow bandwidth THz spectra with tunable center frequency which are suitable THz forms needed to achieve such objectives are currently less studied from the table top laser-induced plasma emitters’ perspective. This experimental research is aimed at developing a robust two-color laser induced plasma set-up comprising of a temporal pulse stretcher and an Optical Parametric Amplifier that generates chirped and wavelength tunable pulses respectively. By focusing and independently controlling the ω and 2ω arms of the chirped pulses resulting after the interaction with a β-BBO crystal, I aim to generate narrow bandwidth THz signal (from plasma) scalable at MV/cm intensity and tunable in a wide THz spectral range, in addition to varying the frequency ratio mix.

We demonstrate that the conductivity of graphene on thin-film polymer substrates can be accurately determined by reflection-mode air-plasma-based THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The phase uncertainty issue associated with reflection measurements is discussed, and our implementation is validated by convincing agreement with graphene electrical properties extracted from more conventional transmission-mode measurements. Both the reflection and transmission THz-TDS measurements reveal strong nonlinear and instantaneous conductivity depletion across an ultra-broad bandwidth under relatively high incident THz electrical field strengths.

Particles and photons appear to be total opposites; the former has rest mass which requires space to exist; the latter has kinetic energy which requires time to occur (oscillate). But they do share certain properties (e.g., quantization) that remain invariant when one is transformed (swapped) for the other. This gauge invariance is developed in some detail.The symmetry between particle and photon turns out to be one of inversion. It is the equalities of special relativity that support this inversion and the accompanying invariances: mass transformed to energy; space transformed to time. The great advantage of these symmetries (inversions) is that they provide guidance for an object little understood (the photon) based upon an object well understood (the particle). On this basis, progress can be made in the understanding of some long-standing issues: wave-particle duality, time’s arrow, the constant speed of light and nonlocality.

Pattern recognition techniques form the heart of most, if not all, incoherent linear shift-invariant systems. When an object is recorded using a camera, the object information gets sampled by the point spread function (PSF) of the system, replacing every object point with the PSF in the sensor. The PSF is a sharp Kronecker Delta-like function when the numerical aperture (NA) is large with no aberrations. When the NA is small, and the system has aberrations, the PSF appears blurred. In the above case, if the PSF is known, then the object information can be obtained by scanning the PSF over the recorded object intensity pattern and looking for pattern matching conditions through a mathematical process called correlation. In this study, a recently developed deconvolution method, the Lucy-Richardson-Rosen algorithm (LR2A), has been implemented to computationally refocus images recorded in the presence of spatio-spectral aberrations. The performance of LR2A was compared against the Lucy-Richardson algorithm and non-linear reconstruction. LR2A exhibits a superior deconvolution capability even in extreme cases of spatio-spectral aberrations and blur. Experimental results of deblurring a picture captured using high-resolution smartphone cameras are presented. LR2A was implemented to significantly improve the performances of the widely used deep convolutional neural networks for image classification.

The Sun is a frame at relative rest in which sunlight travels at the emitted speed c. Earth travels at the revolving speed v in this frame. The reflection of light as a mechanical phenomenon applies to the modified Michelson interferometer employed by Miller in his experiments with light from the Sun. Unlike the Tomaschek experiments, which use light from stars that may travel in the Universe at velocities different from that of the Sun, the fringe shifts in the Miller experiments are predictable. Based on Michelson's derivation, Miller expected in his experiments at Mount Wilson a 1.12 fringe shift and observed a fringe shift of 0.08 in 1921 and 0.088 in 1925. The reflection of light as a mechanical phenomenon predicts zero fringe shift for Miller's experiment agreeing only with his observations at the Cleveland laboratory in 1924.

A review is here provided on the thermal effects on the optical chirality. To this goal, chiral objects dispersed in an embedding fluid are examined for their magnetoelectric coupling. Archetypal twisted-Omega particles are examined with respect to electron transport, phonon dynamics, and temperature effects. Continuum-mechanical aspect of thermo-elasticity is reviewed along with transverse deformations. A transition temperature delineating a sign flip in the chirality parameter is identified as well.

Deep-ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on AlGaN crystals have low light-emission efficiency; therefore, there is a need to improve this light-emission efficiency for a wide range of applications such as water and air sterilizations. UV-light-transparent device structures are considered one of the many solutions toward increasing light output power. To this end, the present study focused on developing a transparent AlGaN-based tunnel junction (TJ) as the anode of a deep-UV LED. Deep-UV LEDs composed of n+/p+-type AlGaN TJs were fabricated under the growth condition that reduced the carrier compensation in the n+-type AlGaN layers. The operating voltage was 10.8 V under the direct current (DC) operation of 63 A/cm2. In addition, magnesium zinc oxide (MgZnO)/Al reflective electrodes were fabricated to enhance the output power of the AlGaN homoepitaxial TJ LED. The output power was 57.3 mW under a DC operation of 63 A/cm2, and it was 1.7 times higher than that realized using the conventional Ti/Al electrodes. The combination of the AlGaN-based TJ and MgZnO/Al reflective contact allows further improvement of the light output power. This study confirms that the AlGaN TJ is a promising UV-transmittance structure that can obtain a high light-extraction efficiency.

The exact determination of radiative exchanges between solids and surfaces has been a long sought-for question in heat transfer science. Being the canonical equation that rules such phenomena, a fourfold integral, it is extremely difficult to obtain an accurate solution like a formula or abacus. Over the last thirty years, the author has tried to integrate the canonical expression by sundry procedures and they have published two books and a dozen of articles on the matter, recently by virtue of computational geometry and graphic algorithms as a new way to solve the finite-difference problems that arise on complex geometries. In architectural engineering curved radiant emitters are customary since antiquity, especially in domes and vaults and their oculus, However, a consistent procedure to handle them was not readily available. The principles that are described hereby based on Cabeza-Lainez’ first principle for spherical fragments offer a complete panorama on the manner in which surface sources related or contained in spheres can be interpreted and accounted for without resorting to integration. The main advance is that a variety of unexplained problems of radiative heat transfer, applicable to aerospace engineering, meteorological, architectural and medical sciences can be sorted out as exactly as quickly.