Contents
2023
Volume: 21 Issue 1
24 Article(s)

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SPECIAL ISSUE ON OPTICAL METASURFACES: FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS
Photo-reconfigurable and electrically switchable spatial terahertz wave modulator [Invited]
Hongguan Yu, Huacai Wang, Zhixiong Shen, Shina Tao, Shijun Ge, and Wei Hu
Spatial terahertz wave modulators that can arbitrarily tailor the electromagnetic wavefront are in high demand in nondestructive inspections and high-capacity wireless communications. Here, we propose a liquid crystal integrated metadevice. It modulates the terahertz wave based on the adjustable electromagnetically induced transparency analog when spatially changing the environmental refractive index. The functions of the device can be arbitrarily programmed via photo-reorienting the directors of liquid crystals with a digital micromirror device-based exposing system. The thin liquid crystal layer can be further driven by an electric field, and thus the function can be rapidly switched. Amplitude modulation and the lens effect are demonstrated with modulation depths over 50% at 0.94 THz.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Oct. 27, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 010002 (2023)
Effects of propagation phase on the coupling of plasmonic optical modes
Wanxia Huang, Yabo Zhang, Yuan Pei, Maosheng Wang, Fenghua Shi, and Kuanguo Li
The temporal coupled-mode theory (TCMT) has made significant progress in recent years, and is widely applied in explaining a variety of optical phenomena. In this paper, the optical characteristics of the metasurface composed of nano-bars and nano-rings are simulated. The simulation results are well explained by TCMT under the coupled basis vector. However, when the structural asymmetry is large, the fitting of results shows that the total radiation loss is not conservative, in contradiction to the requirement of traditional TCMT. We solved this inconsistency by introducing the propagation phase into the near-field coupling term of TCMT. The studies show that, unlike the local mode near the exceptional point which corresponds to the radiation loss of the bright mode, the global mode near the diabolic point is closely related to the propagation phase. Furthermore, the structure near the diabolic point shows characteristic cross-coupling with the change of period. This study proposes a new theoretical framework for comprehending the interaction of light and matter and offers some guiding implications for the application of TCMT to a variety of related domains.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Nov. 15, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 010003 (2023)
Plasmonic nanostructure characterized by deep-neural-network-assisted spectroscopy [Invited]
Qi'ao Dong, Wenqi Wang, Xinyi Cao, Yibo Xiao, Xiaohan Guo, Jingxuan Ma, Lianhui Wang, and Li Gao
The lateral geometry and material property of plasmonic nanostructures are critical parameters for tailoring their optical resonance for sensing applications. While lateral geometry can be easily observed by a scanning electron microscope or an atomic force microscope, characterizing materials properties of plasmonic devices is not straightforward and requires delicate examination of material composition, cross-sectional thickness, and refractive index. In this study, a deep neural network is adopted to characterize these parameters of unknown plasmonic nanostructures through simple transmission spectra. The network architecture is established based on simulated data to achieve accurate identification of both geometric and material parameters. We then demonstrate that the network training by a mixture of simulated and experimental data can result in correct material property recognition. Our work may indicate a simple and intelligent characterization approach to plasmonic nanostructures by spectroscopic techniques.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Nov. 21, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 010004 (2023)
Photon pair generation from lithium niobate metasurface with tunable spatial entanglement [Invited] | On the Cover
Jihua Zhang, Jinyong Ma, Dragomir N. Neshev, and Andrey A. Sukhorukov
The two-photon state with spatial entanglement is an essential resource for testing fundamental laws of quantum mechanics and various quantum applications. Its creation typically relies on spontaneous parametric downconversion in bulky nonlinear crystals where the tunability of spatial entanglement is limited. Here, we predict that ultrathin nonlinear lithium niobate metasurfaces can generate and diversely tune spatially entangled photon pairs. The spatial properties of photons including the emission pattern, rate, and degree of spatial entanglement are analyzed theoretically with the coupled mode theory and Schmidt decomposition method. We show that by leveraging the strong angular dispersion of the metasurface, the degree of spatial entanglement quantified by the Schmidt number can be decreased or increased by changing the pump laser wavelength and a Gaussian beam size. This flexibility can facilitate diverse quantum applications of entangled photon states generated from nonlinear metasurfaces.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Nov. 28, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 010005 (2023)
Single-layered non-interleaved spin-insensitive metasurfaces for wavefront engineering
Ata Ur Rahman Khalid, Naeem Ullah, Yu Han, Urooj Asghar, Xiaocong Yuan, and Fu Feng
Metasurfaces, two-dimensional (2D) or quasi-2D arrays of dielectric or metallic meta-atoms, offer a compact and novel platform to manipulate the amplitude, phase, and polarization of incoming wavefronts in a desired manner by engineering the geometry of meta-atoms. In polarization control, spin-insensitive metasurfaces have attracted significant attention due to the robustness of circular polarization against the beam misalignment and multi-path effects. Till now, several efforts have been made to realize polarization-insensitive metasurfaces for circularly polarized (CP) wavefront manipulation; however, these metasurfaces only consider the cross-polarization channels and keep the co-polarization channels abandoned. Such metasurfaces cannot be considered truly spin-insensitive, as one has to carefully choose the analyzer at output. Here, by combining the polarization-insensitive geometric phase and engineered propagation phase, we propose a spin-insensitive design principle based on metasurfaces that can perform identical functionality (on co- and cross-polarization channels) irrespective of the handedness of incident/transmitted light. As a proof of concept, we design and numerically realize two types of spin-insensitive wavefront engineering devices: (1) spin-insensitive meta-hologram and (2) spin-insensitive beam deflector with power splitting functionality. The proposed work is expected to open up new avenues for developing spin-independent metasurfaces-based devices.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Jan. 17, 2023
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 010006 (2023)
Research Articles
Diffraction, Gratings, and Holography
Electrically switchable structural patterns and diffractions in a dual frequency nematic liquid crystal
Zhenpeng Song, Ziyang Li, Xiaohu Shang, Chaoyi Li, Lingling Ma, Yanqing Lu, and Bingxiang Li
Electrically driven structural patterns in liquid crystals (LCs) have attracted considerable attention due to their electro-optical applications. Here, we disclose various appealing reconfigurable LC microstructures in a dual frequency nematic LC (DFNLC) owing to the electroconvection-induced distortion of the LC director, including one-dimensional rolls, chevron pattern, two-dimensional grids, and unstable chaos. These patterns can be switched among each other, and the lattice constants are modulated by tuning the amplitude and frequency of the applied electric field. The electrically switchable self-assembled microstructures and their beam steering capabilities thus provide a feasible way to tune the functions of DFNLC-based optical devices.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 07, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 010501 (2023)
Editorial
Chinese Optics Letters at its 20th anniversary: harvesting and sowing anew
Feng Chen, Saulius Juodkazis, and Yanqing Lu
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Jan. 11, 2023
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 010001 (2023)
Fiber Optics and Optical Communications
Imaging Systems and Image Processing
Self-filtering illumination source and application in fluorescence imaging
Feifei Qin, Fan Shi, Xumin Gao, Jiabin Yan, Ziqi Ye, Yulong Su, Jianwei Fu, and Yongjin Wang
To date, fluorescence imaging systems have all relied on at least one beam splitter (BS) to ensure the separation of excitation light and fluorescence. Here, we reported SiO2/TiO2 multi-layer long pass filter integrated GaN LED. It is considered as the potential source for imaging systems. Experimental results indicate that the GaN LED shows blue emission peaked at 470.3 nm and can be used to excite dye materials. Integrating with a long pass filter (550 nm), the light source can be used to establish a real-time fluorescence detection for dyes that emit light above 550 nm. More interestingly, with this source, a real-time imaging system with signature words written with the dyes, such as ‘N J U P T’, can be converted into CCD images. This work may lead to a new strategy for integrating light sources and BS mirrors to build mini and smart fluorescence imaging systems.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 20, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011101 (2023)
Vibration measurement with frequency modulation single-pixel imaging
Wenxin Zhang, Yuxiu Tao, Yangkang Wu, Fu Zhu, Wenchao Cai, Ning Liu, Qiang Zhao, and Ping Xue
Single-pixel imaging can reconstruct the image of the object when the light traveling from the object to the detector is scattered or distorted. Most single-pixel imaging methods only obtain distribution of transmittance or reflectivity of the object. Some methods can obtain extra information, such as color and polarization information. However, there is no method that can get the vibration information when the object is vibrating during the measurement. Vibration information is very important, because unexpected vibration often means the occurrence of abnormal conditions. In this Letter, we introduce a method to obtain vibration information with the frequency modulation single-pixel imaging method. This method uses a light source with a special pattern to illuminate the object and analyzes the frequency of the total light intensity signal transmitted or reflected by the object. Compared to other single-pixel imaging methods, frequency modulation single-pixel imaging can obtain vibration information and maintain high signal-to-noise ratio and has potential on finding out hidden facilities under construction or instruments in work.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 07, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011102 (2023)
Instrumentation, Measurement, and Optical Sensing
Simultaneous temperature and magnetic field measurements using time-division multiplexing
Haobin Lin, Ce Feng, Yang Dong, Wang Jiang, Xuedong Gao, Shaochun Zhang, Xiangdong Chen, and Fangwen Sun
Nitrogen-vacancy color centers can perform highly sensitive and spatially resolved quantum measurements of physical quantities such as magnetic field, temperature, and pressure. Meanwhile, sensing so many variables at the same time often introduces additional noise, causing a reduced accuracy. Here, a dual-microwave time-division multiplexing protocol is used in conjunction with a lock-in amplifier in order to decouple temperature from the magnetic field and vice versa. In this protocol, dual-frequency driving and frequency modulation are used to measure the magnetic and temperature field simultaneously in real time. The sensitivity of our system is about 3.4 nT/Hz and 1.3 mK/Hz, respectively. Our detection protocol not only enables multifunctional quantum sensing, but also extends more practical applications.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 13, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011201 (2023)
Preliminary study on direct measurements and diagnostics for chemical reaction dynamics of NOx by using laser wavelength modulation spectroscopy
Yongjian Li, Shuai Zhang, Jinyi Li, Xiaotao Yang, Yunfei Meng, Xu Liu, and Zhenhui Du
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 07, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011202 (2023)
Integrated Optics
Fabrication and photo-response of monolithic 90° hybrid-photodetector array chip for QPSK detection
Han Ye, Qin Han, Shuai Wang, Feng Xiao, Fan Xiao, Yimiao Chu, and Liyan Geng
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 13, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011301 (2023)
Lasers, Optical Amplifiers, and Laser Optics
All-solid-state far-UVC pulse laser at 222 nm wavelength for UVC disinfection
Qihui Luo, Jian Ma, Miao Wang, Tingting Lu, and Xiaolei Zhu
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 22, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011401 (2023)
InAs/GaAs quantum dot laterally coupled distributed feedback lasers at 1.3 μm
Wenfu Yu, Xuyi Zhao, Shixian Han, Antian Du, Ruotao Liu, Chunfang Cao, Jinyi Yan, Jin Yang, Hua Huang, Hailong Wang, and Qian Gong
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 21, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011402 (2023)
Directly modulated 25 Gbaud/s tunable in-series DFB laser array for WDM systems
Zhenxing Sun, Yaguang Wang, Rulei Xiao, Leilei Wang, Yangyang Gong, Yi-Jen Chiu, and Xiangfei Chen
In this Letter, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated a directly modulated tunable laser based on the multi-wavelength distributed feedback (DFB) laser array. The lasers are placed in series to avoid the usage of an optical combiner and additional power loss. A three-section design is utilized to reduce the interference from other lasers and improve the electro-optic response bandwidth. Besides, the reconstruction-equivalent-chirp technique is used to simplify the grating fabrication and precisely control the grating phase. We realized 12 channels with 100 GHz spacing with high side mode suppression ratios of above 50 dB. The output power of all the channels is above 14 mW. The 3 dB electro-optic bandwidth is above 20 GHz at a bias current of 100 mA for all four lasers. A 25 Gb/s data transmission over a standard single-mode fiber of up to 10 km is demonstrated for all 12 channels, and 50 Gb/s data per wavelength is obtained through the four-level pulse amplitude modulation. The proposed directly modulated tunable in-series DFB laser array shows the potential for a compact and low-cost light source for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems, such as next-generation front-haul networks and passive optical networks.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 21, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011403 (2023)
Design of an optical slot waveguide amplifier based on Er3+-doped tellurite glass
Ning Wei, Xiaobo Li, Jiajing He, Yongtao Fan, Yaping Dan, and Jun Wang
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 21, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011404 (2023)
Generation of 12th order harmonic mode-locking in a Nd-doped single-mode all-fiber laser operating at 0.9 µm
Bin Zhang, Ping Li, Zhaojun Liu, Ming Li, Jing Liu, Haoxu Zhao, Qiongyu Hu, and Xiaohan Chen
Based on the Nd-doped single-mode fiber as the gain medium, an all-fiber 12th harmonic mode-locked (HML) laser operating at the 0.9 µm waveband was obtained for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. A mandrel with a diameter of 10 mm was employed to introduce bending losses to suppress mode competition at 1.06 µm, which resulted in a suppression ratio of up to 54 dB. The 1st–12th order HML pulses with the tunable repetition rate of 494.62 kHz–5.94 MHz were obtained in the mode-locked laser with a center wavelength of ∼904 nm. In addition, the laser has an extremely low threshold pump power of 88 mW. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that an HML pulse has been achieved in a 0.9 µm Nd-doped single-mode all-fiber mode-locked laser with the advantages of low cost, simple structure, and compactness, which could be an ideal light source for two-photon microscopy.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 22, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011405 (2023)
Wideband tunable REC-DFB laser array using thin-film heaters on the submount
Pan Dai, Zhuo Chen, Zhenxing Sun, Hantian Ge, Ji Dai, Jun Lu, Feng Wang, Rulei Xiao, Hua Tong, Rongrong Dou, and Xiangfei Chen
A wideband wavelength-tunable 4×5 distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor laser array based on the reconstruction-equivalent-chirp (REC) technique using a simple tuning scheme is demonstrated. It consists of 20 DFB lasers with 4×5 matrix interleaving distributions, two-level cascaded Y-branch optical combiners, and one active semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), all in-series integrated on one chip. Unlike the traditional thermal-electric cooler (TEC)-based wavelength-tuning scheme, the tunable 4×5 REC-DFB laser array achieves a faster and broader continuous wavelength-tuning range using TaN thin-film heaters integrated on the AlN submount. By changing the injection current of the TaN resistor from 0 to 190 mA, the proposed tunable laser achieves a wavelength-tuning range of ∼2.5 nm per channel and a total tuning of over 50 nm. This study opens up new avenues for realizing cost-effective and wide-tuning-range semiconductor lasers.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 13, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011406 (2023)
Improvement of bandwidth in a 100 kHz swept laser source with phase controllable signal driving
Zhiwei Yang, Xu Wu, Jihong Pei, and Shuangchen Ruan
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 07, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011407 (2023)
Room temperature continuous-wave operation of a dual-wavelength quantum cascade laser
Yanjiao Guan, Ruixuan Sun, Ning Zhuo, Xiyu Lu, Jinchuan Zhang, Shenqiang Zhai, Junqi Liu, Shuman Liu, Lijun Wang, and Fengqi Liu
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 07, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 011408 (2023)
Nanophotonics, Metamaterials, and Plasmonics
Generation of tunable superchiral spot in metal-insulator-metal waveguide
Tao Zhuang, Haifeng Hu, and Qiwen Zhan
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 23, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 013601 (2023)
Modulation of epsilon-near-zero wavelength and enhancement of third-order optical nonlinearity in ITO/Au multilayer films
Bin Guo, Zhongshuai Zhang, Yanyan Huo, Shuyun Wang, and Tingyin Ning
We report the modulation of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) wavelength and enhanced third-order nonlinearity in indium tin oxide (ITO)/Au multilayer films. The samples consisting of five-layer 40 nm ITO films spaced by four-layer ultrathin Au films of different thickness, i.e., ITO(40 nm)/[Au(x)/ITO(40 nm)]4, were prepared by magnetron sputtering at room temperature. The ENZ wavelength in the multilayer films is theoretically calculated and experimentally confirmed. The nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficient of the samples of x=0, 2, 3, 4 nm were determined using the Z-scan method at a wavelength of 1.064 µm. The large nonlinear refractive index n2=1.12×10-13 m2/W and nonlinear absorption coefficient β=-1.78×10-7 m/W in the sample of x = 4 nm are both four times larger than those in the single-layer ITO film. The large optical nonlinearity due to the ENZ enhancement and carrier concentration is discussed. The results indicate that the ITO/Au multilayer films are promising for advanced all-optical devices.
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 07, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 013602 (2023)
X-ray Optics
X-ray volumetric quantitative phase imaging by Foucault differential filtering with linear scanning
Young-Sung Park, Jieun Hong, and Jaeho Choi
Chinese Optics Letters
  • Publication Date: Sep. 07, 2022
  • Vol. 21, Issue 1, 013401 (2023)