This paper introduces a transformative approach to 3D lidar imaging through the Multi-Tone Continuous Wave (MTCW) coherent lidar system. Addressing coherence length constraints in coherent continuous wave (CW) lidar systems. We present a method utilizing static RF modulation frequencies to achieve 3D imaging. Our system demonstrates the capability to measure distances up to 11km, surpassing the 950m coherence length of the laser. This approach has far-reaching implications for applications requiring extended ranging capabilities, marking a significant evolution in coherent lidar technology. The study concludes by highlighting the potential impact on various fields, including autonomous navigation and remote sensing, thereby paving the way for enhanced spatial awareness in diverse applications.
In neuroscience research, it is crucial to measure action potentials accurately with high spatiotemporal resolution and sensitivity. Current approaches rely on electrodes or optogenetics. New approaches providing higher spatial resolution close to a single neuron, immunity to biological noise, and lesser tissue damage during measurements are always desired. Here, we present a feasibility study on a novel label-free integrated approach by combining the electro-optic (EO) properties of lithium niobate (LN) with a microring resonator (MRR) and coherent detection to enable highly sensitive and precise measurement of action potentials. Specifically, we discuss the feasibility of this so-called opto-probe by carrying the action potential signal with light modulation and beating it through homodyne detection to detect weak signals. The MRR structure obtains the modulation of the light through the refractive index change of LN under the electric field generated by the action potential. Then, at the homodyne detection part, the action potential information is extracted from the beating of these two signals by mixing the modulated signal with a local oscillator signal. We estimate that the electric field generated by action potentials as small as 15 μV is detectable with high resolution. Furthermore, the spatial resolution of the opto-probe can reach up to 249 electrodes/mm2 when configured as an array, which offers scalability and potential for multiplexed sensing applications. The research findings present a promising advancement towards a novel tool that overcomes the limitations of electrode-based methods, enabling highly accurate and precise measurements of action potentials and enhancing our understanding of neuronal activity in the brain.
Printing functional tissues and organs on demand is a major goal in biofabrication. However, replicating intricate structures resembling cellular arrangements and physical characteristics of human tissues and organs remains the greatest challenge. Up to date, several systems, such as extrusion and light-based bioprinting techniques, have been widely studied. Achieving desired realistic, high-resolution 3D features on multi-material and multi-layer complex structures while simultaneously incorporating cells and maintaining high cell viability is the holy grail of bioprinting and remains to be achieved. Addressing this limitation, we proposed, developed, and fully characterized a novel 3D-bioprinting technique called Photopolymerization of Orderly Extruded multi-Materials (POEM). The proposed technique operates by infusing temporarily viscous photo-cross-linkable bioinks layer-by-layer. It is subsequently followed by precise and high-resolution photopatterning of the layers to the desired shapes and configurations. The proposed POEM technique offers a single step photopolymerization that eliminates the requirement for multiple processing steps, interim cleaning processes, or material exchange throughout the multi-material/multi-layer printing procedure. This also eliminates cross-contamination and the loss of valuable cells and inks during the cleaning process. Herein, we demonstrate the utility of the POEM technique for rapid and high-resolution 3D printing of multi-material, multi-layer, and cell-laden structures. The printed configurations exhibit remarkable cell viability (approximately 80%) and metabolic activity for over five days. As proof of concept, we successfully fabricated and characterized a 3D structure representing the esophagus. The development of POEM represents a significant advancement in 3D-bioprinting technology, offering new possibilities for constructing physiologically relevant tissue constructs.
KEYWORDS: Receivers, Free space optics, Transmitters, Metalenses, Free space optical communications, Signal detection, Multiplexing, Design and modelling, Beam diameter, Silicon
In conventional free space optical communication receivers, focusing optics reduces the field of regard (in the range of millidegree) while increasing the power received by the detector. As a result, a receiver communicates with one transmitter at a time. In this paper, we propose a novel two-metalens-receiver system that offers a wider field of regard (in the range of degrees) to capture the optical signal from a large Angle of Arrival (AoA). The first metalens of the system compresses and separates optical beams, based on different incident angles. The compression factor of the first metalens needs to be chosen based on the receiver system’s overall length, aperture size, and minimum angular separation between the transmitters. The second metalens redirects and focuses the beam to the detector sitting on the optical axis. Physical Optics calculation with the proposed phase profile as a phase mask shows that our proposed system increases the power received by the detector up to 1000 times compared to the conventional system for large AoA. As a result, transmitters with wide angular (and spatial) separation can communicate with the proposed receiver simultaneously. The designed phase profile is implemented by a meta-unit cell with varying diameters of Si nanopillars sitting on the quartz substrate. Finally, Quasi- 3D full wave simulation is carried out to show the effectiveness of the two metalens-receiver systems.
Long-distance ranging in existing coherent lidar techniques suffer from the coherence length of lasers. Here we present a coherent multi-tone continuous-wave (MTCW) lidar technique that performs single-shot simultaneous ranging and velocimetry with a high resolution at distances far beyond the coherence length of a CW laser, without frequency/phase sweeping. The proposed technique utilizes relative phase accumulations at phase-locked RF sidebands and Doppler shifts to identify the range and velocity of the target after a heterodyne detection of the beating of the echo signal with an unmodulated CW optical local oscillator (LO). The predefined RF sidebands enable ultra-narrow-bandwidth RF filters in the analog or digital domain to suppress noise and achieve high SNR ranging and velocimetry. Up-to-date, we demonstrated that the MTCW-lidar could perform ranging ×500 beyond the coherence length of the laser with <1cm precision. In a quasi-CW configuration, >1km ranging is realized with <3cm precision. Moreover, we incorporate machine-learning algorithms into MTCW-lidar to identify the reflections from multiple targets and improve the range resolution. Since relative phases of RF-sidebands are utilized for ranging, and common phase noises can be suppressed in signal processing, we show that the LO in heterodyne detection does not have to be the same laser source. Hence a separate free-running laser can be used. This approach paves the way for novel optical localization. To prove the concept, we present that a receiver with a free-running CW LO can determine its relative distance to a remote transmitter at 1.5km away with a <5cm accuracy.
Lidar technologies have been investigated and commercialized for various applications such as autonomous driving and aerial vehicles. The pulsed time of flight and frequency-modulated continuous-wave lidars are the two common lidar technologies that dominate. As an alternative to the available lidars, we developed the phase-based multi-tone continuouswave (PB-MTCW) technology that can perform single-shot simultaneous ranging and velocimetry measurements with a high resolution at distances far beyond the coherence length of a CW laser, without employing any form of sweeping. The proposed technique utilizes relative phase accumulations at phase-locked RF sidebands to identify the range of the target after a heterodyne detection of the beating of the echo signal with an unmodulated CW optical local oscillator (LO). Upto-date, we demonstrated that the PB-MTCW lidar could perform ranging ×500 beyond the coherence length of the laser with <1cm precision. Here, we implement machine learning (ML) algorithms to the PB-MTCW architecture to improve the ranging resolution, as well as to provide a solution to multi-target reflections using tone-amplitude variations. We used four different training schemes by utilizing the acquired RF tones and phases from simulation results, experimental results, and their combinations in a convolutional neural network model. We demonstrate that the ML algorithm yields an average mean square error of ~0.3mm compared to the actual target distance, hence enhancing the ranging resolution of PB-MTCW lidar. It is also shown that the ML algorithm can distinguish multiple targets in the same line of sight with a 98%±0.7% success rate depending on the targets’ reflectance and distances.
Over the past years, light detection and ranging (lidar) technologies have been investigated and commercialized for various applications such as autonomous vehicles, terrestrial mappings, and precision measurements. Currently, the frequently used ranging methods are the pulsed time of flight (PToF) and frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidars that relies on frequency sweeping to capture range and velocity information. We have previously developed and demonstrated the multi-tone continuous wave (MTCW) that operates by employing amplitude modulation via multiple radio frequencies (RF) and coherent detection. Here, we present a theoretical and experimental study on phase-based MTCW lidar that can detect the range and velocity of objects with arbitrary velocities. The experiments demonstrate that the phase and frequency of the Doppler-shifted fixed RF tones can be used to extract the range and velocity information in a single shot measurement. We show that a <±1cm resolution in the ranging, limited by the temporal resolution of the detection system, and a 0.5cm/s speed resolution is limited by the frequency resolution of the detection system are achievable. Moreover, the proposed approach has the potential to mitigate the requirement for a narrow linewidth laser for coherent detection.
KEYWORDS: Satellites, Field programmable gate arrays, Ocean optics, Mirrors, LIDAR, Control systems, Receivers, Space operations, Solar cells, Laser components
In this work, we designed a 12U CubeSat Platform for a Multi-Tone Continuous Wave Lidar system, utilizing coherent detection, which is used as an optical altimetry and velocimetry measurement device. The spacecraft is designed to be operational for a period of 6 to 12 months, and the primary goals are to develop a standalone small spacecraft technology that enables an optical remote sensing. Here, we describe the mechanical design and the thermal analysis of the spacecraft. Due to the random vibration and shock response during launching, a vibration isolation was designed to protect the optical components and alignments. The necessity of high optical power creates thermally localized hot spots that need to be dissipated while remaining in the operational temperature range. We designed thermal dissipation systems, including radiators, heat pipes, thermo-electric coolers, and used space-grade exterior paint to sustain the operation of the MTCW Lidar in the 12U CS.
Receiver field of regard is one of the major problems for free space optical (FSO) communications. Drift or vibrations in transceiver orientations reduces effective communication time. The methods implemented to overcome this limitation, often require bulky optical and complex mechanical assemblies with feedback control, that are not suitable for long run operation in an airborne system. In this paper, we propose a novel receiver system that can effectively reduce the impact of pointing errors. The system is composed of two metalenses and one off-the-shelf conventional lens. The first metalens focuses optical beam incident at different angles on the aperture, at different locations on focal plane. The second metalens is placed on the focal plane of first metalens. After passing through the second metalens, the beams become parallel to optical axis of the receiver optical system. The parallel beams are collected by a suitable off-the-shelf aspheric lens and focused back on single detector that sits on a point on the optical axis. The system is designed and analyzed by physical optics theory. With 0.5 mm receiver aperture and 50 mm diameter aspheric lens, Zemax simulation shows that the system can collect +/-5-degree incident angle with detector diameter of 273μm. COMSOL frequency domain simulation with smaller diameter beam shows that the efficiency of the 2 metalens system is about 80%. Efficient metalens design and beam compression at detector plane are two key features of the proposed system. The system relaxes the strict requirement of aligning the transmitter and receiver unit in FSO communication.
A tuning metalens in transmission mode with GeSbTe (GST) phase-change material is proposed in this paper. Traditional single-layer metalenses with fixed geometry structure face the difficulty of focusing the wide-angle incident wave on the same focal point. Combining GST phase-change material with metasurface structure, the proposed single-layer metalens can converge wide-angel beam from −30° to 30° on a focal point with high efficiency without geometric structure variation. The unit cell of the proposed metalens consists of a GST nanopost and a silicon ring. GST phase-change material excited by a series of pulses switches among amorphous, crystalline and partially crystallized states. The phase shift controlled by each unit cell can well match the phase distribution of metalens required by focusing for different incident beams by changing the crystallization level of the GST. The simulation results show that the proposed metalens operating at 1550 nm wavelength can convert the incident plane wave to a converging spherical wave and focus it on a focal point with more than 27.68% efficiency when the incident angle changes from −30° to 30°. The focal length is in the range of 4535.4 to 4967.1 nm, in good agreement with the designed focal length of 4650 nm. Moreover, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is from 0.581λ to 0.625λ approaching the diffraction limit of 0.6538λ. The proposed metalens is applicable for near-infrared light focusing with large view field.
Phase-changing materials are promising due to their sharp temperature dependent characteristics and have high potential of being integrated in optical switching and sensing techniques. Among such materials, vanadium dioxide (VO2) is the most utilitarian because of its transition temperature being close to the room-temperature. VO2-based bolometers utilize the material’s large temperature coefficient of resistivity to detect infrared radiation. However, to achieve large sensitivity, the active radiation absorption area needs to be large enough that allows sufficient temperature buildup from incident radiation absorbed by VO2, thus requiring large pixel dimen- sion and degrading the spatial resolution of bolometric sensing. Moreover, the absorption by the VO2 material is not optimized for a specific frequency band in most of the applications. On the other hand, plasmonic nanos- tructures can be tuned and designed to selectively and efficiently absorb a specific band of the incident radiation for local heating and thermal imaging. In this work, we propose to incorporate plasmonic nanostructures with VO2 nanowires that amplifies the slope of impedance change due to the thermal variations to achieve a higher sensitivity. We present the numerical analysis of the mid-infrared electromagnetic radiation absorption by the proposed detector showing near-perfect absorption by the plasmonic absorbers. Besides, the thermal buildup and the nanowire resistance change is predicted for different substrate, as the substrate plays a big role in heat distribution. We show high sensitivity and ultra-low noise equivalent temperature difference (NEDT) by our novel bolometric detector. We also discuss the fabrication of the VO2.
Active tunability of optical leaky wave antenna is highly desired to enable greater control on light-matter interaction, sensing, and communication. Phase-changing materials can be integrated in optical antennas to enable such tunability. Among the phase-changing materials, vanadium dioxide (VO2) is the most useful as it shows the semiconductor to metal transition (68°C) very close to the room temperature. The phase transition in VO2 can be commonly induced by optical pulses or electrical joule heating. VO2 exhibits significant temperature-dependent electrical and optical coefficients even outside of the transition temperature making it suitable for both - fine and coarse tuning of the properties of optical devices depending on the temperature bias. In this work, we study optical leaky wave antenna consisting of a silicon nitride waveguide with periodic VO2 nanowire perturbations. We present the numerical analysis of different arrangements of the periodic perturbations. The antenna operates by the coupling between the evanescent mode of the waveguide and the nanowires. We show that, by selective joule heating of individual nanowires we can tune the optical property of corrugations and enable wider tuning range and higher degree of control on the radiated beam. We also include a comparative study to show tunability and performance of the antenna with different phase-changing materials like vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) and germanium-antimony-tellurium (GST). We show that, around the phase transition temperature of VO2, the directive gain of the antenna can be modulated by up to 25 dB and the radiation peak position can be tuned by up to 2.3°.
Plasmonic structures have a wide variety of sensing applications because of their high field localization effect that leads to high sensitivity at lower powers. Specifically, plasmonic nanohole arrays are attractive platforms for sensing because of their easy alignment and measurement. In terms of fabricating these sensors, usually an adhesion layer is needed to ensure firm contact between the plasmonic metal layer and the substrate. Most fabrication efforts rely on titanium or chromium based metallic adhesion layers. However, the presence of the adhesion layer may hinder the plasmonic resonance by broadening the resonance and reducing the plasmonic field enhancement. This leads to degradation of sensing capabilities. We investigate the effect of tantalum, chromium, and titanium adhesion layers on plasmonic sensors made of nanohole arrays. Using the bulk refractive index data for metallic adhesion layers, we show that tantalum has the potential to show less damping effect compared to commonly used chromium and titanium. However, it still causes significant damping because of its high absorption, which becomes even larger for tantalum thin film according to our ellipsometry measurement results. We also propose here to use MgO dielectric adhesion layers to avoid the damping effect. Our investigation on MgO adhesion layers shows strong adhesion properties without scarifying sensor performance. Moreover, we will present an alternate sensor geometry that is less prone to damping by the adhesion layer and that can enhance the plasmonic resonance even if there is a metallic adhesion layer.
Because of its high range and resolution, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) is a significant technology for numerous applications, such as autonomous vehicles, robotics, aerial or terrestrial mapping, and atmospheric research. Current lidar market is mainly occupied by conventional pulsed time of flight lidars. However, recently emerging companies are utilizing frequency modulated continuous wave lidars for improved and robust range resolution, dynamic range, sensitivity and simultaneous velocity measurement. Here, we propose and demonstrate multi-tone modulated continuous wave (MTCW) lidar system made of a CW laser with multiple fixed RF tones for a high precision range finding and velocimetry. In the proposed approach, the interference of the scattered light with the reference is detected by a PIN photodiode to extract the modulation information. Since, the acquired light is traveled all the way to the target and back to the beam splitter, it carries the range and velocity information about the target as phase and frequency shift, respectively, on the RF modulation tones. We use 1550nm light source and multiple RF tone modulations ranging from 50 MHz to 6 GHz to demonstrate proof of principle for range finding. We also provide sine fitting algorithms on the measured RF tones to extract the range and velocity information in a single shot RF measurement. We show that the precision and range information are scaled by the selection of RF tones. By an engineered selection of RF tones and a laser source, the measurement precision can be increased without compromising the range.
We are developing an inter-satellite omnidirectional optical communicator (ISOC) that will enable gigabit per second data rates over distances up to 1000 km in free space. Key features of the ISOC include its high data rates and its ability to maintain multiple simultaneous links with other spacecraft. In this paper we present design considerations for the ISOC, including selection of the mission-appropriate geometry, telescope design, receiver design, as well as beam pointing considerations. We also present experimental results obtained with the ISOC prototype. In addition, we present design considerations for a low-Earth-Orbit mission where four ISOC-furnished CubeSats form a swarm suitable for remote sensing. We believe the ISOC could be a technology enabler for future constellation and formation flying CubeSat missions for Remote Sensing.
High speed (≥1Ghz) and long distance (≥100km) data communication among CubeSats and NanoSats can accelerate the technology advancement and paves the way for critical applications such as formation flying and remote sensing. Design of a simple, lightweight optical transceiver with full duplex capability, fast-tracking speed and 360° field of regard for CubeSat is crucial due to extreme SWaP-C limitations. In this paper, we describe the design tradeoff between the field of view and collection efficiency in receiver design using Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) optics and detectors. We also briefly discussed the design tradeoffs in transmitter design for optimum performance. We show that to achieve maximum SNR at long distance(≥100km), the laser beam diameter needs to be 80%-90% of the scanning mirror diameter. In addition to that, we show that the intrinsic Field of View (FOV) of high speed(≥600MHz) Avalanche Photodiodes (APD) can be increased to ≥3° by incorporating optimized optics considering form factor of the CubeSat system. In addition, we present a scalable detector array design method using COTS components to achieve a wide full FOV(≥12°) with a uniform collection efficiency around 30%-60%. Furthermore, we demonstrated a multi-wavelength full duplex communication system based on dichroic filters as duplexer that shows significantly low crosstalk. The system also exhibits low transmission power loss(≤4%) as opposed to around 40% that of the conventional beam splitter based system.
Scintillating dyes in polymer blends is a common tool used in radiation detection and its modifiability is a desirable attribute for different applications. Through nanocomposite loading, nanocrystals are generally employed to enhance scintillation either through radiative or non-radiative energy transfer. In this work similar methods are pursued with focus in the UV region through UV emitting nanocluster such as ZnO and CdS. A wide range of UV emission nanocrystals are selected and combined with different polymer and dyes demonstrating both quenching and enhancement. Preliminary results show not only dependency of the wavelength but also the polymer medium indicating different energy transfer paths. Compared to samples without nanocrystal the light yield was increased throughout different combinations.
A soliton explosion refers to a phenomena in passive mode locked lasers where spectral structure of the laser pulse disappear suddenly but returns back its original shape after a few roundtrips. This phenomena timescale is from nanoseconds to microseconds, and therefore this particular event of single-shot pulse spectrum cannot be detected by using a conventional spectrometer which consists on a grating and a linear array detector. Progress on photonic time-stretch is enabling the single-shot spectral measurement in real-time. Previous observations of soliton explosion in fiber lasers was limited to dissipative soliton in an operation state between mode locking and noise-like pulses. Here we report the first observation of soliton explosion in an unstable mode locking region in the stretched pulse configuration via nonlinear polarization evolution with time stretch spectroscopy. Developing with an Yb doped fiber laser and capturing 8000 consecutive single-shot spectra, we observed that the features of soliton explosion dynamics between narrow and broadband mode locking regimes. We anticipate that the explosion dynamics are related to a pulse energy decreasing process during the stabilizing toward the steady state mode locking operation. We believe that these results provide us novel insights into understanding the broadband spectral formation and evolution in unstable mode locking regime of lasers.
We propose a plasmo-thermomechanical mid-infrared detector operating at 4.3 μm wavelength. The design utilizes an array of the bimetallic fishbone nanowires that are suspended 50 nm above a 1.5 μm × 0.3 μm silicon nitride waveguide to create a leaky wave radiation. Moreover, the thermo-mechanically actuated nanowire will induce evanescent wave modulation that can be detected by the leaky wave or transmitted power of the waveguide. The antenna has a strip length of 1.77 μm and can yield an absorption coefficient of 42.4% with a period of 3.1 μm. Six unit cells are connected by a nanowire, and the fishbone-like nanowires are clamped at the two ends, leaving the center free to bend. The mid-infrared energy is absorbed by the resonant metallic antennas, resulting in a temperature increment. The mismatch of the thermal expansion coefficients of the bimetallic materials, gold and nickel, actuates the nanowire, and thus changes the gap between the nanowire and the waveguide. The deformation of the nanowire modulates the waveguide evanescent field, and hence alternates the transmitted power as well as the leak wave power. With a normal incident power of 4 μW/μm2 , the temperature in the center of the nanobridge can be increased over 135 K above the ambient temperature, leading to an elevation of 23.5 nm in the center and thus weakening the evanescent modulation strength. The difference of S21 caused by the gap change is 0.106. This methodology can be applied in other spectrums and the fabrication progress will be reported later.
Plasmonic nanostructures are highly used for sensing purposes since they support plasmonic modes
which make them highly sensitive to the refractive index change of their surrounding medium.
Therefore, they can also be used to detect changes in optical properties of ultrathin layer films in a
multilayer plasmonic structure. Here, we investigate the changes in optical properties of ultrathin
films of macro structures consisting of STT-RAM layers. Among the highest sensitive plasmonic
structures, nanohole array has attracted many research interest because of its ease of fabrication,
small footprint, and simplified optical alignment. Hence it is more suitable for defect detection in
STT-RAM geometries. Moreover, the periodic nanohole pattern in the nanohole array structure
makes it possible to couple the light to the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode supported by the
structure. To assess the radiation damages and defects in STT-RAM cells we have designed a
multilayer nanohole array based on the layers used in STT-RAM structure, consisting 4nm-
Ta/1.5nm-CoFeB/2nm-MgO/1.5nm-CoFeB/4nm-Ta layers, all on a 300nm silver layer on top of a
PEC boundary. The nanoholes go through all the layers and become closed by the PEC boundary on
one side. The dimensions of the designed nanoholes are 313nm depth, 350nm diameter, and 700nm
period. Here, we consider the normal incidence of light and investigate zeroth-order reflection
coefficient to observe the resonance. Our simulation results show that a 10% change in refractive
index of the 2nm-thick MgO layer leads to about 122GHz shift in SPP resonance in reflection
pattern.
Plastic scintillators such as Polyvinyl Toluene (PVT) are used for radiation detection but due to their poor performance they are not widely implemented. In order to circumnavigate this, dopants are added to enhance scintillation by energy transfer otherwise lost through non-radiative processes. In this work, we exploit the effects of energy transfer through the use of short wavelength emission Cadmium Sulfide Quantum Dots (QD) as the transfer stimulant. Scintillation enhancement was observed as Cadmium Sulfide QD with scintillating dyes are embedded in PVT polymer matrix for beta and gamma radiation. Energy transfer was observed between Quantum Dots, scintillating dye, and the host polymer. Different concentrations of QD and 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) dye are investigated to characterize the energy transfer.
Plasmonic nano antennas like dimers, have been investigated for their capability to provide a strong near-field enhancement when illuminated by external light. Traditionally these nano antennas, isolated or arrayed, are placed on a substrate and used in spectroscopy techniques. Surfaces made of such plasmonic nano antennas have been very useful for applications like surface enhanced Raman scattering in which it provides various orders of magnitude of enhanced sensitivity. These instruments however are not economic and are often not mobile since surfaces require an external beam illumination and the Raman scattering is detected by a large aperture microscope. The goal of this paper is to combine nano antennas made of gold dimers with integrated waveguide to make a spectrometer which has low cost and volume in comparison with the structure mentioned above. A technique in which optical plasmonic nano antennas are located in proximity of silicon nitride waveguide is proposed that is useful both for illumination and detection channels. The waveguide evanescent field, which is decaying outside of the waveguide, excites the dimer and causes it to resonate which results in a very strong electric field enhancement of approximately 25 times in the antenna gap. Also the coupling effect of dimer resonance on waveguide modes is investigated. To show the efficiency of the proposed structure, full wave analysis has been done and its results are compared with the multilayer structure case. The simulation results demonstrate that this structure can be designed and fabricated for the purpose of spectroscopy application.
We numerically investigated optical properties, including evanescent intensity ratio (EIR), effective refractive index (Neff), dispersion coefficient (D), and mode area (Aeff) of the silicon nitride trench waveguides fabricated by using conventional lithography. The waveguides are etched 3 μm deep with potassium hydroxide for triangle and trapezoidal waveguides, which is then followed by 3 μm thermal oxidation and 725 nm silicon nitride deposition. The waveguide with 725 nm thickness has an EIR peak of 0.025 when its bottom width Wbtm equals 0.65 μm. A thinner waveguide has higher evanescent intensity ratio, which can be used in sensing applications. The locations of EIR peaks correspond to the quasi-TM and TE mode boundary. Narrower waveguides mainly support quasi-TM modes, whereas wider waveguides can support only TE modes. As the waveguide width increases, higher orders of TE modes emerge. In addition, a boundary of TE single mode and multimode can also be linearly curve fitted, according to the starting points of TE higher modes, in order to provide the single mode condition of the waveguide. The waveguide dispersion can be engineered to be in the anomalous region while at the same time remain close to zero. The waveguide with 725 nm thickness and 0.2 μm bottom width has its anomalous dispersion region between the wavelength of 1356 nm and 1462 nm. The mode area decreases with increasing waveguide width. This is the first time we have studied the mode properties of trench waveguides systematically. The waveguide will find more applications in sensing and nonlinear fields with the help of this mode analysis.
We propose electronically controlled optical tweezing based on space-time-wavelength mapping technology. By using time-domain modulation, the location and the polarity of force hot-spots created by Lorentz force (gradient force) can be controlled. In this preliminary study we use 150 fs optical pulses that are dispersed in time and space to achieve a focused elliptical beam that is ~20 μm long and ~2 μm wide. We use an electro-optic modulator to modulate power spectral distribution of the femtosecond beam after temporal dispersion and hence change the intensity gradient along the beam at the focal spot. We present a theoretical model, and simulation results from a proposed experimental setup. The results show that we can achieve ±200 pN forces on nano objects (~100 nm) without mechanical beam steering. The intensity of wavelengths along the spectrum can be manipulated by using different RF waveforms to create a desired intensity gradient profile at the focal plane. By choosing the appropriate RF waveform it is possible to create force fields for cell stretching and compression as well as multiple hot spots for attractive or repulsive forces. 2D space-time-wavelength mapping can also be utilized to create tunable 2D force field distribution.
We demonstrate the fabrication of a highly nonlinear sub-micron silicon nitride trench waveguide coated with gold nanoparticles for plasmonic enhancement. The average enhancement effect is evaluated by measuring the spectral broadening effect caused by self-phase-modulation. The nonlinear refractive index n2 was measured to be 7.0917×10-19 m2/W for a waveguide whose Wopen is 5 μm. Several waveguides at different locations on one wafer were measured in order to take the randomness of the nanoparticle distribution into consideration. The largest enhancement is measured to be as high as 10 times. Fabrication of this waveguide started with a MEMS grade photomask. By using conventional optical lithography, the wide linewidth was transferred to a <100> wafer. Then the wafer was etched anisotropically by potassium hydroxide (KOH) to engrave trapezoidal trenches with an angle of 54.7º. Side wall roughness was mitigated by KOH etching and thermal oxidation that was used to generate a buffer layer for silicon nitride waveguide. The guiding material silicon nitride was then deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition. The waveguide was then patterned with a chemical template, with 20 nm gold particles being chemically attached to the functionalized poly(methyl methacrylate) domains. Since the particles attached only to the PMMA domains, they were confined to localized regions, therefore forcing the nanoparticles into clusters of various numbers and geometries. Experiments reveal that the waveguide has negligible nonlinear absorption loss, and its nonlinear refractive index can be greatly enhanced by gold nano clusters. The silicon nitride trench waveguide has large nonlinear refractive index, rendering itself promising for nonlinear applications.
Directive optical leaky wave antennas (OLWAs) with tunable radiation pattern are promising integrated optical modulation and scanning devices. OLWAs fabricated using CMOS-compatible semiconductor planar waveguide technology have the potential of providing high directivity with electrical tunability for modulation and switching capabilities. We experimentally demonstrate directive radiation from a silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguide-based OLWA. The OLWA design comprises 50 crystalline Si perturbations buried inside the waveguide, with a period of 1 μm, each with a length of 260 nm and a height of 150 nm, leading to a directive radiation pattern at telecom wavelengths. The measured far-field radiation pattern at the wavelength of 1540 nm is very directive, with the maximum intensity at the angle of 84.4° relative to the waveguide axis and a half-power beam width around 6.2°, which is consistent with our theoretical predictions. The use of semiconductor perturbations facilitates electronic radiation control thanks to the refractive index variation induced by a carrier density change in the perturbations. To assess the electrical modulation capability, we study carrier injection and depletion in Si perturbations, and investigate the Franz-Keldysh effect in germanium as an alternative way. We theoretically show that the silicon wire modulator has a -3 dB modulation bandwidth of 75 GHz with refractive index change of 3×10-4 in depletion mode, and 350 MHz bandwidth with refractive index change of 1.5×10-2 in injection mode. The Franz-Keldysh effect has the potential to generate very fast modulation in radiation control at telecom wavelengths.
We analyze the theoretical and physical properties of a CMOS compatible optical leaky wave antenna (OLWA) integrated into a Fabry-Pérot resonator (FPR) at 193.4 THz (wavelength λ0 = 1550 nm). The presented OLWA design is composed of a silicon (Si) dielectric waveguide sandwiched between two silica glass (SiO2) domains, and it comprises periodic perturbations (cavities of vacuum). We first describe the radiation of the isolated OLWA whose radiation pattern is due to the excitation of a leaky wave, slowly decaying while traveling. The perturbations are indeed designed to obtain a leaky wave harmonic with very low attenuation and phase constants. Then, we integrate the same OLWA into a FPR where two leaky waves with the same wavenumber are travelling in opposite directions inside the resonator. We
show that the radiation level at the broadside direction can be effectively controlled by modifying the optical properties of the Si waveguide through electron-hole excess carrier generation (found to be highly enhanced when it is integrated into a FPR). The design of the integrated OLWA is properly set to guarantee the constructive interference of the two radiated beams provided by the two leaky waves in the FPR. The modal propagation constant in the integrated OLWA can be then altered through excess carrier generation in Si, thus the antenna can be tuned in and out of the resonance thanks to the high FPR quality factor, and the LW modal dispersion relation. This allows for enhanced radiation level control at broadside, and preliminary results show up to 13 dB beam modulation.
Conventional SOI waveguide technology, serving as the foundation of near-IR photonics, meets its limitation in
mid-IR due to high loss associated with the buried oxide. Silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) waveguides are considered as a
good mid-IR alternative, because the transparency window of sapphire is up to 6 μm and SOS waveguides are
compatible with SOI technology. We show that properly-designed SOS waveguides can facilitate frequency band
conversion between near-IR and mid-IR. An indirect mid-IR detection scheme is proposed and the mid-IR signal is
down-converted to telecommunication wavelength (1.55 μm) through SOS waveguides and indirectly detected by
near-IR detectors. The performance of the indirect mid-IR detection scheme is discussed. Particularly we model and
compare the noise performance of the indirect detection with direct detection using state-of-the-art mid-IR detectors.
In addition to advantages of room temperature and high-speed operation, the results show that the proposed indirect
detection can improve the electrical signal-to-noise ratio up to 50dB, 23dB and 4dB, compared to direct detection by
PbSe, HgCdTe and InSb detectors respectively. The improvement is even more pronounced in detection of weak
MWIR signals. In order to further boost the performance, we also investigate mechanisms to increasing the
conversion efficiency in SOS waveguide wavelength converters. The conversion efficiency can be improved by
periodically cascading SOS waveguide sections with opposite dispersion characteristics to achieve quasi-phase-matching.
Conversion efficiency enhancement over 30dB and the conversion bandwidth increased by 2 times are
demonstrated, which may facilitate the fabrication of parametric oscillators that can improve the conversion
efficiency by 50dB.
With a transparency window up to 6 μm, sapphire can serve as a platform to support silicon photonic integrated circuit in
MWIR. Planar waveguide devices based on silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) are emerging as a bridge between MWIR and
SWIR through frequency band conversion process. While these devices are widely proposed to amplify MWIR signals
and generate MWIR source, it can also be inversely utilized to achieve MWIR light detection. Here MWIR signals are
down-converted to telecommunication wavelength (1.55 μm) through SOS waveguides and indirectly detected by SWIR
detectors. Since detectors at telecommunication wavelengths exhibit superior performances in terms of speed, noise and
sensitivity, the indirect detection scheme can be a promising candidate to improve the detection performance. In this
report, we analyze performance of the indirect detection of MWIR signals by wavelength conversion in SOS
waveguides. Particularly we modeled and compared the noise performance of the indirect detection with direct detection
using state-of-the-art MWIR detectors. We show that, in addition to advantages of room temperature and high speed
operation, the proposed indirect detection can improve the electrical signal-to-noise ratio up to 50dB, 23dB and 4dB
compared to direct detection by PbSe, HgCdTe and InSb detectors respectively. The improvement is more pronounced
in detection of weak MWIR signals.
In this study, we demonstrate method for quasi phase matched silicon-on-sapphire waveguides suitable for MWIR
wavelength conversion to achieve higher conversion efficiency than that can be achieved in uniform waveguide
geometries. In particular we show that periodic change in waveguide width by 0.5μm and hence periodic change in
waveguide dispersion can to reset phase accumulation and provide ever-increasing gain profile. With the fabrication
flexibility of large cross-section of MWIR waveguides, the possibility of using quasi-phase-matching can provide >30dB
conversion efficiency enhancement and increase the conversion bandwidth by 2 times. Such improvement may facilitate
the fabrication of parametric oscillators that can improve the conversion efficiency by 50dB.
Four-wave mixing (FWM) in silicon waveguides is considered to be a promising effect to realize the wavelength
conversion function for wavelength-division-multiplexing optical communication systems. Compared to the degenerate
FWM with a single pump, the nondegenerate FWM with two pumps shows more flexibility in phase-matching condition
and has more opportunities to acquire broader conversion bandwidth. The bandwidth enhancement is theoretically
analyzed for the two-pump FWM and an enhancement of 25% is experimentally demonstrated. Also, an ultra-broadband
wavelength conversion is presented based on two-pump FWM by fixing one pump near the signal and scanning the other
pumps.
KEYWORDS: Silicon, Waveguides, Antennas, Control systems, Signal attenuation, Refractive index, Wave propagation, Neodymium, Electrons, Near field optics
An optical leaky wave antenna (OLWA) is a device that radiates a light wave into the surrounding space from a leaky
wave (LW) guided mode or receives optical power from the surrounding space into a guided optical mode. In this work,
we propose and provide a 3D analysis of a novel CMOS compatible OLWA made of a silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguide
comprising periodic silicon perturbations which allow electronic tuning capability. The analysis presented here includes
the effect of the number of semiconductor perturbations, the antenna radiation pattern and directivity. We show that the
number of the silicon perturbations has to be large to provide a long radiating section required to achieve radiation with
high directivity. In other words, the proposed structure allows for a very narrow-beam radiation. Preliminary results are
confirmed by exploiting leaky wave and antenna array factor theory, as well as verified by means of two full-wave
simulators (HFSS and COMSOL). Our purpose is to ultimately use PIN junctions as building blocks for each silicon
implantation for the electronic control of the radiation. In particular, the electronic tunability of the optical parameters of
silicon (such as refractive index and absorption coefficient) via current injection renders itself the ideal platform for
optical antennas that can facilitate electronic beam control, and boost the efficiency of optoelectronic devices such as
light-emitting diodes, lasers and solar cells, and bio-chemical sensors.
Wavelength tunable synchronous pulse sources are highly desirable for spectroscopy and optical diagnostics. The
common method to generate short pulses in the fiber is the use of nonlinear induced spectral broadening which result in
soliton shaping in anomalous dispersion regime. However, to generate ultra-short pulses, broadband gain mechanism is
also required. In recent years, Raman fiber lasers have retrieved strong interest due to their capability of serving as pump
sources in gain-flattened amplifiers for optical communication systems. The fixed-wavelength Raman lasers have been
widely studied in the last years, but recently, much focus has been on the multi wavelength tunable Raman fiber lasers
which generate output Stokes pulses in a broad wavelength range by so called cascaded stimulated Raman scattering. In
this paper we investigate synchronous 1st and 2nd order pulsed Raman lasers that can achieve frequency spacing of up to
1000cm-1 that is highly desired for CARS microscopy. In particular, analytical and numerical analysis of pulsed stability
derived for Raman lasers by using dispersion managed telecom fibers and pumped by 1530nm fiber lasers. We show the
evolution of the 1st and 2nd order Stokes signals at the output for different pump power and SMF length (determines the
net anomalous dispersion) combinations. We investigated the stability of dispersion managed synchronous Raman laser
up to second order both analytically and numerically. The results show that the stable 2nd order Raman Stokes pulses
with 0.04W to 0.1W peak power and 2ps to 3.5ps pulse width can be achieved in dispersion managed system.
Nonlinear silicon photonics has been an immense research subject in the past several years with promising prospects of
delivering chip scale signal modulation, shaping and characterization tools. In particular, broadband parametric process
has been considered for applications ranging from wideband light amplifiers to signal characterization and signal
shaping tools. Although underlying nonlinear effect, Kerr phenomena, in silicon has generated promising result of
wavelength conversion, the success of these devices have been challenged by the presence of nonlinear losses such as
two photon absorption and the two photon generated free carrier absorption. Experimental demonstrations were limited
to conversion efficiencies below -10dB. Here, we present the prospect of ultra wide discrete band conversion schemes
and the prospect of parametric process at mid-infrared wavelengths where nonlinear losses are not present. In particular,
we explore the parametric wavelength conversion scheme at mid-wave infrared wavelength (2μm~6μm) by four-wavefixing
process in silicon waveguides with new cladding materials, such as sapphire, that can provide transparency up to
6μm and facilitate phase matching condition for discrete wavelength bands as far as 60THz away from each other.
Design criteria include the optimization of mode overlap integrals and dispersion engineering for an ultra-wide band
signals. The particular results of wavelength conversion between 2μm bands and 5μm bands, and between 1.8μm bands
and >4μm bands will be presented. Prospects of frequency band conversion in generation of new infrared signals and
low noise, room temperature detection of mid-infrared signals will also be discussed.
Real-time optical imaging and tracking of particles in a complex environment to understand
coordinated events has attracted researchers from various areas such as biomechanics. Here, we report a
way for real time detection and tracking of micron size particles in time-space-wavelength mapping
technology by using a single detector. Experimentally, we demonstrate real time tracking of micron size
glass particles with 50ns temporal resolution and <3μm spatial resolution. Submicron resolution and faster
temporal resolution are achievable with further optimization. The proposed technique utilizes the timewavelength
technology, which has been proven to be very effective in real time digitization of ultra fast RF
signals, and arbitrary waveform generation by random objects. In this work we use a broad band continuum
source generated by a 20MHz fiber laser to emit 50nm short pulses at 1550nm. Following a dispersive time
wavelength mapping in a chirped fiber grating and space-time-wavelength mapping through a diffraction
grating with 600lines/mm, we generate an elliptical beam where each wavelength component corresponds
to different time and position in space. Then the generated beam is focused on an image plane by using
20X-40X microscope objectives. The presence of particles on the image plane induces amplitude
modulation on each pulse which is captured in real time by a high speed digitizing oscilloscope with
20GS/s sampling rate. The trajectory of the particle is extracted from the dynamic amplitude modulation in
a post processing. The same system has also been utilized for imaging of particles by using one
dimensional scanning.
The high-index contrast between the silicon core and silica cladding enable low cost chip-scale demonstration of all-optical
nonlinear functional devices at relatively low pump powers due to strong optical confinement the in silicon
waveguides. So far, broad ranges of applications from Raman lasers to wavelength converters have been presented. This
presentation will highlight the recent developments on ultrafast pulse shaping and pulse characterization techniques
utilizing the strong nonlinear effects in silicon. In particular, pulse compression due to two photon absorption and dual
wavelength lasing and ultrafast pulse characterization based on XPM FROG measurement will be highlighted.
Due to the high-index contrast between the silicon core and silica cladding, the silicon waveguide allows strong optical
confinement and large effective nonlinearity, which facilitates low cost chip scale demonstration of all-optical nonlinear
functional devices at relatively low pump powers. One of the challenges in ultrafast science is the full characterization of
optical pulses in real time. The time-wavelength mapping is proven to be a powerful technique for real time
characterization of fast analog signals. Here we demonstrated a technique based on the cross-phase modulation (XPM)
between the short pulse and the chirped supercontinuum (SC) pulse in the silicon chip to map fast varying optical signals
into spectral domain. In the experiment, when 30 nm linearly chirped supercontinuum pulses generated in a 5 km
dispersion-shifted fiber at the normal regime and 2.4 ps pulse are launched into a 1.7 cm silicon chip with 5 μm2 modal
area, a time-wavelength mapped pattern of the short pulses is observed on the optical spectrum analyzer. From the
measured spectral mapping the actual 2.4ps temporal pulse profile is reconstructed in a computer. This phenomenon can
be extended to full characterization of amplitude and phase information of short pulses. Due to time wavelength
mapping this approach can also be used in real time amplitude and phase measurement of ultrafast optical signals with
arbitrary temporal width. The high nonlinearity and negligible distortions due to walk off make silicon an ideal candidate
for XPM based measurements.
Nonlinear optics in silicon has drawn substantial attention in the recent years. In this research, laser mode-locking and
dual wavelength lasing are achieved in a fiber-ring-cavity using an Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) as a gain
medium and a 1.7cm long silicon-on-insular waveguide as pulse compressor, a mode-locker and a Raman gain media.
We show that the transient behavior of two photon absorption (TPA) and TPA induced free carrier absorption can be
used for pulse compression and laser modelocking in the silicon waveguide inside the laser cavity. The proposed
technique takes advantage of spontaneous generation of free carriers and the slow recombination time, >17ns, to
attenuate the trailing edge of the time varying signals passing through the waveguide. When a 5μm2 model area silicon
waveguide is placed inside a fiber ring cavity consisting of an EDFA as a gain media and ~50ps modelocked laser pulses
are generated at 1540nm. We also observe that the generated short pulses also induce stimulated Raman scattering at
1675nm in the same silicon waveguide. We show that engineering the laser cavity facilitates laser modelocking and dual
wavelength laser oscillation at 1540nm and 1675nm. Experimentally we obtain <100ps modelocked pulses at both wavelengths. The average pump threshold power of the Raman laser is measured to be 3.75mW and the Stokes average output power is measured to be 3 μW.
A dual-wavelength erbium-doped fiber (EDF) variable ring laser using a fiber acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) and
highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) is demonstrated. Stable and variable lasing wavelengths were achieved by electronically
adjusting the AOTF settings.
Silicon Photonics is emerging as an attractive technology in order to realize low cost, high density integrated optical circuits. Realizing active functionalities in Silicon waveguiding structures is being pursued rigorously. In particular, the Stimulated Raman scattering process has attracted considerably attention for achieving on-chip light generation, amplification and wavelength conversion. This paper reviews some of the recent efforts in using the Raman nonlinear process to realize amplifiers, and lasers. First the prospects of Raman process in realizing high gain amplifiers are discussed theoretically. Following this experimental results on amplification with gains as high as 20dB are presented. Some of the recent results in realizing pulsed and CW lasers with reverse-biased carrier sweep out are presented. The paper is concluded by highlighting some of the applications of the Raman process in Silicon in realizing mid-IR sources and also the use of SiGe as a flexible Raman medium are discussed.
Although the Raman effect is nearly two orders of magnitude stronger than the electronic Kerr nonlinearity in silicon, under pulsed operation regime where the pulse width is shorter than the phonon response time, Raman effect is suppressed and Kerr nonlinearity dominates. Continuum generation, made possible by the non-resonant Kerr nonlinearity, offers a technologically and economically appealing path to WDM communication at the inter-chip or intra-chip levels. We have studied this phenomenon experimentally and theoretically. Experimentally, a 2 fold spectral broadening is obtained by launching ~4ps optical pulses with 2.2GW/cm2 peak power into a conventional silicon waveguide. Theoretical calculations, that include the effect of two-photon-absorption, free carrier absorption and refractive index change indicate that up to >30 times spectral broadening is achievable in an optimized device. The broadening is due to self phase modulation and saturates due to two photon absorption. Additionally, we find that free carrier dynamics also contributes to the spectral broadening and cause the overall spectrum to be asymmetric with respect to the pump wavelength.
In silicon, direct electronic transitions leading to light emission have a low probability of occurrence due to the momentum mismatch between upper and lower electronic levels. Until recently, this had prevented the realization of the long waited silicon optical amplifier and laser. Raman scattering, which describes the interactions of light with vibrational levels, can be used as a way to bypass the indirect band structure of silicon and to obtain amplification and lasing. The Raman approach is very appealing because device can be made in pure silicon with a spectrum that is widely tuneable though the pump laser wavelength. While a new research topic, amplifiers with pulsed gain of 20dB and CW gain of 3 dB have already been demonstrated. Using parametric Raman coupling, wavelength conversion from 1550nm to 1300nm has been achieved. A distinguishing feature of silicon Raman devices, compared to fiber devices, is the electronic modulation capability. By integrating a p-n junction with the silicon gain medium, electrically switched lasers and amplifiers have already been demonstrated. These have many exciting applications. For example, the laser can be directly modulated to transmit data, and can be part of a silicon optoelectronic integrated circuit. At the same time, electrically switched amplifiers represent loss-less optical modulators.
Scaling properties of two photon absorption, free carrier scattering, Raman scattering and Kerr effect in silicon waveguides is reported. It is shown that the dependence of minority carrier lifetime on waveguide dimensions has a profound impact on the performance of nonlinear optical devices built using silicon waveguides.
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