Optics (physics.optics)

Abstract: Thin-film lithium niobate is a promising platform owing to its large electro-optic coefficients and low propagation loss. However, the large footprints of devices limit their application in large-scale integrated optical systems. A crucial challenge is how to maintain the performance advantage given the design space restrictions in this situation. This article proposes and demonstrates a high-efficiency lithium niobate electro-optic (EO) modulator with high-permittivity cladding to improve the electric field strength in waveguides and its overlap with optical fields while maintaining low optical loss and broad bandwidth. The proposed modulator exhibits considerable improvement, featuring a low half-wave voltage-length product of 1.41 Vcm, a low excess loss of 0.5 dB, and a broad 3 dB EO bandwidth of more than 40 GHz. This modulation efficiency is the highest reported for a broadband lithium niobate modulator so far. The design scheme of using high-permittivity cladding may provide a promising solution for improving the integration of photonic devices on the thin-film lithium niobate platform and these devices may serve as fundamental components in large-scale photonic integrated circuits in the future.

Abstract: Surface lattice resonance supported on nanoparticle arrays is a promising candidate in enhancing fluorescent effects in both absorption and emission. The optical enhancement provided by surface lattice resonance is primarily through the light confinement beyond the diffraction limit, where the nanoparticle arrays can enhance light-matter interaction for increased absorption as well as providing more local density of states for enhanced spontaneous emission. In this work, we optimize the in-coupling efficiency to the fluorescent molecules by finding the conditions to maximize the absorption, also known as the critical coupling condition. We studied the transmission characteristics and the fluorescent emission of a $TiO_2$ nanoparticle array embedded in an index-matching layer with fluorescent dye at various concentrations. A modified coupled-mode theory that describes the nanoparticle array was then derived and verified by numerical simulations. With the analytical model, we analyzed the experimental measurements and discovered the condition to critically couple light into the fluorescent dye, which is demonstrated as the strongest emission. This study presents a useful guide for designing efficient energy transfer from excitation beam to the emitters, which maximizes the external conversion efficiency.

Abstract: Ring quantum cascade lasers have recently gained considerable attention, showing ultrastable frequency comb and soliton operation, and thus opening a way to integrated spectrometers in the mid-infrared and terahertz fingerprint regions. Thanks to a self-consistent Maxwell-Bloch model, we demonstrate, in excellent agreement with the experimental data, that a small but finite coupling between the counter-propagating waves arising from distributed backscattering is essential to stabilize the soliton solution.

Abstract: Near-field optics is an exciting frontier of photonics and plasmonics. The tandem of strongly localized fields and enhanced emission rates offers significant opportunities for wide-ranging applications, while also creating basic questions: How large can such enhancements be? To what extent do material losses inhibit optimal response? Over what bandwidths can these effects be sustained? This chapter surveys theoretical techniques for answering these questions. We start with physical intuition and mathematical definitions of the response functions of interest (LDOS, CDOS, SERS, NFRHT, etc.), after which we describe the general theoretical techniques for bounding such functions. Finally, we apply those techniques specifically to near-field optics, for which we describe known bounds, optimal designs, and open questions.