Quantifying the coupling and degeneracy of OAM modes in high-index-contrast ring core fiber

We study orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode coupling in ring-core fibers (RCFs) due to elliptical shape deformation. We introduce a coupling model based on numerical mode solver outputs of perturbation. We show improved predictions in calculating coupling strength compared to the classical modeling approach. Our model captures and quantifies the disparate behaviors of coupling in lower and higher order degenerate OAM modes. The ideal orthogonality of modes is undermined by fiber imperfections. Our model predicts the OAM order at which the orthogonality within OAM mode pair is maintained despite elliptical deformation. We use our coupling model to simulate propagation effects and compare the performance of two fibers (thin and thick RCF) designed under the same constraints. Our numerical propagation results show different performance for the two fibers under the same level of elliptical deformation. This model uncovers distinct digital signal processing requirements for these two types of fiber, and predicts their signal-to-noise ratio penalty. For each fiber, we examine the large number of supported modes and find the optimal subset of mode groups, i.e., the groups with the lowest penalty. We show that this optimal subset is different from that predicted during the fiber design optimization

Colloidal quantum dots enabling coherent light sources for integrated silicon-nitride photonics

Integrated photoniccircuits, increasingly based on silicon (-nitride), are at the core of the next generation of low-cost, energy efficient optical devices ranging from on-chip interconnects to biosensors. One of the main bottlenecks in developing such components is that of implementing sufficient functionalities on the often passive backbone, such as light emission and amplification. A possible route is that of hybridization where a new material is combined with the existing framework to provide a desired functionality. Here, we present a detailed design flow for the hybridization of silicon nitride-based integrated photonic circuits with so-called colloidal quantum dots (QDs). QDs are nanometer sized pieces of semiconductor crystals obtained in a colloidal dispersion which are able to absorb, emit, and amplify light in a wide spectral region. Moreover, theycombine cost-effective solution based deposition methods, ambient stability, and low fabrication cost. Starting from the linear and nonlinear material properties obtained on the starting colloidal dispersions, we can predict and evaluate thin film and device performance, which we demonstrate through characterization of the first on-chip QD-based laser

Compact and efficient sub-10 ps pump sources at 2 µm for the generation of coherent mid-infrared radiation

Ultrashort pulse laser systems in the 2 µm wavelength region featuring high pulse energies are powerful tools for driving a multitude of different applications in industry, medicine, and fundamental science. The implementation of such laser sources remains challenging and usually relies on the chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) in regenerative amplifiers. Here, a much more simplified concept based on a CPA-free multipass amplification scheme operating at room temperature has been investigated. I show that optical pulses with moderate sub-10 ps duration can be amplified up to the millijoule energy level without the onset of nonlinear effects in holmium-doped crystals. The laser system consists of an ultrafast all-fiber mode-locked oscillator and power amplifier based on holmium-doped silica fiber. It has been spectrally tailored to efficiently seed subsequent amplifiers based on holmium-doped YLiF4 crystals. A multipass amplification concept was used to amplify the nJ-level seed pulses from the fiber front-end up to 100 µJ of pulse energy at a pulse repetition frequency of 50 kHz. The maximum pulse energy was limited only by the laser-induced damage threshold of the amplifier crystals. Further pulse energy scaling has been achieved in a final single-pass booster amplifier generating 1.2 mJ at 1 kHz. The overall gain in the Ho:YLF crystals amounts to > 51 dB. Taking into account a measured pulse duration of 8.3 ps, this yields a pulse peak power of 136 MW. These results have been supported by numerical simulations based on a modified Frantz-Nodvik formalism, which is capable of modeling chromatic effects as well as a detailed description of the energy built-up in such amplifiers. Up to 50 µJ at 100 kHz from the multipass amplifier have been used to pump an optical parametric generator/amplifier tandem configuration based on the highly nonlinear non-oxide crystal ZnGeP2. The phase-matching condition has been set to achieve a signal and idler center wavelength of 3 µm and 6.5 µm, respectively. The maximum signal and idler pulse energy was 7.7 µJ and 2.5 µJ. Considering a measured pulse duration of 4 ps for both wavelengths, a peak intensity of about 2 MW (signal) and 0.5 MW (idler) was reached. The mid-IR coherent source is wavelength tunable covering the spectral range from 2.5 to 8 µm under appropriate phase-matching conditions and has shown long-term stability of less than 1.25%rms low-frequency power noise

High-Q Interstitial Square Coupled Microring Resonators Arrays

The properties of the square array of coupled Microring Resonators (MRRs) with interstitial rings are studied. Dispersion behavior of the interstitial square coupled MRRs is obtained through the transfer matrix method with the Floquet-Bloch periodic condition. Analytical formulas of the eigen wave vectors, band gaps and eigen mode vectors are derived for the special cases of the interstitial square coupled MRRs array with identical couplers and the regular square coupled MRRs array without the interstitial rings. Then, the eigen modes' field distribution are calculated for each of the four eigen wave vectors for a given frequency through the secular equation. Finally, numerical simulation is performed for an interstitial square coupled MRRs array with identical couplers and a regular square coupled MRRs array. The simulation result verifies the analytical analysis. Finally, the loaded quality factors of the interstitial 5-ring configuration, the regular 4-ring configuration and the 1-ring configuration are obtained. It is found that the loaded quality factor of the interstitial 5-ring configuration is up to 20 times and 8 times as high as those of the 1-ring configuration and the regular 4-ring configuration respectively, mainly due to the degenerated eigen modes at the resonant frequency. Thus, the interstitial square coupled MRRs array has the great potential to form high-quality integrated photonics components, including filters and resonance based sensing devices like the parity-time symmetric sensors.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, extended paper of a paper published at IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 1-8, Aug. 2020, Art no. 6500208, doi: 10.1109/JQE.2020.298980

Laser beam interaction with materials for microscale applications

Laser micromachining is essential in today’s advanced manufacturing, of e.g., printed circuit boards and electronic components, especially laser microdrilling. Continued demands for miniaturization, in particular of high-performance MEMS components, have generated a need for smaller holes and microvias as well as smaller and more controllable spot-welds than ever before. All these neeeds require smaller taper of the microholes and more stable and controlled laser micromachining process than currently available. Therefore considerable attention must be focused on the laser process parameters that control critical specifications such as accuracy of the hole size as well as its shape and taper angle, all of which highly influence quality of the laser micromachining processes. Determination of process parameters in laser micromachining, however, is expensive because it is done mostly by trial and error. This Dissertation attempts to reduce the experimental time and cost associated with establishing the process parameters in laser micromachining by employing analytical, computational, and experimental solutions (ACES) methodology

Ion Velocity Distribution Functions in Cutting-Edge Plasmas

Cutting-edge plasma experiments continue to push the frontiers of plasma science. Two such groups of experiments, helicon sources and laboratory magnetic reconnection, are the focus of this thesis. The relatively high plasma density achieved for modest input powers makes helicon source plasmas ideal testbeds for fusion-relevant phenomena without the complexities associated with fusion devices. Examples include plasma-material interaction (PMI) studies, divertor region studies, and boundary physics studies. As advancements in helicon source design and technology make operation at higher power for longer times possible, understanding of the plasma dynamics, particularly ion dynamics, is vital. Laboratory experiments are essential to advancing the understanding of magnetic reconnection and the associated physics. There is a wonderful synergy between theory, modeling, and simulation efforts and laboratory experiments. Results from these experiments validate and benchmark simulation and theory, while theory and simulation drive the design and goals of experiments. Naturally, this goes the other way as well; interesting results from the laboratory motivate different approaches to theory and simulations. While spacecraft observations of magnetic reconnection have been crucial to the field, laboratory experiments allow for finer control over the parameter space of the magnetic reconnection. In both of these settings, advanced diagnostics are needed to characterize the physics. Attractive for its non-perturbative nature, laser induced fluorescence (LIF) is well-suited to investigate these plasmas. LIF is used to measure particle velocity distribution functions (VDFs), which in turn reveal fundamental properties of these species such as bulk flow and temperature. In this work, argon ion velocity distribution functions are measured with single-photon LIF. Advancements to the standard LIF technique are presented, and the results obtained with these techniques and their significance are discussed. First, a portable system was developed and deployed to a remote facility where argon ion temperatures in a 10 kW steady-state helicon source were measured. Second, a planar laser induced fluorescence technique with a camera as the detector was developed. Results obtained with this technique are compared with those obtained with the standard technique. Experimental efficiency with the camera technique is an order of magnitude higher than the standard technique at comparable resolution. Finally, a system using a pulsed laser was developed to measure IVDFs during magnetic reconnection. A proof-of-principle measurement with this system is presented

Topological Photonics

Topological photonics is a rapidly emerging field of research in which geometrical and topological ideas are exploited to design and control the behavior of light. Drawing inspiration from the discovery of the quantum Hall effects and topological insulators in condensed matter, recent advances have shown how to engineer analogous effects also for photons, leading to remarkable phenomena such as the robust unidirectional propagation of light, which hold great promise for applications. Thanks to the flexibility and diversity of photonics systems, this field is also opening up new opportunities to realize exotic topological models and to probe and exploit topological effects in new ways. This article reviews experimental and theoretical developments in topological photonics across a wide range of experimental platforms, including photonic crystals, waveguides, metamaterials, cavities, optomechanics, silicon photonics, and circuit QED. A discussion of how changing the dimensionality and symmetries of photonics systems has allowed for the realization of different topological phases is offered, and progress in understanding the interplay of topology with non-Hermitian effects, such as dissipation, is reviewed. As an exciting perspective, topological photonics can be combined with optical nonlinearities, leading toward new collective phenomena and novel strongly correlated states of light, such as an analog of the fractional quantum Hall effect.Comment: 87 pages, 30 figures, published versio