69 research outputs found
Efficient low-power terahertz generation via on-chip triply-resonant nonlinear frequency mixing
Achieving efficient terahertz (THz) generation using compact turn-key sources
operating at room temperature and modest power levels represents one of the
critical challeges that must be overcome to realize truly practical
applications based on THz. Up to now, the most efficient approaches to THz
generation at room temperature -- relying mainly on optical rectification
schemes -- require intricate phase-matching set-ups and powerful lasers. Here
we show how the unique light-confining properties of triply-resonant photonic
resonators can be tailored to enable dramatic enhancements of the conversion
efficiency of THz generation via nonlinear frequency down-conversion processes.
We predict that this approach can be used to reduce up to three orders of
magnitude the pump powers required to reach quantum-limited conversion
efficiency of THz generation in nonlinear optical material systems.
Furthermore, we propose a realistic design readily accesible experimentally,
both for fabrication and demonstration of optimal THz conversion efficiency at
sub-W power levels
All-Optical Switching Demonstration using Two-Photon Absorption and the Classical Zeno Effect
Low-contrast all-optical Zeno switching has been demonstrated in a silicon
nitride microdisk resonator coupled to a hot atomic vapor. The device is based
on the suppression of the field build-up within a microcavity due to
non-degenerate two-photon absorption. This experiment used one beam in a
resonator and one in free-space due to limitations related to device physics.
These results suggest that a similar scheme with both beams resonant in the
cavity would correspond to input power levels near 20 nW.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Multimaterial Piezoelectric Fibres
Fibre materials span a broad range of applications ranging from simple textile yarns to complex modern fibre-optic communication systems. Throughout their history, a key premise has remained essentially unchanged: fibres are static devices, incapable of controllably changing their properties over a wide range of frequencies. A number of approaches to realizing time-dependent variations in fibres have emerged, including refractive index modulation1, 2, 3, 4, nonlinear optical mechanisms in silica glass fibres5, 6, 7, 8 and electroactively modulated polymer fibres9. These approaches have been limited primarily because of the inert nature of traditional glassy fibre materials. Here we report the composition of a phase internal to a composite fibre structure that is simultaneously crystalline and non-centrosymmetric. A ferroelectric polymer layer of 30 μm thickness is spatially confined and electrically contacted by internal viscous electrodes and encapsulated in an insulating polymer cladding hundreds of micrometres in diameter. The structure is thermally drawn in its entirety from a macroscopic preform, yielding tens of metres of piezoelectric fibre. The fibres show a piezoelectric response and acoustic transduction from kilohertz to megahertz frequencies. A single-fibre electrically driven device containing a high-quality-factor Fabry–Perot optical resonator and a piezoelectric transducer is fabricated and measured.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers Program, award number DMR-0819762)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Griggs)United States. Army Research Office (Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, contract no. W911NF-07-D-0004
Controlling photonic structures using optical forces
The downscaling of optical systems to the micro and nano-scale results in
very compliant systems with nanogram-scale masses, which renders them
susceptible to optical forces. Here we show a specially designed resonant
structure for enabling efficient static control of the optical response with
relatively weak repulsive and attractive optical forces. Using attractive
gradient optical forces we demonstrate a static mechanical deformation of up to
20 nanometers in the resonator structure. This deformation is enough to shift
the optical resonances by roughly 80 optical linewidths.Comment: Body: 7 pages, 3 figures; Appendix: 14, 5 figure
Micro-fabricated mirrors with finesse exceeding one million
The Fabry–Perot resonator is one of the most widely used optical devices, enabling scientific and technological breakthroughs in diverse fields including cavity quantum electrodynamics, optical clocks, precision length metrology, and spectroscopy. Though resonator designs vary widely, all high-end applications benefit from mirrors with the lowest loss and highest finesse possible. Fabrication of the highest-finesse mirrors relies on centuries-old mechanical polishing techniques, which offer losses at the parts-per-million (ppm) level. However, no existing fabrication techniques are able to produce high-finesse resonators with the large range of mirror geometries needed for scalable quantum devices and next-generation compact atomic clocks. In this paper, we introduce a scalable approach to fabricate mirrors with ultrahigh finesse (≥106</p
Silicon Electronic Photonic Integrated Circuits for High Speed Analog to Digital Conversion
Abstract: Integrated optical components on the silicon platform and optically enhanced electronic sampling circuits are demonstrated that enable the fabrication of a variety of electronic-photonic A/D converter chips surpassing currently available technology in sampling speed and resolution
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