A cavity-stabilized 578 nm laser is used to probe the clock transition of ytterbium atoms trapped in optical lattice sites. We obtain a Fourier-limited 4.2-Hz-linewidth Rabi spectrum and a Ramsey spectrum with fringe linewidth of 3.3 Hz. Based on one of the spectra, the 578 nm laser light is frequency-stabilized to the center of the transition to achieve a closed-loop operation of an optical clock. Based on interleaved measurement, the frequency instability of a single optical clock is demonstrated to be 5.4 × 10-16/√τ.

Tracking moving particles in cells by single particle tracking is an important optical approach widely used in biological research. In order to track multiple particles within a whole cell simultaneously, a parallel tracking approach with large depth of field was put forward. It was based on distorted grating and dual-objective bifocal imaging, making use of the distorted grating to expand the depth of field, dual-objective to gather as many photons as possible, and bifocal plane imaging to realize three-dimensional localization. Simulation of parallel tracking of two particles moving along the z axis demonstrated that even when the two are axially separated by 10 μm, they can both be localized simultaneously with transversal precision better than 5 nm and axial precision better than 20 nm.

An encapsulated metal-dielectric reflective grating is presented for broadband polarization-independent two-port beam splitting under normal incidence at the central wavelength of 800 nm. Different from traditional two-port grating splitters in the resonant region, this grating splitter is capable of separating light energy into ±1st orders with high efficiency in a broad waveband for both TE and TM polarizations. A unified method is proposed here for designing this grating splitter, which enables one to choose a grating structure quickly to realize an ultrabroad working waveband. The simulation results indicate that a bandwidth of 46.4 nm could be achieved for diffraction efficiency (defined as the ratio of the light energy diffracted only at the first order to the incident light energy) over 46% at the central wavelength of 800 nm. Moreover, the parameters of the grating structure can be flexibly adjusted with wavelengths using the unified method for various other applications, such as augmented reality, optical interconnections for computing, coherent beam combination, and complex vector beam shaping.

With the increasing demand for space optical communication security, space chaotic optical communication has attracted a great amount of attention. Compared with traditional space optical communication, a chaotic optical communication system has a higher bit error rate (BER) for its complex system design. In order to decrease the BER of space chaotic optical communication systems, we introduce two diffractive optical elements (DOEs) at a transmitting terminal (Tx). That is because the commonly used reflective optical antenna at Tx blocks the central part of the transmission beam, which leads to a great amount of power consumption. Introducing the DOEs into the optical subsystem at Tx can reshape the transmission beam from a Gaussian distribution to a hollow Gaussian distribution so that the block of the secondary mirror in the reflective optical antenna can be avoided. In terms of the DOE influence on communication quality, we give a BER model based on a minimum-shift-key (MSK) space uplink chaotic optical communication system to describe the DOE function. Based on the model, we further investigate the effect of the DOEs through analyzing the BER relationship versus basic system parameters based on the BER model. Both different mismatch conditions of chaotic systems and different atmospheric turbulence conditions are considered. These results will be helpful for the scheme design of space uplink chaotic optical communication systems.

By controlling the wavelength and power of multiple light sources, we have realized a highly flexible Nyquist pulse generation scheme, in which the pulse repetition frequency, pulse multiplication factor, waveform envelope shape, and duty cycle are all tunable. By modulating the 3.2 GHz RF signal, we experimentally generated Nyquist pulses with repetition rates of 6.4 GHz and 9.6 GHz, a rectangular wave with a duty cycle of 0.26, and a sawtooth wave with a duty cycle of 0.52.

Computationally, the calculation of computer-generated holograms is extremely expensive, and the image quality deteriorates when reconstructing three-dimensional (3D) holographic video from a point-cloud model comprising a huge number of object points. To solve these problems, we implement herein a spatiotemporal division multiplexing method on a cluster system with 13 GPUs connected by a gigabit Ethernet network. A performance evaluation indicates that the proposed method can realize a real-time holographic video of a 3D object comprising ～1,200,000 object points. These results demonstrate a clear 3D holographic video at 32.7 frames per second reconstructed from a 3D object comprising 1,064,462 object points.

The performances of ghost imaging and conventional imaging in photon shot noise cases are investigated. We define an imaging signal-to-noise ratio called SNRtran where only the object’s transmission region is used to evaluate the imaging quality and it can be applied to ghost imaging (GI) with any random pattern. Both the values SNRGItran of GI and SNRCItran of conventional imaging in photon shot noise cases are deduced from a simple statistical analysis. The analytical results, which are backed up by numerical simulations, demonstrate that the value SNRGItran is related to the ratio between the object’s transmission area Ao and the number density of photons illuminating the object plane Io, which is similar to the theoretical results based on the first principle of GI with a Gaussian speckle field deduced by B. I. Erkmen and J. H. Shapiro [in Adv. Opt. Photonics 2, 405–450 (2010)]. In addition, we also show that the value SNRCItran will be larger than SNRGItran when Ao is beyond a threshold value.

The point clouds scanned by a 3D laser scanner may be affine transformed when the size and posture of the objects being scanned are different. This type of problem is common, but few algorithms can solve it. Therefore, this Letter proposes a parallel registration algorithm. The algorithm eliminates the effects of the affine matrix in the point cloud, based on a simple whitening operation. Moreover, it also has strong anti-noise performance. The algorithm proposed in this Letter is not only simple in structure, but also shows excellent effects in practical applications and simulations.

We report 25 Gb/s high-speed directly modulated ground-state operation of 1.3 μm InAs/GaAs quantum dot (QD) lasers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The active region of the lasers consists of eight layers of p-doped InAs QDs with high uniformity and density. Ridge-waveguide lasers with a 3-μm-wide and 300-μm-long cavity show a low threshold current of 14.4 mA at 20°C and high temperature stability with a high characteristic temperature of 1208 K between 20°C and 70°C. Dynamic response measurements demonstrate that the laser has a 3 dB bandwidth of 7.7 GHz at 20°C and clearly opened eye diagrams even at high temperatures up to 75°C under a 25 Gb/s direct modulation rate.

Pulses as short as 8.1 fs were generated from a blue laser-diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator, with an average power of 27 mW and a repetition rate of 120.6 MHz. The full width at half-maximum exceeds 146 nm, benefitting from the dispersion management by a combination of a low-dispersion fused silica prism pair and a series of double-chirped mirrors. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to generate sub-10-fs pulses from a laser diode directly pumped Ti:sapphire oscillator.

High-repetition-rate (HRR) pulsed fiber lasers have attracted much attention in various fields. To effectively achieve HRR pulses in fiber lasers, dissipative four-wave-mixing mode-locking is a promising method. In this work, we demonstrated an HRR pulsed fiber laser based on a virtually imaged phased array (VIPA), serving as a comb filter. Due to the high spectral resolution and low polarization sensitivity features of VIPA, the 30 GHz pulse with high quality and high stability could be obtained. In the experiments, both the single-waveband and dual-waveband HRR pulses were achieved. Such an HRR pulsed fiber laser could have potential applications in related fields, such as optical communications.

There are many strategies to maintain the excellent photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of perovskite quantum dots (QDs). Here, we proposed a facile and effective method to prepare cyan CsPb(Cl/Br)3/SiO2 nanospheres at room temperature. Cubic CsPb(Cl/Br)3 was obtained by adding a LiCl-H2O solution and anion exchange reaction. With (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane as an auxiliary agent, a QDs/SiO2 composite was extracted from a sol-gel solution by precipitate-encapsulation method. The transmission electron microscopy images and Fourier transform infrared spectra indicated the QDs were indeed embedded in silica substances. Besides, humidity stability and thermal stability show the composite possesses a great application value. Finally, cyan QDs@SiO2 powder has a high PL quantum yield of up to 84%; the stable cyan fluorescent powder does have great potential to play a key role in commercial full spectrum display.

In this Letter, we propose a metagrating consisting of simple rectangular bars for nearly unity anomalous diffraction with a large deflection angle. The analysis performed by the scattering-matrix method shows that such exceptional beam steering derives from the couplings of the two lowest propagation waveguide-array-modes and their constructive interferences. The tolerance of the incident angle for a high diffraction efficiency (e.g., >90%) is within a range of 33°. We also discuss that such an advantage still exists after considering a reasonable loss and dispersion. We envision that the proposed strategy may have wide use in the field of high-performance wavefront-shaping applications.

The fluorescence evolution along Tm3+-doped ZrF4–BaF2–LaF3–AlF3–NaF (ZBLAN) optical fibers, as well as amplified spontaneous emission in the UV-IR region with emphasis on 350 nm, 365 nm, and 450 nm, is studied, estimating optimal fiber lengths for amplification within the region. The fibers were diode-pumped with single and double lines (687 and/or 645 nm). Double-line pumping presents a quite superior efficiency for producing UV-blue signals with the benefit of requiring very short fibers, around 20 cm, compared to single-line pumping requiring more than 50 cm. A virtual cycle in which the pumps enhance each other’s absorption is the key to these systems.

In this work, we propose a new scheme to generate frequency-doubled vortex beams from a radially poled LiNbO3 micro-ring resonator based on nonlinear Cherenkov radiation. The near-infrared fundamental wave is resonant in the micro-ring, while the second harmonic is emitted from the resonator along the Cherenkov phase-matching direction. The topological charge of the emitted second-harmonic vortex beam is determined by both the azimuthal order of the whispering galley modes and the number of nonlinear grating elements. The field distribution and the conversion efficiency of the emitted vortex beam are investigated.

Goodness of fit is demonstrated for theoretical calculation of z-scan data based on beams propagating in the nonlinear medium and the Fresnel–Kirchhoff diffraction integral in experiments with high nonlinear refraction and absorption. The constancy of nonlinear optical parameters is achieved regardless of sample thickness and laser intensity, which clarifies the physical significance of optical parameters. We have obtained γ = 2.0 × 10-19 m2/W and β = 5.0 × 10-13 m/W for carbon disulfide excited by a pulsed laser at 800 nm with pulse duration of 35 fs, which are independent of sample thickness and laser intensity. Affirming constancy of the extracted parameters to the incident light intensity may become a practice to verify the goodness of the z-scan experiment.

Traditional optical domes are spherical, which have a large air resistance coefficient. In order to reduce the coefficient of air resistance, conformal optical technology was proposed, which used a streamlined design of the outer surface of the dome. However, conformal domes generate dynamic aberrations varying significantly with look angles in the field of regard (FOR). Thus, correcting the dynamic aberrations is the core task of conformal optics. This Letter presented a correcting method of dynamic aberrations based on the diffraction surface and anamorphic asphere surface. This method is derived from the arch corrector and can only be used on the Roll-Nod gimbal. For the seeker with a Roll-Nod gimbal, the arch corrector is replaced with a diffractive surface superimposed on the inner surface of the conformal dome. To correct astigmatism, which is the main aberration that needs to be corrected, anamorphic asphere surfaces are used in the imaging system. Compared with the arch corrector, this method can reduce the size of the correction element while retaining sufficient design freedom. Design results show that this method can well correct the dynamic aberrations in a larger FOR. With a simpler form in structure, this method can improve the reliability of conformal optical systems and promote the application of conformal optical technology.

Until now, a high-efficiency demodulation method for fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors has been a challenge. In this Letter, by employing multi-peak FBGs, an FBG sensor with a partial wavelength scan is proposed and initially demonstrated. By demodulating a near-symmetrical multi-peak FBG and an asymmetrical multi-peak FBG in the strain experiment, sensor sensitivities of 1.02 pm/με and 1.01 pm/με are measured for the interrogation system, respectively. The average demodulation deviations for the two sensors are 1.81% and 0.4%, respectively. The proposed method is expected to realize high-efficiency and low-cost FBG interrogators.

A multi-channel synchronous demodulation system of a polarized low-coherence interferometer (PLCI) based on a matrix charge-coupled-device (CCD) is proposed and demonstrated. By using special designs, the system allows the signals from different channels to be received and demodulated synchronously. Multichannel air pressure experiments were implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system. The experiment results showed that the Fabry–Perot (F–P) sensors could be demodulated synchronously with a high tolerance for light sources and sensors, which indicated that any sensor and light source that can be demodulated by PLCI were allowed to be employed, leading to a wide application in the field of multichannel synchronous measurement.

We demonstrate microwave photonic radar with post-bandwidth synthesis, which can realize target detection with ultra-high range resolution using relatively small-bandwidth radio frequency (RF) frontends. In the proposed radar, two temporal-overlapped linear frequency-modulated (LFM) signals with the same chirp rate and different center frequencies are transmitted. By post-processing the de-chirped echoes in the receiver, a signal equivalent to that de-chirped from an LFM signal with the combined bandwidth is achieved. In a proof-of-concept experiment, two LFM signals with bandwidths of 8.4 GHz are exploited to achieve radar detection with an equivalent bandwidth of 16 GHz, and a range resolution of 1 cm is obtained.

Effective medium theory is a powerful tool to solve various problems for achieving multifarious functionalities and applications. In this article, we present a concise empirical formula about effective permittivity of checkboard structures for different directions. To verify our empirical formula, we perform simulations of checkboard periodic structures in squares, rectangles, and sectors in two dimensions. Our results show that the formula is valid in a large range of parameters. This work provides a new way to understand and design composite materials, which might lead to further optical applications in transformation optics.

Terahertz (THz) waves could be generated through exciting a gravity-guided, free-flowing water wedge by a dual-color pulse. It is not required to rotate the optimal angle considering the water film as an ionization medium. It is demonstrated to be more effective to generate stronger THz radiation when the ionization position is on the front surface of the air water interface of the water wedge by moving its position. The effect of pulse energy on THz generation is also investigated, and it is observed that with the increase of pulse energy the THz electric field shows a quadratic rising trend. These observations are consistent with air plasma induced THz emission.