Fiber quarter-wave plates and magneto-optical fibers are important components that greatly affect the sensitivity of fiber-optic current sensors. A Tb:YAG crystal-derived silica fiber (TYDSF) was fabricated using a CO2 laser-heating drawing technique. The linear birefringence of TYDSF was measured as 6.661×10-6 by a microscope birefringence measurement instrument. A fiber quarter-wave plate was fabricated by TYDSF at 1310 nm, which produced circularly polarized light with a polarization extinction ratio of 0.34 dB. Additionally, the linear birefringence of TYDSF was decreased by 22% by annealing at 750°C for 7 h, and the Verdet constants of annealed TYDSF were measured to be 9.83, 6.67, and 3.48 rad/(T·m) at 808, 980, and 1310 nm, respectively.

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are progressively favored for room-temperature magnetic field measurement. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) optimization for NV diamond magnetometry generally concentrates on signal amplitude enhancement rather than efficient noise processing. Here, we report a compound filter system combining a wavelet denoising method and an adaptive filter for the realization of an efficient weak magnetic measurement with a high SNR. It allows enhanced magnetic field measurement with an average SNR enhancement of 17.80 dB at 50 nT within 500 mHz to 100 Hz and 14.76 dB at 500 mHz within 50 nT to 1100 nT. The introduction of this system in NV diamond magnetometry is aimed to improve signal quality by effectively eliminating the noise and retaining ideal signals.

In this paper, the frequency difference of the eigen polarization modes of the Nd:YAG crystal laser at different polarization ratios is experimentally studied, and to the best of our knowledge, the correlation between the frequency difference of the eigenmodes and the output polarization degree is reported for the first time. Combined with the analysis of the polarization beam profile, it is proved that the polarized laser produced by the isotropic crystal is due to the frequency locking of the eigen polarization modes. The weak birefringence in the crystal causes the round-trip phase difference of the orthogonal polarization modes, which leads to the frequency difference between the polarization modes. By the adjustment of the cavity mirror, the anisotropic loss will interact with the round-trip phase difference. The eigen polarization modes can reach frequency degeneration, and then be coherently combined to produce linearly polarized laser output. This work provides a useful reference for understanding the physical mechanism of polarized lasers realized by isotropic crystals.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a high quality (Q)-factor all-silicon bound state in the continuum (BIC) metasurface with an imperforated air-hole array. The metasurface supports two polarization-insensitive BICs originated from guided mode resonances (GMRs) in the frequency range of 0.4 to 0.6 THz, and the measured Q-factors of the two GMRs are as high as 334 and 152, respectively. In addition, the influence of the thickness of the silicon substrate on the two resonances is analyzed in detail. The proposed all-silicon THz metasurface has great potential in the design and application of high-Q metasurfaces.

In this paper, we propose an ultrabroadband chiral metasurface (CMS) composed of S-shaped resonator structures situated between two twisted subwavelength gratings and dielectric substrate. This innovative structure enables ultrabroadband and high-efficiency linear polarization (LP) conversion, as well as asymmetric transmission (AT) effect in the microwave region. The enhanced interference effect of the Fabry–Perot-like resonance cavity greatly expands the bandwidth and efficiency of LP conversion and AT effect. Through numerical simulations, it has been revealed that the cross-polarization transmission coefficients for normal forward (-z) and backward (+z) incidence exceed 0.8 in the frequency range of 4.13 to 17.34 GHz, accompanied by a polarization conversion ratio of over 99%. Furthermore, our microwave experimental results validate the consistency among simulation, theory, and measurement. Additionally, we elucidate the distinct characteristics of ultrabroadband LP conversion and significant AT effect through analysis of polarization azimuth rotation and ellipticity angles, total transmittance, AT coefficient, and electric field distribution. The proposed CMS structure shows excellent polarization conversion properties via AT effect and has potential applications in areas such as radar, remote sensing, and satellite communication.

Microcavities constructed from materials with a second-order nonlinear coefficient have enabled efficient second-harmonic (SH) generation at a low power level. However, it is still technically challenging to realize double resonance with large nonlinear modal overlap in a microcavity. Here, we propose a design for a robust, tunable, and easy coupling double-resonance SH generation based on the combination of a newly developed fiber-based Fabry–Perot microcavity and a sandwich structure, whose numerical SH conversion efficiency is up to 3000% W-1. This proposal provides a feasible way to construct ultra-efficient nonlinear devices for generation of classical and quantum light sources.

With different interactions between material and femtosecond lasers, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) waveguide couplers, whose separation distances are fabricated in z-cut lithium niobate crystal by femtosecond laser writing, are reported. Experimentally and numerically, it is shown from results that the guidance is only propagating along TM polarization due to the Type I modification and holds equal splitting ratios, which are the same as power splitters at 632.8 nm. The propagation losses of 2D and 3D waveguide couplers exhibit better transmission properties than those of the previously reported Type I Y-junction waveguide splitters.

A new type of power-exponent-phase vortex-like beams with both quadratic and cubic azimuthal phase gradients is investigated in this work. The intensity and orbital angular momentum (OAM) density distributions are noticeably different when the phase gradient increases or decreases along the azimuth angle, while the orthogonality and total OAM remain constant. The characteristics of the optical field undergo a significant change when the phase shifts from linear to nonlinear, with the variation of the power index having little impact on the beam characteristics under nonlinear phase conditions. These characteristics provide new ideas for applications such as particle manipulation, optical communications, and OAM encryption.

The manipulation of structured light beams requires simultaneous spatial modulation of amplitude and phase. Based on the double-phase holography (DPH) algorithm, we demonstrate an efficient reconstruction of Bessel beams with arbitrary on-axis intensity. Also, the off-axis DPH method enables more than doubled laser energy utilization compared with the widely-used off-axis phase wrapping modulation method. The DPH algorithm is also used in two-photon polymerization to enable the rapid fabrication of microtube arrays, ortho-hexagonal scaffolds, and 2D patterned microstructures. This work gives experimental proof to show the powerful feasibility of the DPH method in constructing economic adaptive laser processing systems.

Specific and highly-sensitive biochemical detection technology is particularly important in global epidemics and has critical applications in life science, medical diagnosis, and pharmaceutics. As a newly developed technology, the THz metamaterial-based sensing method is a promising technique for extremely sensitive biomolecular detection. However, due to the significant resonant peaks generated by THz metamaterials, the characteristic absorption peaks of the analyte are usually masked, making it difficult to distinguish enantiomers and specifically identify target biomolecules. Recently, new ways to overcome this limitation have become possible thanks to the emergence of chiral metasurfaces and the polarization sensing method. Additionally, functionalized metasurfaces modified by antibodies or other nanomaterials are also expected to achieve specific sensing with high sensitivity. In this review, we summarize the main advances in THz metamaterials-based sensing from a historical perspective as well as application in chiral recognition and specific detection. Specifically, we introduce the basic theory and key technology of THz polarization spectrum and chiral sensing for biochemical detection, and immune sensing based on biomolecular interaction is also discussed. We mainly focus on chiral recognition and specific sensing using THz metasurface sensors to cover the most recent advances in the topic, which is expected to break through the limitations of traditional THz absorption spectroscopy and chiral spectroscopy in the visible-infrared band and develop into an irreplaceable method for the characterization of biochemical substances.

The effects of turbulence intensity and turbulence region on the distribution of femtosecond laser filaments are experimentally elaborated. Through the ultrasonic signals emitted by the filaments, it is observed that increasing turbulence intensity and an expanding turbulence active region cause an increase in the start position of the filament and a decrease in filament length, which can be well explained by theoretical calculation. It is also observed that the random perturbation of the air refractive index caused by atmospheric turbulence expands the spot size of the filament. Additionally, when the turbulence refractive index structure constant reaches 8.37×10-12 m-2/3, multiple filaments are formed. Furthermore, the standard deviation of the transverse displacement of filament is found to be proportional to the square root of the turbulent structure constant under the experimental turbulence parameters in this paper. These results contribute to the study of femtosecond laser propagation mechanisms in complex atmospheric turbulence conditions.

This work presents a brief review of our recent research on an antiresonant mechanism named core antiresonant reflection (CARR), which leads to a broadband terahertz (THz) spectrum output with periodic dips at resonant frequencies after its transmission along a hollow-core tubular structure (e.g., a paper tube). The CARR theory relies only on parameters of the tube core (e.g., the inner diameter) rather than the cladding, thus being distinct from existing principles such as the traditional antiresonant reflection inside optical waveguides (ARROWs). We demonstrate that diverse tubular structures, including cylindrical, polyhedral, spiral, meshy, and notched hollow tubes with either transparent or opaque cladding materials, as well as a thick-walled hole, could indeed become CARR-type resonators. Based on this CARR effect, we also perform various applications, such as pressure sensing with paper-folded THz cavities, force/magnetism-driven chiral polarization modulations, and single-pulse measurements of the angular dispersion of THz beams. In future studies, the proposed CARR method promises to support breakthroughs in multiple fields by means of being extended to more kinds of tubular entities for enhancing their interactions with light waves in an antiresonance manner.

Terahertz (THz) lenses have numerous applications in imaging and communication systems. Currently, the common THz lenses are still based on the traditional design of a circular convex lens. In this work, we present a method for the design of a 3D-printed multilevel THz lens, taking advantage of the benefits offered by 3D printing technology, including compact size, lightweight construction, and cost-effectiveness. The approach utilizes an inverse design methodology, employing optimization methods to promise accurate performance. To reduce simulation time, we employ the finite-difference time-domain method in cylindrical coordinates for near-field computation and couple it with the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction theory to address far-field calculations. This technology holds great potential for various applications in the field of THz imaging, sensing, and communications, offering a novel approach to the design and development of functional devices operating in the THz frequency range.

The heterogeneous integration of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) with a diverse range of optoelectronic materials has emerged as a transformative approach, propelling photonic chips toward larger scales, superior performance, and advanced integration levels. Notably, two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), black phosphorus (BP), and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), exhibit remarkable device performance and integration capabilities, offering promising potential for large-scale implementation in PICs. In this paper, we first present a comprehensive review of recent progress, systematically categorizing the integration of photonic circuits with 2D materials based on their types while also emphasizing their unique advantages. Then, we discuss the integration approaches of 2D materials with PICs. We also summarize the technical challenges in the heterogeneous integration of 2D materials in photonics and envision their immense potential for future applications in PICs.

Broadband mode converters are essential devices for space-division and wavelength-division multiplexing systems. There are great challenges in the generation of higher-order modes above the third order with low loss and high mode purity employing all-fiber devices. In this paper, an all-fiber LP41 mode converter is proposed and fabricated by tapering a nine-core single-mode fiber bundle. Experimental results indicate that this all-fiber LP41 mode converter is low-loss, high-purity, and ultrabroadband. The insertion loss is less than 0.4 dB. The purity of odd LP41 at 1310 nm is 95.09%, and the operating bandwidth exceeds 280 nm.

Cell identification and sorting have been hot topics recently. However, most conventional approaches can only predict the category of a single target, and lack the ability to perform multitarget tasks to provide coordinate information of the targets. This limits the development of high-throughput cell screening technologies. Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI) systems based on deep-learning algorithms provide the possibility to extract hidden features of cells from original image information. Here, we demonstrate an AI-assisted multitarget processing system for cell identification and sorting. With this system, each target cell can be swiftly and accurately identified in a mixture by extracting cell morphological features, whereafter accurate cell sorting is achieved through noninvasive manipulation by optical tweezers. The AI-assisted model shows promise in guiding the precise manipulation and intelligent detection of high-flux cells, thereby realizing semi-automatic cell research.

The defect-free neutral atom array has emerged as an ideal platform to investigate complex many-body physics of interacting quantum particles, offering the opportunities for quantum simulation and quantum-enhanced metrology. To fast build a large-scale quantum system, we design a sorting-atom algorithm with maximum parallelisms. Compared with previous protocols, our method saves the rearrangement time by sorting row-by-row and is also universal to arbitrary periodic patterns with no need to change the hardware. We present the generation of a defect-free square and other periodic geometries and demonstrate the potential to scale up a defect-free array to 2500 atoms with only about 180 steps of rearrangement.

The distribution of metal nanoparticles on the surface of a surface enhancement Raman scattering (SERS)-active substrate plays a prominent part in not only the enhancement of Raman vibration signal, but also the spectrum uniformity. Here, a facile method to fabricate SERS substrates with excellent homogeneity and low cost was proposed, in which a lyotropic liquid crystal soft template was introduced for the coordinated growth of the silver nanoflowers in the process of electrochemistry deposition. Simulation was carried out to illustrate the dominated influence of the distance of electrodes on the deposited nanoparticle number. Two kinds of conductive materials, silver plate and indium tin oxide (ITO) glass, were chosen as the anode, while the cathode was fixed as ITO glass. The simulated conjecture on the effect of electrode flatness on the uniformity of deposited nanoparticles in silver is experimentally proved. More importantly, it was demonstrated that with a relatively smooth and flat ITO glass anode, a SERS substrate featuring higher spectrum uniformity could be achieved. This work is of great significance to the actual applications of the SERS substrate for quantitative detection with high sensitivity.

Isolated attosecond pulses (IAPs) are generated via applying amplitude gating on high-order harmonic generation driven by carrier-envelope phase stabilized 5.2 fs pulses with 0.5 mJ pulse energy at 770 nm central wavelength at the Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility. A continuum ranging from 70 to 100 eV that supports sub-100-attosecond pulse is extracted by Zr foil and Mo/Si multilayer mirror. We demonstrate the characterization of the IAP. The retrieved pulse duration is 86 attoseconds. The developed attosecond laser beamline with repetition rate up to 10 kHz is available for users to conduct attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy researches with a capability of coincidence measurement.