We demonstrate the first commercial production–ready white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for the general illumination market with red colloidal quantum dots (QDs) applied in an on–chip configuration. We show the red QDs with tunable peak emission and narrow full width at half-maximum in combination with a conventional phosphor material can lead to LED conversion efficiency improvements of 5% to 15% over commercial phosphor based LEDs at correlated color temperatures (CCTs) ranging from 5000 to 2700 K. Furthermore, the challenges associated with reliability under high temperature, high blue flux intensity, and high humidity operation have been overcome to meet consumer market requirements. Finally, a demonstrator lamp at 3000 K color temperature and 90 color rendering index (CRI) with QD based LEDs show a larger efficiency gain up to 17%, attributed to the reduced blue LED droop from the lower drive current and the lower heat sink temperature when compared to a standard phosphor based LED lamp output.

Quantum dots are finding increasing commercial success in LED applications. While they have been used for several years in remote off-chip architectures for display applications, it is shown for the first time to our knowledge that quantum dots can withstand the demands of the on-chip architecture and therefore are capable of being used as a direct phosphor replacement in both lighting and display applications. It is well known that, to achieve improved color metrics in lighting as well as increased gamut in display technologies, it is highly desirable to utilize a downconverter with a narrow emission linewidth as well as a precisely tunable peak. This paper will discuss the results of on-chip use of quantum dots in a lighting product, and explore the opportunities and practical limits for improvement of various lighting and display metrics by use of this unique downconverter technology.

Displays using direct light emission from microscale inorganic light-emitting diodes (μILEDs) have the potential to be very bright and also very power efficient. High-throughput technologies that accurately and cost-effectively assemble microscale devices on display substrates with high yield are key enablers for μILED displays. Elastomer stamp transfer printing is such a candidate assembly technology. A variety of μILED displays have been designed and fabricated by transfer printing, including passive-matrix and active-matrix displays on glass and plastic substrates.

We demonstrate InGaN violet light-emitting superluminescent diodes with large spectral width suitable for applications in optical coherence spectroscopy. This was achieved using the concept of nonlinear indium content profile along the superluminescent diode waveguide. A specially designed 3D substrate surface shape leads to a step-like indium content profile, with the indium concentration in the InGaN/GaN quantum wells ranging approximately between 6% and 10%. Thanks to this approach, we were able to increase the width of the spectrum in processed devices from 2.6 nm (reference diode) to 15.5 nm.

Visible light communication (VLC) is a promising solution to the increasing demands for wireless connectivity. Gallium nitride micro-sized light emitting diodes (micro-LEDs) are strong candidates for VLC due to their high bandwidths. Segmented violet micro-LEDs are reported in this work with electrical-to-optical bandwidths up to 655 MHz. An orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based VLC system with adaptive bit and energy loading is demonstrated, and a data transmission rate of 11.95 Gb/s is achieved with a violet micro-LED, when the nonlinear distortion of the micro-LED is the dominant noise source of the VLC system. A record 7.91 Gb/s data transmission rate is reported below the forward error correction threshold using a single pixel of the segmented array when all the noise sources of the VLC system are present.

This paper reports a comprehensive analysis of the origin of the electroluminescence (EL) peaks and of the thermal droop in UV-B AlGaN-based LEDs. By carrying out spectral measurements at several temperatures and currents, (i) we extract information on the physical origin of the various spectral bands, and (ii) we develop a novel closed-form model based on the Shockley–Read–Hall theory and on the ABC rate equation that is able to reproduce the experimental data on thermal droop caused by non-radiative recombination through deep levels. In the samples under test, the three EL bands are ascribed to the following processes: band-to-band recombination in the quantum wells (main EL peak), a parasitic intra-bandgap radiative transition in the quantum well barriers, and a second defect-related radiative process in the p-AlGaN superlattice.

A simple semi-empirical model for radiative and Auger recombination constants is suggested, accounting for hole localization by composition fluctuations in InGaN alloys. Strengthening of fluctuation with the indium molar fraction in InGaN is found to be largely responsible for decreases in both the radiative and Auger recombination constants with emission wavelength. The model provides good fitting of the experimental spectral dependencies of the recombination constants, thus demonstrating implication of the carrier localization to light-emitting diode efficiency reduction in the “green gap.”

Spurred on by the invention of the blue light-emitting diode (LED) a quarter of a century ago, the LED industry has advanced dramatically and has revolutionized the signaling/signage, mobile and flat panel display, and more recently, general lighting markets. Indeed, LEDs now out-surpass in performance all conventional (e.g., incandescent, fluorescent, high-intensity discharge) light sources in general illumination applications. The question arises: what more is to be done Thus comes the thesis for this special issue on LEDs and applications. From the contributed articles, we learn that LED technology continues to evolve and transform itself not only within the existing applications but is also positioning for brand new applications to come, both of which are highlighted here.

The exceptional point (EP) is one of the typical properties of parity–time-symmetric systems, arising from modes coupling with identical resonant frequencies or propagation constants in optics. Here we show that in addition to two different modes coupling, a nonuniform distribution of gain and loss leads to an offset from the original propagation constants, including both real and imaginary parts, resulting in the absence of EP. These behaviors are examined by the general coupled-mode theory from the first principle of the Maxwell equations, which yields results that are more accurate than those from the classical coupled-mode theory. Numerical verification via the finite element method is provided. In the end, we present an approach to achieve lossless propagation in a geometrically symmetric waveguide array.

A liquid modified photonic crystal fiber (PCF) integrated with an embedded directional coupler and multi-mode interferometer is fabricated by infiltrating three adjacent air holes of the innermost layer with standard 1.48 refractive index liquids. The refractive index of the filled liquid is higher than that of background silica, which can not only support the transmitting rod modes but also the “liquid modified core” modes propagating between the PCF core and the liquid rods. Hence, the light propagating in the liquid modified core can be efficiently coupled into the satellite waveguides under the phase-matching conditions, resulting in a dramatic decrease of the resonant wavelength intensity. Furthermore, there is a multi-mode interference produced by modified core modes and rod modes. Such a compact (～0.91 cm) device integrated with an embedded coupler and interferometer is demonstrated for high-sensitivity simultaneous temperature (～14.72 nm/°C) and strain (～13.01 pm/μ ) measurement.

Understanding bend loss in single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) is becoming of increasing importance as the fibers enter practical applications. While purely numerical approaches are useful, there is a need for a simpler analytical formalism that provides physical insight and can be directly used in the design of PCFs with low bend loss. We show theoretically and experimentally that a wavelength-dependent critical bend radius exists below which the bend loss reaches a maximum, and that this can be calculated from the structural parameters of a fiber using a simple analytical formula. This allows straightforward design of single-ring PCFs that are bend-insensitive for specified ranges of bend radius and wavelength. It also can be used to derive an expression for the bend radius that yields optimal higher-order mode suppression for a given fiber structure.

We demonstrate an ultra-low-threshold phonon laser using a coupled-microtoroid-cavity system by introducing a novel coupling approach. The scheme exhibits both high optical quality factors and high mechanical quality factors. We have experimentally obtained the mechanical quality factor up to 18,000 in vacuum for a radial-breathing mode of 59.2 MHz. The measured phonon lasing threshold is as low as 1.2 μW, which is ～5 times lower than the previous result.

Transverse mode instability (TMI) has become the major limitation for power scaling of fiber lasers with nearly diffraction-limited beam quality. Compared with a co-pumped fiber laser, a counter-pumped fiber laser reveals TMI threshold enhancement through a semi-analytical model calculation. We demonstrated a 2 kW high-power counter-pumped all-fiberized laser without observation of TMI. Compared with the co-pumped scheme, the TMI threshold is enhanced at least 50% in counter-pumped scheme, moreover, stimulated Raman scattering and four-wave mixing are suppressed simultaneously.

We have demonstrated a high-average-power, high-repetition-rate optical terahertz (THz) source based on difference frequency generation (DFG) in the GaSe crystal by using a near-degenerate 2 μm intracavity KTP optical parametric oscillator as the pump source. The power of the 2 μm dual-wavelength laser was up to 12.33 W with continuous tuning ranges of 1988.0–2196.2 nm/2278.4–2065.6 nm for two waves. Different GaSe cystal lengths have been experimentally investigated for the DFG THz source in order to optimize the THz output power, which was in good agreement with the theoretical analysis. Based on an 8 mm long GaSe crystal, the THz wave was continuously tuned from 0.21 to 3 THz. The maximum THz average power of 1.66 μW was obtained at repetition rate of 10 kHz under 1.48 THz. The single pulse energy amounted to 166 pJ and the conversion efficiency from 2 μm laser to THz output was 1.68×10 6. The signal-to-noise ratio of the detected THz voltage was 23 dB. The acceptance angle of DFG in the GaSe crystal was measured to be 0.16°.

The polarization evolution of vector beams (VBs) generated by q-plates is investigated theoretically and experimentally. An analytical model is developed for the VB created by a general quarter-wave q-plate based on vector diffraction theory. It is found that the polarization distribution of VBs varies with position and the value q. In particular, for the incidence of circular polarization, the exit vector vortex beam has polarization states that cover the whole surface of the Poincaré sphere, thereby constituting a full Poincaré beam. For the incidence of linear polarization, the VB is not cylindrical but specularly symmetric, and exhibits an azimuthal spin splitting. These results are in sharp contrast with those derived by the commonly used model, i.e., regarding the incident light as a plane wave. By implementing q-plates with dielectric metasurfaces, further experiments validate the theoretical results.

We report on the transmission spectra of a sausage-like microresonator (SLM) in aqueous environment, where a fiber taper is used as a light coupler. The transmission spectra show an interesting dependence on the coupling position between the SLM and the fiber taper. When the SLM is moved along the fiber taper, the line shape can evolve periodically among symmetric dips, asymmetric Fano-like resonance line shapes, and symmetric peaks. A coupled-mode theory with feedback is developed to explain the observation. The observation of Fano-like resonance in aqueous environment holds great potential in biochemical sensing.

In this paper, we have proposed a hybrid optical wavelength demultiplexer and power combiner for a hybrid time- and wavelength-division multiplexing (TWDM) passive optical network (PON), i.e., a single passive optical device that functions as a 1×N wavelength demultiplexer for distributing the downstream signal in multiple wavelengths from the optical line terminal (OLT) to the N optical network units (ONUs), and simultaneously as an N×1 power combiner for collecting the upstream signal in the same wavelength from the N ONUs to the OLT. Through a design example of a 32 channel hybrid optical wavelength demultiplexer and power combiner on the silicon-on-insulator platform, our numerical simulation result shows that the insertion loss and adjacent channel crosstalk of the downstream wavelength demultiplexer are as low as 4.6 and 16.3 dB, respectively, while the insertion loss and channel non-uniformity of the upstream power combiner can reach 3.5 and 2.1 dB, respectively. The proposed structure can readily be extended to other material platforms such as the silica-based planar lightwave circuit. Its fabrication process is fully compatible with standard clean-room technologies such as photo-lithography and etching, without any complicated and/or costly approach involved.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a 2×2 thermo-optic (TO) crossbar switch implemented by dual photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) cavities within a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. By thermally tuning the refractive index of silicon, the resonance wavelength of the PCN cavities can be red-shifted. With the help of the ultrasmall mode volumes of the PCN cavities, only ～0.16 mW power is needed to change the switching state. With a spectral passband of 0.09 nm at the 1583.75 nm operation wavelength, the insertion loss (IL) and crosstalk (CT) performances were measured as IL(bar)= 0.2 dB, CT(bar)= 15 dB, IL(cross)= 1.5 dB, and CT(cross)= 15 dB. Furthermore, the thermal tuning efficiency of the fabricated device is as high as 1.23 nm/mW.

The electrical nonlinearity of silicon modulators based on reversed PN junctions was found to severely limit the linearity of the modulators. This effect, however, was inadvertently neglected in previous studies. Considering the electrical nonlinearity in simulation, a 32.2 dB degradation in the CDR3 (i.e., the suppression ratio between the fundamental signal and intermodulation distortion) of the modulator was observed at a modulation speed of 12 GHz, and the spurious free dynamic range was simultaneously degraded by 17.4 dB. It was also found that the linearity of the silicon modulator could be improved by reducing the series resistance of the PN junction. The frequency dependence of the linearity due to the electrical nonlinearity was also investigated.

Reduction of modulator energy consumption to 10 fJ/bit is essential for the sustainable development of communication systems. Lumped modulators might be a viable solution if instructed by a complete theory system. Here, we present a complete analytical electro-optic response theory, energy consumption analysis, and eye diagrams on absolute scales for lumped modulators. Consequently the speed limitation is understood and alleviated by single-drive configuration, and comprehensive knowledge into the energy dependence on structural parameters significantly reduces energy consumption. The results show that silicon modulation energy as low as 80.8 and 21.5 fJ/bit can be achieved at 28 Gbd under 50 and 10 Ω impedance drivers, respectively. A 50 Gbd modulation is also shown to be possible. The analytical models can be extended to lumped modulators on other material platforms and offer a promising solution to the current challenges of modulation energy reduction.

A high sensitivity D-shaped hole double-cladding fiber temperature sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is designed and investigated by a full-vector finite element method. Within the D-shaped hole double-cladding fiber, the hollow D-section is coated with gold film and then injected in a high thermo-optic coefficient liquid to realize the high temperature sensitivity for the fiber SPR temperature sensor. The numerical simulation results show that the peaking loss of the D-shaped hole double-cladding fiber SPR is hugely influenced by the distance between the D-shaped hole and fiber core and by the thickness of the gold film, but the temperature sensitivity is almost insensitive to the above parameters. When the thermo-optic coefficient is 2.8×10 4/°C, the thickness of the gold film is 47 nm, and the distance between the D-shaped hole and fiber core is 5 μm, the temperature sensitivity of the D-shaped hole fiber SPR sensor can reach to 3.635 nm/°C.

The modulation of resonance features in microcavities is important to applications in nanophotonics. Based on the asymmetric whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) in a plasmonic resonator, we theoretically studied the mode evolution in an asymmetric WGM plasmonic system. Exploiting the gap or nano-scatter in the plasmonic ring cavity, the symmetry of the system will be broken and the standing wave in the cavity will be tunable. Based on this asymmetric structure, the output coupling rate between the two cavity modes can also be tuned. Moreover, the proposed method could further be applied for sensing and detecting the position of defects in a WGM system.

In this paper, we examine the tiny polarization rotation effect in total internal reflection due to the spin–orbit interaction of light. We find that the tiny polarization rotation rate will induce a geometric phase gradient, which can be regarded as the physical origin of photonic spin Hall effect. We demonstrate that the spin-dependent splitting in position space is related to the polarization rotation in momentum space, while the spin-dependent splitting in momentum space is attributed to the polarization rotation in position space. Furthermore, we introduce a quantum weak measurement to determine the tiny polarization rotation rate. The rotation rate in momentum space is obtained with 118 nm, which manifests itself as a spatial shift, and the rotation rate in position space is achieved with 38 μrad/λ, which manifests itself as an angular shift. The investigation of the polarization rotation characteristics will provide insights into the photonic spin Hall effect and will enable us to better understand the spin–orbit interaction of light.