Distributed optical fiber Brillouin sensors detect the temperature and strain along a fiber according to the local Brillouin frequency shift (BFS), which is usually calculated by the measured Brillouin spectrum using Lorentzian curve fitting. In addition, cross-correlation, principal component analysis, and machine learning methods have been proposed for the more efficient extraction of BFS. However, existing methods only process the Brillouin spectrum individually, ignoring the correlation in the time domain, indicating that there is still room for improvement. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a BFS extraction convolutional neural network (BFSCNN) to retrieve the distributed BFS directly from the measured two-dimensional data. Simulated ideal Brillouin spectra with various parameters are used to train the BFSCNN. Both the simulation and experimental results show that the extraction accuracy of the BFSCNN is better than that of the traditional curve fitting algorithm with a much shorter processing time. The BFSCNN has good universality and robustness and can effectively improve the performances of existing Brillouin sensors.

Random lasing was experimentally investigated in pyrromethene 597-doped strongly disordered chiral liquid crystals (CLCs) composed of the nematic liquid crystal SLC1717 and the chiral agent CB15. The concentration of the chiral agent tuned the bandgap, and disordered CLC microdomains were achieved by fast quenching of the mixture from the isotropic to the cholesteric phase. Random lasing and band edge lasing were observed synchronously, and their behavior changed with the spectral location of the bandgap. The emission band for band edge lasing shifted with the change of the bandgap, while the emission band for random lasing remained practically constant. The results show that the threshold for random lasing sharply decreases if the CLC selective reflection band overlaps with the fluorescence peak of the dye molecules and if the band edge coincides at the same time with the excitation wavelength.

A thermally tuned multi-channel interference widely tunable semiconductor laser is designed and demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, that realizes a tuning range of more than 45 nm, side-mode suppression ratios up to 56 dB, and Lorentzian linewidth below 160 kHz. AlGaInAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) were used to reduce linewidth, which have a lower linewidth enhancement factor compared with InGaAsP MQWs. To decrease the power consumption of micro-heaters, air gaps were fabricated below the arm phase sections. For a 75 μm long suspended thermal tuning waveguide, about 6.3 mW micro-heater tuning power is needed for a 2π round-trip phase change. Total micro-heater tuning power required is less than 50 mW across the whole tuning range, which is lower than that of the reported thermally tuned tunable semiconductor lasers.

High-power mode-programmable orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams have received substantial attention in recent years. They are widely used in optical communication, nonlinear frequency conversion, and laser processing. To overcome the power limitation of a single beam, coherent beam combining (CBC) of laser arrays is used. However, in specific CBC systems used to generate structured light with a complex wavefront, eliminating phase noise and realizing flexible phase modulation proved to be difficult challenges. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a two-stage phase control method that can generate OAM beams with different topological charges from a CBC system. During the phase control process, the phase errors are preliminarily compensated by a deep-learning (DL) network, and further eliminated by an optimization algorithm. Moreover, by modulating the expected relative phase vector and cost function, all-electronic flexible programmable switching of the OAM mode is realized. Results indicate that the proposed method combines the characteristics of DL for undesired convergent phase avoidance and the advantages of the optimization algorithm for accuracy improvement, thereby ensuring the high mode purity of the generated OAM beams. This work could provide a valuable reference for future implementation of high-power, fast switchable structured light generation and manipulation.

High-order temporal soliton compression in dispersion-engineered silicon photonic crystal waveguides will play an important role in future integrated photonic circuits compatible with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductors. Here, we report the physical mechanisms of high-order temporal soliton compression affected by third-order dispersion (TOD) combined with free carrier dispersion (FCD) in a dispersion engineered silicon photonic crystal waveguide with wideband low anomalous dispersion. Through numerical temporal soliton evolution analysis, we report what we believe is the first demonstration of the dual opposite effects of TOD on temporal soliton compression, which are strengthening or weakening through two different physical mechanisms, not only depending on the sign of TOD but also the relative magnitude of TOD-induced equivalent group velocity dispersion (GVD) β2,equ to the original GVD β2. We further find that FCD counteracts the effects of negative TOD on the soliton compression, while it reinforces the effects of positive TOD on the soliton compression. These results will help to design suitable dispersion-engineered silicon waveguides for superior on-chip temporal pulse compression in optical communications and processing application fields.

Photonic media containing hybrid noble metal–dielectric nanocrystals (NCs) represent a wonderland of nanophotonics, with a myriad of uncharted optical functions yet to be explored. Capitalizing on the unique phase separation and spontaneous formation of Au-metal NCs in a gallosilicate glass, we fabricated Ni2+-doped transparent nanoglass composites (GCs) containing Au-metal/γ-Ga2O3-dielectric NCs. Compared with GCs free of Au-metal NCs, the superbroadband near-infrared emission of Ni2+ with a full width at half-maximum over 280 nm is enhanced twice in the Au-metal/γ-Ga2O3 dual-phase GCs. A comparison is given as to the spontaneous emission (SPE) properties of Ni2+ in the dual-phase GCs when pumped resonantly and off-resonantly with the localized surface plasmon resonance band of the Au-metal NCs. The important role of the Au-metal NCs in the SPE enhancement is revealed by theoretical simulation based on the finite-element method. Combining the photonic engineering effect of hybrid Au-metal/γ-Ga2O3 NCs and the sensitization effect of Yb3+ on Ni2+, a record-high enhancement factor of over 10 of the Ni2+ NIR emission is achieved, and optical gain is demonstrated in the GCs at the fiber communication wavelength.

Red-green-blue (RGB) full-color micro light-emitting diodes (μ-LEDs) fabricated from semipolar (20-21) wafers, with a quantum-dot photoresist color-conversion layer, were demonstrated. The semipolar (20-21) InGaN/GaN μ-LEDs were fabricated on large (4 in.) patterned sapphire substrates by orientation-controlled epitaxy. The semipolar μ-LEDs showed a 3.2 nm peak wavelength shift and a 14.7% efficiency droop under 200 A/cm2 injected current density, indicating significant amelioration of the quantum-confined Stark effect. Because of the semipolar μ-LEDs’ emission-wavelength stability, the RGB pixel showed little color shift with current density and achieved a wide color gamut (114.4% NTSC space and 85.4% Rec. 2020).

Gallium nitride (GaN)-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are important for lighting and display applications. In this paper, we demonstrate green-emission (512 nm) InGaN quantum dot (QD) LEDs grown on a c-plane sapphire substrate by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. A radiative lifetime of 707 ps for the uniform InGaN self-assembled QDs is obtained by time-resolved photoluminescence measurement at 18 K. The screening of the built-in fields in the QDs effectively improves the performance of QD LEDs. These high quantum efficiency and high temperature stability green QD LEDs are able to operate with negligible efficiency droop and with current density up to 106 A/cm2. Our results show that InGaN QDs may be a viable option as the active medium for stable LEDs.

We report on a high-performance mid-wavelength infrared avalanche photodetector (APD) with separate absorption and multiplication regions. InAs is used as the absorber material and high-bandgap AlAs0.13Sb0.87 is used as the multiplication material. At room temperature, the APD’s peak response wavelength is 3.27 μm, and the 50% cutoff wavelength is 3.5 μm. The avalanche gain reaches 13.1 and the responsivity is 8.09 A/W at 3.27 μm when the applied reverse bias voltage is 14.6 V. The measured peak detectivity D? of the device is 2.05×109 cm·Hz0.5/W at 3.27 μm.

Laser communication using photons should consider not only the transmission environment’s effects, but also the performance of the single-photon detector used and the photon number distribution. Photon communication based on the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) is a new technology that addresses the current sensitivity limitations at the level of single photons in deep space communication. The communication’s bit error rate (BER) is limited by dark noise in the space environment and the photon number distribution with a traditional single-pixel SNSPD, which is unable to resolve the photon number distribution. In this work, an enhanced photon communication method was proposed based on the photon number resolving function of four-pixel array SNSPDs. A simulated picture transmission was carried out, and the error rate in this counting mode can be reduced by 2 orders of magnitude when compared with classical optical communication. However, in the communication mode using photon-enhanced counting, the four-pixel response amplitude for counting was found to restrain the communication rate, and this counting mode is extremely dependent on the incident light intensity through experiments, which limits the sensitivity and speed of the SNSPD array’s performance advantage. Therefore, a BER theoretical calculation model for laser communication was presented using the Bayesian estimation algorithm in order to analyze the selection of counting methods for information acquisition under different light intensities and to make better use of the SNSPD array’s high sensitivity and speed and thus to obtain a lower BER. The counting method and theoretical model proposed in this work refer to array SNSPDs in the deep space field.

We demonstrate the possibility of post-fabrication trimming of the response of nitrogen-rich silicon nitride racetrack resonators by using an ultraviolet laser. The results revealed the possibility to efficiently tune the operating wavelength of fabricated racetrack resonators to any point within the full free spectral range. This process is much faster than similar, previously presented methods (in the order of seconds, compared to hours). This technique can also be applied to accurately trim the optical performance of any other silicon photonic device based on nitrogen-rich silicon nitride.

An ultrahigh-Q silicon racetrack resonator is proposed and demonstrated with uniform multimode silicon photonic waveguides. It consists of two multimode straight waveguides connected by two multimode waveguide bends (MWBs). In particular, the MWBs are based on modified Euler curves, and a bent directional coupler is used to achieve the selective mode coupling for the fundamental mode and not exciting the higher-order mode in the racetrack. In this way, the fundamental mode is excited and propagates in the multimode racetrack resonator with ultralow loss and low intermode coupling. Meanwhile, it helps achieve a compact 180° bend to make a compact resonator with a maximized free spectral range (FSR). In this paper, for the chosen 1.6 μm wide silicon photonic waveguide, the effective radius Reff of the designed 180° bend is as small as 29 μm. The corresponding FSR is about 0.9 nm when choosing 260 μm long straight waveguides in the racetrack. The present high-Q resonator is realized with a simple standard single-etching process provided by a multiproject wafer foundry. The fabricated device, which has a measured intrinsic Q-factor as high as 2.3×106, is the smallest silicon resonator with a >106Q-factor.

Gap-surface plasmon (GSP) metasurfaces have attracted progressively increasing attention due to their planar configurations, ease of fabrication, and unprecedented capabilities in manipulating the reflected fields that enable integrating diverse bulk-optic-based optical components into a single ultrathin flat element. In this work, we design and experimentally demonstrate multifunctional metalenses that perform simultaneous linear-polarization conversion, focusing, and beam splitting, thereby reproducing the combined functionalities of conventional half-wave plates, parabolic reflectors, and beam splitters. The fabricated single-focal metalens incorporates properly configured distinct half-wave-plate-like GSP meta-atoms and exhibits good performance under linearly polarized incidence in terms of orthogonal linear-polarization conversion (>75%) and focusing (overall efficiency>22%) in the wavelength spectrum ranging from 800 to 950 nm. To further extend the combined functionalities, we demonstrate a dual-focal metalens that splits and focuses a linearly polarized incident beam into two focal spots while maintaining the capability of orthogonal linear-polarization conversion. Furthermore, the power distribution between two split beams can readily be controlled by judiciously positioning the incident beam. The demonstrated multifunctional GSP-based metalenses mimic the combined functionalities of a sequence of discrete bulk optical components, thereby eliminating the need for their mutual alignment and opening new perspectives in the development of ultracompact and integrated photonic devices.

The unwanted zero-order light accompanied by the birth of diffractive optical elements and caused mainly by fabrication errors and wavelength variations is a key factor that deteriorates the performance of diffraction-related optical devices such as holograms, gratings, beam shapers, beam splitters, optical diffusers, and diffractive microlenses. Here, inspired by the unique characteristic of nano-polarizer-based metasurfaces for both positive and negative amplitude modulation of incident light, we propose a general design paradigm to eliminate zero-order diffraction without burdening the metasurface design and fabrication. The experimentally demonstrated meta-hologram, which projects a holographic image with a wide angle of 70°×70° in the far field, presents a very low zero-order intensity (only 0.7% of the total energy of the reconstructed image). More importantly, the zero-order-free meta-hologram has a large tolerance limit for wavelength variations (under a broadband illumination from 520 to 660 nm), which brings important technical advances. The strategy proposed could significantly relieve the fabrication difficulty of metasurfaces and be viable for various diffractive-optics-related applications including holography, laser beam shaping, optical data storage, vortex beam generation, and so on.

Data signals consisting of arbitrarily modulated sequences of pulses are extensively used for processing and communication applications. The spectral extent of such signals is determined by the bandwidth of the individual pulses in the sequence, which imposes a fundamental limit to the maximum amount of information that can be transmitted or processed per time period. In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate that the frequency spectrum occupied by a data-modulated pulse sequence can be significantly compressed to well below the individual pulse bandwidth while still maintaining the temporal duration of the pulses in the sequence and without losing any of the information carried by the signal. The proposed method involves fully reversible linear transformations of the data signal along the time and frequency domains. We demonstrate successful pulse-shape-preserving spectral compression and subsequent full waveform and information recovery of a ～10 Gb/s optical pulse sequence, modulated by an arbitrary data pattern, liberating over 60% of its bandwidth. These findings should prove useful for applications in signal processing, communications, and others.

Perfect optical vortices (POVs) provide a solution to address the challenge induced by strong dependence of classical optical vortices on their carried topological charges. However, traditional POVs are all shaped into bright rings with a single main lobe along the radial direction. Here we propose a method for enhanced control on the ring profile (the radial intensity profile of circular rings) of POVs based on modulated circular sine/cosine radial functions, which is realized by a circular Dammann grating embedded with a spiral phase. Specifically, a type of “absolute” dark POVs surrounded by two bright lobe rings in each side is presented, which provides a perfect annular potential well along those dark impulse rings for trapping low-index particles, cells, or quantum gases. In addition, several POVs with different ring profiles, including conventional POVs with bright rings, the dark POVs mentioned above, and also POVs with tunable ring profiles, are demonstrated. This work opens up new possibilities to controllably tune the ring profile of perfect vortices, and this type of generalized POVs will enrich the content of singular optics and expand the application scope of perfect vortices in a range of areas including optical manipulation, both quantum and classical optical communications, enhanced optical imaging, and also novel structured pumping lasers.

We propose a conceptual design of optical power limiters with abrupt limiting action and enhanced power-handling capabilities that is based on exceptional point degeneracies (EPDs). The photonic circuit consists of two coupled cavities with differential Q factors. One of the cavities includes a Kerr-like nonlinear material. The underlying mechanism that triggers an abrupt transmittance suppression relies on the interplay between a nonlinear instability and an abrupt destruction of EPDs due to a resonance detuning occurring when the incident power exceeds a critical value. Our proposal opens up possibilities for the use of EPDs in optical power switching, Q switching, routing, and so on.

A multipoint interferometer (MI), uniformly distributed point-like pinholes in a circle, was proposed to measure the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of vortex beams [Phys. Rev. Lett.101, 100801 (2008)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.101.100801], which can be used for measuring OAM of light from astronomical sources. This is a simple and robust method; however, it is noted that this method is only available for low topological charge because the diffracted intensity patterns for vortex beams with higher OAM will repeat periodically. Here, we propose an improved multipoint interferometer (IMI) for measuring the OAM of an optical vortex with high topological charge. The structure of our IMI is almost the same as the MI, but the size of each pinhole is larger than a point in the MI. Such a small change enables each pinhole to get more phase information from the incident beams; accordingly, the IMI can distinguish any vortex beams with different OAM. We demonstrate its viability both theoretically and experimentally.