Topics
Contents Instrumentation, Measurement, and Optical Sensing, 63 Article(s)
Real-time monitoring of internal temperature of a lithium-ion battery using embedded fiber Bragg gratings
Feixia Huang, Bowen Gu, Qiang Wu, Hong Yang, Yingying Hu, Juan Liu, Yue Fu, Xing-Dao He, Haimeng Wu, Jing Jiang, Ghanim Putrus, Zabih Ghassemlooy, Jinhui Yuan, and Bin Liu

This study proposes a method for real-time monitoring of lithium-ion battery (LiB) internal temperatures through the temperature response of an embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor. This approach overcomes the limitations of most methods that can only detect the external temperature at limited places by providing the advantages of sensing both the internal temperature and external temperature at multiple points simultaneously for precise condition monitoring. In addition, a numerical LiB cell model was developed to investigate the heat generation and temperature gradient using the finite element analysis method. The outcomes show that this model can be used to predict the temperature with less than 5% discrepancy (1.5°C) compared with experimental results. Thereby, this proposed method can be effectively used to monitor the safety and state of health of LiBs and other types of rechargeable batteries in real-time.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 11, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 9 091202 (2024)
Advancing multi-wavelength photoelasticity through single-exposure detection
Pengfei Zhu, Suhas P. Veetil, Xiaoliang He, Zhilong Jiang, Yan Kong, Aihui Sun, Shouyu Wang, and Cheng Liu

In this paper, we present a method to expedite multi-wavelength photoelasticity for efficient stress analysis. By modulating two slightly different-wavelength illumination beams and simultaneously capturing dark-field and bright-field images, our approach acquires four essential polarized images. Spatial filtering of Fourier transforms streamlines inner stress computation, enabling multi-wavelength photoelasticity with a single detector exposure. Theoretical foundations are outlined, and proof-of-principle experiments validate the feasibility with a measurement error below 6.4%. The high measurement speed, determined by the detector’s frame rate, facilitates dynamic sample measurements at video frequency, offering promising advancements in material stress analysis.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 03, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 9 091201 (2024)
Chirality discerning and monitoring in a metal cladding optofluidic chip
Qiheng Wei, Xueqian Wang, Hongrui Shan, Yi Lai, He Li, Hailang Dai, and Xianfeng Chen

The metabolic process of chiral drugs plays a significant role in clinics and in research on drugs. Here, we experimentally demonstrate by all-optical means that the chiral molecules can be quickly discriminated and monitored with the ultrahigh-order modes excited in a metal cladding optofluidic chip, achieving over 5 times sensitivity with a low-dosage sample. We show that the varying concentration of the chiral drugs can be monitored both in cell and animal experiments, presenting a significant difference between chiral enantiomers at the optimal function time and the effect of the reaction. To our knowledge, this approach provides a new way to achieve important chiral discrimination for the pharmacokinetics and the pharmacodynamics and may present opportunities in indicating the health status of humans.

Chinese Optics Letters
On the CoverAug. 07, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 8 081202 (2024)
Common-path illumination in ESPI: enhancing sensitivity for measuring specular deformation
Peizheng Yan, Xiangwei Liu, Xinda Zhou, Rongsheng Ba, Hanxuan Zhou, Yonghong Wang, and Jie Li

In this study, an innovative technique is introduced to significantly enhance the sensitivity of electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) for the dynamic assessment of specular (mirrorlike) object deformations. By utilizing a common-path illumination strategy, wherein illumination and observation beams are precisely aligned, this method effectively doubles the optical path difference, leading to a twofold increase in measurement sensitivity. In addition, this method mitigates the effects of speckle noise on the measurement of minor deformations, expanding the applications of ESPI. Theoretical and experimental evaluations corroborate the efficacy of this approach.

Chinese Optics Letters
Aug. 19, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 8 081201 (2024)
Simultaneous measurement of distance and speed using frequency-modulated continuous-wave self-mixing interferometry and all-phase fast Fourier transform
Jinyuan Yuan, and Bin Liu

In this work, we propose a method using frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) self-mixing interferometry (SMI) and all-phase fast Fourier transform (APFFT) for simultaneous measurement of speed and distance. APFFT offers superior accuracy in frequency determination by mitigating issues like the fence effect and spectrum leakage, contributing to the high-accuracy measurement for speed and distance. Both simulations and experiments have demonstrated relative errors at the levels of 10-4 and 10-3 for distance and speed measurements, respectively. Furthermore, factors impacting measurement performance have been discussed. The proposed method provides a high-performance and cost-effective solution for distance and speed measurements, applicable across scientific research and various industrial domains.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jul. 24, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 7 071201 (2024)
Highly efficient optics/microwave beam splitter based on frequency selective surface
Qiao Sun, Nianxi Xu, Haigui Yang, Dongzhi Shan, Yang Tang, Xin Chen, Tongtong Wang, Jinsong Gao, and Yu Cai

The development of hybrid optics/microwave communication systems puts forward a new requirement for beam splitters to efficiently transmit microwave signals and simultaneously reflect optical signals. Owing to mechanical constraints, the physical thickness of beam splitters is of the order of tens of millimeters. The corresponding electrical thickness has the same order of magnitude as microwave wavelengths, and the resulting multi-beam interference effect significantly reduces the microwave transmittance, impacting the beam splitting quality. This study presents a new optics/microwave beam splitter based on the ability of the frequency selective surface (FSS) to shape the resonant curve. A beam splitter sample, whose physical thickness and substrate material are 20 mm and quartz glass, respectively, is designed, simulated, fabricated, and characterized to validate the feasibility of this strategy. The measured results show that the minimum microwave transmittance between 35 and 36.5 GHz with an incidence angle of 45° under TE polarization is 86.43%, and the mean value of the reflectance spectra from 450 to 900 nm and that from 7.7 to 10.5 μm both exceed 96%. This FSS-based optics/microwave beam splitter is expected to play a key role in hybrid optics/microwave communication systems.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jun. 13, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 6 061202 (2024)
Generic and flexible self-correction method for nonlinearity-induced phase error in three-dimensional imaging
Jianhua Wang, Peng Xu, and Yanxi Yang

In three-dimensional imaging employing phase-shifting profilometry (PSP), the nonlinear response of projector and camera makes the fringe gray distribution non-sinusoidal, which further leads to phase error. Although the double 3-step phase-shifting method is simple and effective, it needs to add an additional set of fringe sequences, which reduces the measurement efficiency. To this end, this paper introduces a generic and flexible self-correction method for nonlinearity-induced phase error. First, according to the nonlinearity-induced phase error model, we introduce an additional wrapped phase with a phase difference of π/3. The error waveform of the two wrapped phases is opposite but not coincident. Then, we introduce an estimation algorithm for the additional wrapped phase offset. Finally, we fuse the two wrapped phases to correct the phase error. Experiments confirm that the root mean squared error of the proposed method is 64.1% lower than that of the traditional method and 13.3% lower than that of the Hilbert transform method. The proposed method does not require any additional fringes or hardware assistance and can be easily extended to 4-step or 5-step PSP.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jun. 19, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 6 061201 (2024)
Raman signal enhancement for gas detection using a dual near-concentric cavities group
Yifan Ren, Dewang Yang, Yingxin Sun, Jiaxuan Xu, Shuofang Liu, and Yuee Chen

Effective methods are urgently required to optimize Raman spectroscopy technology to ameliorate its low detection sensitivity. Here, we superposed two near-concentric cavities to develop a dual near-concentric cavities group (DNCCG) to assess its effect on gas Raman signal intensity, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and limit of detection (LOD). The results showed that DNCCG generally had higher CO2 Raman signal intensity than the sum of two near-concentric cavities. Meanwhile, the noise intensity of DNCCG was not enhanced by the superposition of near-concentric cavities. Accordingly, DNCCG increased the SNR. The LOD for CO2 was 24.6 parts per million. DNCCG could be an effective method to improve the detection capability of trace gases and broaden the dynamic detection range, which might aid the future development of innovative technology for multicomponent gas detection.

Chinese Optics Letters
May. 17, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 5 051202 (2024)
High-precision alkali-atom density measurement and control methods using light absorption for dual-beam SERF magnetometers
Ziao Liu, Jixi Lu, Zhaohui Hu, Xiaoyu Li, Yifan Yan, Di Zhan, and Jianli Li

The alkali-atom density measurement method based on light absorption is highly suitable for a spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer because of its high-precision measurement and complete nonmagnetic interference. In this study, the optical rotation angle detection system based on polarization balance detection is utilized to realize the alkali-atom density real-time measurement without affecting magnetic field measurement. We discovered that there exists an optimal frequency detuning of the probe light, which offers the highest sensitivity in alkali-atom density measurement and the lowest susceptibility to temperature fluctuations in terms of the scale factor. In contrast to conventional light absorption measurements based on pump light, this method demonstrated a threefold improvement in alkali-atom density measurement sensitivity while remaining immune to ambient magnetic fields and incident light intensity fluctuations. Furthermore, we utilized this method to achieve closed-loop temperature control with an accuracy of 0.04°C.

Chinese Optics Letters
May. 14, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 5 051201 (2024)
Dynamic range expansion for optical frequency shift detection based on multiple harmonics
Yanru Zhou, Lifan Fan, Kai Xu, Wenyao Liu, Enbo Xing, Jun Tang, and Jun Liu

Sensors based on optical resonators often have their measurement range limited by their cavity linewidth, particularly in the measurement of time-varying signals. This paper introduces a method for optical frequency shift detection using multiple harmonics to expand the dynamic range of sensors based on optical resonators. The proposed method expands the measurement range of optical frequency shift beyond the cavity linewidth while maintaining measurement accuracy. The theoretical derivation of this method is carried out based on the equation of motion for an optical resonator and the recursive relationship of the Bessel function. Experimental results show that the dynamic range is expanded to 4 times greater than the conventional first harmonic method while still maintaining accuracy. Furthermore, we present an objective analysis of the correlation between the expansion factor of the method and the linewidth and free spectrum of the optical resonator.

Chinese Optics Letters
Apr. 25, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 4 041201 (2024)
Simultaneously detecting transversal and longitudinal displacement with the dielectric metasurface
Zhiyu Zhang, Chenghui Kuang, Haofeng Zang, Yonghua Lu, and Pei Wang

The compact, sensitive, and multidimensional displacement measurement device plays a crucial role in semiconductor manufacture and high-resolution optical imaging. The metasurface offers a promising solution to develop high-precision displacement metrology. In this work, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated a two-dimensional displacement (XZ) measurement device by a dielectric metasurface. Both transversal and longitudinal displacements of the metasurface can be obtained by the analysis of the interference optical intensity that is generated by the deflected light beams while the metasurface is under linearly polarized incidence. We experimentally demonstrated that displacements down to 5.4 nm along the x-axis and 0.12 µm along the z-axis can be resolved with a 900 µm × 900 µm metasurface. Our work opens up new possibilities to develop a compact high-precision multidimensional displacement sensor.

Chinese Optics Letters
Feb. 20, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 2 021202 (2024)
Towards a fast and stable tachypnea monitor: a C60-Lys enabled optical fiber sensor for humidity tracking in breath progress
Fuxiang Wang, Feng Gao, Xiaoniu Wang, Ying Wang, Fei Jin, Ziqiao Ren, Jun Wu, Zhenlin Huang, Wenjun Zhou, and Changyu Shen

The pandemic of respiratory diseases enlightened people that monitoring respiration has promising prospects in averting many fatalities by tracking the development of diseases. However, the response speed of current optical fiber sensors is still insufficient to meet the requirements of high-frequency respiratory detection during respiratory failure. Here, a scheme for a fast and stable tachypnea monitor is proposed utilizing a water-soluble C60-Lys ion compound as functional material for the tracking of humidity change in the progression of breath. The polarization of C60-Lys can be tuned by the ambient relative humidity change, and an apparent refractive index alteration can be detected due to the small size effect. In our experiments, C60-Lys is conformally and uniformly deposited on the surface of a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) to fabricate an ultra-fast-response, high-sensitivity, and long-term stable optical fiber humidity sensor. A relative humidity (RH) detecting sensitivity of 0.080 dB/% RH and the equilibrium response time and recovery time of 1.85 s and 1.58 s are observed, respectively. Also, a linear relation is detected between the resonance intensity of the TFBG and the environment RH. In a practical breath monitoring experiment, the instantaneous response time and recovery time are measured as 40 ms and 41 ms, respectively, during a 1.5 Hz fast breath process. Furthermore, an excellent time stability and high repeatability are exhibited in experiments conducted over a range of 7 days.

Chinese Optics Letters
Feb. 23, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 2 021201 (2024)
Differential photoacoustic cell-based Fourier transform photoacoustic spectroscopy for background-free gas detection [Invited]
Xiaoli Liu, Jiajia Cui, Chaofan Feng, Qingyuan Tian, Ruyue Cui, Yanting Zhao, Hongpeng Wu, and Lei Dong

A broadband gas sensing technology is reported. The measurement principle relies on Fourier transform photoacoustic spectroscopy (FT-PAS) using a differential photoacoustic cell, in which both phase modulation and amplitude modulation are simultaneously applied to the broadband light sources. The thermal light source and supercontinuum source are employed sequentially. The performance of the FT-PAS is demonstrated by measuring the spectra of methane in the 2–10 µm range and acetylene in the 1–2 µm range. By leveraging the wavelength-independent nature of the photoacoustic effect, this system holds promise for comprehensive full-spectrum spectral detection.

Chinese Optics Letters
On the CoverOct. 12, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 10 101203 (2024)
Simultaneous detection of position and temperature of micromagnet using a quantum microscope
Zhenrong Shi, Zhonghao Li, Huanfei Wen, Hao Guo, Zongmin Ma, Jun Tang, and Jun Liu

Micromagnets, as a promising technology for microscale manipulation and detection, have been the subject of extensive study. However, providing real-time, noninvasive feedback on the position and temperature of micromagnets in complex operational environments continues to pose a significant challenge. This paper presents a quantum imaging device utilizing diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers capable of providing simultaneous feedback on both the position and temperature of a micromagnet. The device achieves a temporal resolution of 2 s and a spatial resolution of 1.3 µm. Through flux localization analysis, we have determined a positioning accuracy within 50 µm and a temperature accuracy within 0.4 K.

Chinese Optics Letters
Editors' PickJul. 05, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 10 101202 (2024)
High-sensitivity closed-loop three-axis atomic magnetometer using two elliptically polarized laser beams
Yeguang Yan, Jixi Lu, Kun Wang, Fei Lu, Shaowen Zhang, Ziao Liu, Xiaoyu Li, and Binquan Zhou

The high-sensitivity three-axis detection of magnetic fields is widely used in various applications. Our study demonstrates an atomic magnetometer detecting vector magnetic field, of which the core components are one glass cell and two elliptically polarized laser beams. The light-intensity noise is suppressed by differential detection technology, so a higher sensitivity is obtained compared with our previous work. The three-axis average sensitivities of the atomic magnetometer simultaneously reached 14 fT/Hz1/2 along the x axis, 11 fT/Hz1/2 along the y axis, and 25 fT/Hz1/2 along the z axis. Furthermore, the atomic magnetometer’s dynamic range was further improved to 150 nT, and its bandwidth was increased to over 200 Hz using a closed-loop control system. The proposed three-axis atomic magnetometer with a large dynamic range and a wide bandwidth holds great promise for biomagnetic measurement in a more challenging environment.

Chinese Optics Letters
Oct. 09, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 10 101201 (2024)
High synchronization absolute distance measurement using a heterodyne and superheterodyne combined interferometer
Ziqi Yin, Fangfei Li, Yunke Sun, Yun Zou, Yan Wang, Hongxing Yang, Pengcheng Hu, Haijin Fu, and Jiubin Tan

We propose an absolute distance measurement method that employs heterodyne and superheterodyne combined interferometers to achieve synchronous detection and demodulation of multiwavelengths. Coarse and fine synthetic wavelengths are generated by a dual-longitudinal-mode He–Ne laser and four acoustic optical frequency shifters. Further, to improve phase synchronization measurement for multiwavelengths, we analyze the demodulation characteristics of coarse and fine measurement signals and adopt a demodulation method suitable for both signals. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve high-precision synchronous demodulation of multiwavelengths, and standard deviation is 1.7 × 10-5 m in a range of 2 m.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jan. 08, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 1 011204 (2024)
Welding depth measurement for different mode lasers using optical coherence tomography
Guanming Xie, Sanhong Wang, Yueqiang Zhang, You Li, Biao Hu, Yu Fu, and Qifeng Yu

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows a direct and precise measurement of laser welding depth by coaxially measuring the keyhole depth and can be used for process monitoring and control. When OCT measurement was taken during single-beam laser welding, the keyhole instability of aluminum welding resulted in highly scattered OCT data and complicated the welding depth extraction methods. As a combination of an inner core beam and an outer ring beam, a novel adjustable ring mode (ARM) laser for producing a stable keyhole was applied to the OCT measurement. Different ARM laser power arrangements were conducted on aluminum and copper. The results indicated that the ring beam greatly improved the stability of the core beam-induced keyhole, and smooth welding depth can be extracted from the concentrated OCT data.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jan. 18, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 1 011203 (2024)
New speckle pattern interferometry for precise in situ deformation measurements
Ruyue Zhang, Yu Fu, and Hong Miao

A new electronic speckle pattern interferometry method is proposed to realize in situ deformation measurements. The feature of the method is the combination of a high-speed camera and multiple laser Doppler vibrometers (LDVs) for synchronous measurements. The high-speed camera is used to record and select effective interferograms, while the LDVs are used to measure the rigid body displacement caused by vibrations. A series of effective interferograms with known shifted phase values are obtained to calculate the deformation phase. The experimental results show that the method performs well in measuring static and dynamic deformations with high accuracy in vibrating environments.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jan. 08, 2024, Vol. 22 Issue 1 011202 (2024)
Simultaneous transmission of time-frequency and data with co-amplification over urban fiber links
Qian Cao, Zhou Tong, Lei Liu, Jialiang Wang, Kang Ying, Fufei Pang, and Youzhen Gui

We demonstrate a simultaneous transmission of time-frequency and data over a 160-km urban business network in Shanghai. The signals are transmitted through a cascaded optical link consisting of 48 km and 32 km, which are connected by an optical relay. The metrological signals are inserted into the communication network using dense wavelength division multiplexing. The influence of the interference between different signals has been discussed. The experimental results demonstrate that the radio frequency (RF) instability can reach 2.1×10-14 at 1 s and 2.3×10-17 at 10,000 s, and the time interval transfer of one pulse per second (1 PPS) signal with less than 10 ps at 1 s is obtained. This work paves the way for the widespread dissemination of ultra-stable time and frequency signals over the communication networks.

Chinese Optics Letters
Dec. 29, 2023, Vol. 22 Issue 1 011201 (2024)
Improving accuracy and sensitivity of diffraction-based overlay metrology
Wenhe Yang, Nan Lin, Xin Wei, Yunyi Chen, Sikun Li, Yuxin Leng, and Jianda Shao

Overlay (OVL) for patterns placed at two different layers during microchip production is a key parameter that controls the manufacturing process. The tolerance of OVL metrology for the latest microchip needs to be at nanometer scale. This paper discusses the influence on the accuracy and sensitivity of diffraction-based overlay (DBO) after developing inspection and after etching inspection by the asymmetrical deformation of the OVL mark induced by chemical mechanical polishing or etching. We show that the accuracy and sensitivity of DBO metrology can be significantly improved by matching the measuring light wavelength to the thickness between layers and by collecting high-order diffraction signals, promising a solution for future OVL metrology equipment.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jul. 21, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 7 071204 (2023)
Two-photon polymerization of femtosecond high-order Bessel beams with aberration correction
Erse Jia, Chen Xie, Na Xiao, Francois Courvoisier, and Minglie Hu

In the femtosecond two-photon polymerization (2PP) experimental system, optical aberrations degrade the fabrication quality. To solve this issue, a multichannel interferometric wavefront sensing technique is adopted in the adaptive laser processing system with a single phase-only spatial light modulator. 2PP fabrications using corrected high-order Bessel beams with the above solution have been conducted, and high-quality microstructure arrays of microtubes with 20 µm diameter have been rapidly manufactured. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is demonstrated by comparing the beam intensity distributions and 2PP results before and after aberration corrections.

Chinese Optics Letters
Editors' PickJul. 20, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 7 071203 (2023)
Detecting the vector of nanoscale light field with atomic defect
Qiyu Wang, Zehao Wang, Xiangdong Chen, and Fangwen Sun

Modulation of a vector light field has played an important role in the research of nanophotonics. However, it is still a great challenge to accurately measure the three-dimensional vector distribution at nanoscale. Here, based on the interaction between the light field and atomic-sized nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color center in diamonds, we demonstrate an efficient method for vectorial mapping of the light-field distribution at nanoscale. Single NV centers with different but well-defined symmetry axes are selected and then interact with the same tightly focused light field. The excitation of a single NV center is related to the angle between the NV center axis and the polarization of the light field. Then the fluorescence patterns of different NV centers provide the information on the vectorial light field distribution. Subsequently analyzing the fluorescence patterns with the help of a deep neural network, the intensity and phase of the light-field vectorial components are fully reconstructed with nanometer resolution. The experimental results are in agreement with theoretical calculations. It demonstrates that our method can help to study light–matter interaction at nanoscale and extend the application of vector light fields in research on nanophotonics.

Chinese Optics Letters
On the CoverJul. 11, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 7 071202 (2023)
Intrapulse coherence degradation suppressing method of echo signal in coherent lidar
Haisheng Cong, Jianfeng Sun, Zhiyong Lu, Hongyu He, Weijie Ren, Yuxin Jiang, Lingling Xu, Chaoyang Li, Longkun Zhang, and Zhengwei Zhang

Aiming at coherence degradation during target detection, a suppressing method based on frequency-modulated continuous wave coherent lidar is proposed. Combined with a random iteration algorithm, a long-pulse echo signal with coherent degradation is matched with random phase noise of a certain frequency and achieves coherence restoration. Simulation and field experiment results show that this proposed method can recover the intrapulse coherence in long-pulse echo signals. In addition, for the real target echo signal at 4.2 and 19.8 km, the peak signal-to-noise ratio processed by this method is increased by 0.35 times and 4 times after pulse compression, respectively.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jul. 25, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 7 071201 (2023)
High sensitivity all-fiber bend sensor based on modal interferences in a ring core fiber
Fan Zhang, Beibei Qi, Baijin Su, Ou Xu, and Yuwen Qin

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated an all-fiber sensor for measuring bend with high sensitivity based on a ring core fiber (RCF) modal interferometer. The sensor was fabricated by splicing a segment of RCF between two pieces of multimode fiber (MMF) and single-mode fiber (SMF) at the ends of the MMF as lead-in and lead-out. Due to the first segment of the MMF, the transmitted light is coupled into the ring core, silica center, and cladding of the RCF, exciting multiple modes in the RCF. By the modal interferences in the structure, bending sensing can be realized by interrogating the intensity of the interference dip. Experimental results show a high bending sensitivity of -25.63 dB/m-1 in the range of 1.0954 m-1 to 1.4696 m-1. In addition, the advantages of the bend sensor, such as small size, low temperature sensitivity, and simple fabrication process, can be used for curvature measurement in building health monitoring.

Chinese Optics Letters
May. 06, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 5 051201 (2023)
Highly sensitive torsion sensor based on Mach–Zehnder interference in helical seven-core fiber taper
Jiabin Wang, Xinzhe Zeng, Jian Zhou, Jiayu Hao, Xingyu Yang, Yue Liu, Wenhuan Chen, Song Li, Yunxiang Yan, Tao Geng, Weimin Sun, and Libo Yuan

We propose a high-sensitivity bidirectional torsion sensor using a helical seven-core fiber taper embedded in multimode fiber (MHSTM). Sensors with different taper waists and helical pitches are fabricated, and their transmission spectra are obtained and analyzed. The waist and length of the sandwiched seven-core fiber are finally determined to be 68 µm and 3 mm, respectively. The experimental results show that the clockwise and counterclockwise torsion sensitivities of the proposed sensor are 2.253 nm/(rad/m) and -1.123 nm/(rad/m), respectively. When tapered waist diameter reduces to 48 µm, a superior torsion sensitivity of 5.391 nm/(rad/m) in the range of 0–4.24 nm/(rad/m) is obtained, which is 46 times as large as the traditional helical seven-core fiber structure. In addition, the MHSTM structure is also relatively stable to temperature variations.

Chinese Optics Letters
Mar. 15, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 4 041205 (2023)
Phase-unwrapping algorithm combined with wavelet transform and Hilbert transform in self-mixing interference for individual microscale particle detection
Yu Zhao, Jiawei Li, Menglei Zhang, Yangyang Zhao, Jianglin Zou, and Tao Chen

The self-mixing interferometry (SMI) technique is an emerging sensing technology in microscale particle classification. However, due to the nature of the SMI effect raised by a microscattering particle, the signal analysis suffers from many problems compared with a macro target, such as lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), short transit time, and time-varying modulation strength. Therefore, the particle sizing measurement resolution is much lower than the one in typical displacement measurements. To solve these problems, in this paper, first, a theoretical model of the phase variation of a single-particle SMI signal burst is demonstrated in detail. The relationship between the phase variation and the particle size is investigated, which predicts that phase observation could be another alternative for particle detection. Second, combined with continuous wavelet transform and Hilbert transform, a novel phase-unwrapping algorithm is proposed. This algorithm can implement not only efficient individual burst extraction from the noisy raw signal, but also precise phase calculation for particle sizing. The measurement shows good accuracy over a range from 100 nm to 6 μm with our algorithm, proving that our algorithm enables a simple and reliable quantitative particle characteristics retrieval and analysis methodology for microscale particle detection in biomedical or laser manufacturing fields.

Chinese Optics Letters
Apr. 04, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 4 041204 (2023)
Dark-field line confocal imaging with point confocality and extended line field for bulk defects detection
Jingtao Dong, Tengda Zhang, Lei Yang, Yuzhong Zhang, Rongsheng Lu, and Xinglong Xie

Fabrication of high-quality optics puts a strong demand on high-throughput detection of macroscopic bulk defects in optical components. A dark-field line confocal imaging method is proposed with two distinct advantages: (i) a point-to-line confocal scheme formed by a columnar elliptical mirror and an optical fiber bundle breaks through the constraint on light collection angle and field of view in the traditional line confocal microscopy using an objective, allowing for an extended confocal line field of more than 100 mm while maintaining a light collection angle of 27°; (ii) the bulk defects are independently illuminated as a function of time to eliminate the cross talk in the direction of the confocal slit, thus preserving point confocality and showing the optical section thicknesses to be 162 µm in the axial direction, and 19 and 22 µm in the orthogonal transverse directions. The experimental results verify that the method has a minimum detectable bulk defect of less than 5 µm and an imaging efficiency of 400 mm2/s. The method shows great potential in high-throughput and high-sensitivity bulk defects detection.

Chinese Optics Letters
Editors' PickMar. 14, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 4 041203 (2023)
Real-time suppression of random phase drift for laser ranging with high-frequency intermode beats
Ruitao Yang, Hao Sun, Pengcheng Hu, Hongxing Yang, Haijin Fu, Liang Yu, Xu Xing, Xuemei Ding, and Jiubin Tan

Laser ranging with frequency comb intermode beats (IMBs) has been suffering from random phase drifts (RPDs) for two decades. In this study, we reveal the influence of signal transmission path on the RPDs and propose a real-time suppression method using two IMBs of similar frequencies from different combs. As the two IMBs obtain similar RPDs during their transmission through same signal paths, the RPD of the original probing signal IMB is suppressed by deducting the RPD of the newly added local IMB in real time. In our experiments, a real-time suppression of RPDs is achieved using IMBs of 1001 and 1000 MHz. For the sampling time of 100 s, the effect of 19-fold suppression has been achieved. The proposed method provides a new solution for the long-standing phase drift problem in laser ranging with comb IMBs.

Chinese Optics Letters
Apr. 03, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 4 041202 (2023)
Wavefront measurement of a multilens optical system based on phase measuring deflectometry
Zhenyi Chen, Wenchuan Zhao, Qican Zhang, Jin Peng, and Junyong Hou

Usually, a multilens optical system is composed of multiple undetectable sublenses. Wavefront of a multilens optical system cannot be measured when classical transmitted phase measuring deflectometry (PMD) is used. In this study, a wavefront measuring method for an optical system with multiple optics is presented based on PMD. A paraxial plane is used to represent the test multilens optical system. We introduce the calibration strategy and mathematical deduction of gradient equations. Systematic errors are suppressed with an N-rotation test. Simulations have been performed to demonstrate our method. The results showing the use of our method in multilens optical systems, such as the collimator and single-lens reflex camera lenses show that the measurement accuracy is comparable with those of interferometric tests.

Chinese Optics Letters
Apr. 06, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 4 041201 (2023)
Enhanced Fano resonance for high-sensitivity sensing based on bound states in the continuum
Guang Feng, Zhihui Chen, Yang Wang, Xin Liu, Yinshan Liu, Xiao Liu, Fei Sun, Yibiao Yang, and Shuqi Chen

Although previously reported terahertz absorbers can achieve high-sensitivity refractive index sensing, the resonant peak is too broad, which leads to a low figure of merit (FOM). Transmissive sensors based on bound states in the continuum (BIC) can achieve high FOM, but they have some limitations in high sensitivity. Herein, we propose a periodic triple parallel metal bars structure to obtain high quality, a strong field, and multiple hot spots by the Friedrich–Wintgen BIC. Numerical results show the sensitivity and FOM can reach 1877 GHz/RIU and 665, respectively. Compared to the previously reported transmissive sensors based on BIC, the sensitivity has been greatly improved.

Chinese Optics Letters
Feb. 27, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 3 031202 (2023)
Method for active spatial alignment and stabilization of laser beams in multi-beam systems
Chenliang Ding, Dazhao Zhu, Chengpeng Ma, Mengbo Tang, Zhenyao Yang, Yong Liu, Cuifang Kuang, and Xu Liu

We propose a new method for the development of multi-beam systems for the spatial alignment and stability of beams based on the error separation technique. This method avoids alignment errors caused by coupling effect of piezoelectric devices, inaccurate correction calculations, and detection mode of the angular deviation. According to the results by external detectors, the error value of spatial alignment and the root mean square (RMS) of deviations under control during 1 h can be equivalent to approximately 0.87 and 1.06 nm at the sample plane under an oil immersion lens (focal length f=2 mm). The RMS of deviations is less than one-third of those currently reported for multi-beam systems; therefore, higher alignment and stability accuracy can be achieved with our proposed method.

Chinese Optics Letters
Feb. 24, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 3 031201 (2023)
SNR enhancement of magnetic fields measurement with the diamond NV center using a compound filter system
An Ye, Dingyuan Fu, Mingming Wu, Jiahao Guo, Tianze Sheng, Xiaolin Li, Shangqing Gong, and Yueping Niu

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.

Chinese Optics Letters
Editors' PickNov. 03, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 11 111201 (2023)
Integrated fluorescence excitation, collection, and filtering on a GaN waveguide chip
Jiahui Zhang, Feng Xu, Ran An, Lin Wang, Min Jiang, Guanghui Wang, and Yanqing Lu

Fluorescence detection is widely used in biology and medicine, while the realization of on-chip fluorescence detection is vital for the portable and point-of-care test (POCT) application. In this Letter, we propose an efficient fluorescence excitation and collection system using an integrated GaN chip consisting of a slot waveguide and a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1D PC) waveguide. The slot waveguide is used to confine the excitation light for intense light–sample interaction, and the one-trip collection efficiency at the end of slot waveguide is up to 14.65%. More interestingly, due to the introduction of the 1D PC waveguide, the fluorescence signal is directly filtered out, and the excitation light is reflected to the slot waveguide for multiple excitations. Its transmittances for the designed exciting wavelength of 520 nm and the fluorescent wavelength of 612 nm are 0.2% and 85.4%, respectively. Finally, based on numerical analysis, the total fluorescence collection efficiency in our system amounts to 15.93%. It is the first time, to our knowledge, that the concept of an all-in-one-chip fluorescence detection system has been proposed, which paves the way for on-chip fluorescence excitation and collection, and may find potential applications of miniaturized and portable devices for biomedical fluorescence detection.

Chinese Optics Letters
Oct. 10, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 10 101203 (2023)
π-phase-shifted two-plus-one method for non-diffuse surface
Jianhua Wang, Yanxi Yang, and Peng Xu

We propose a method for reconstructing non-diffuse surfaces based on the π-phase-shifted two-plus-one phase-shifting method. First, we introduce a 2fH + a + 2fM + 2fL method for unwrapped phase extraction. Subsequently, we introduce a new set of π-phase-shifted 2fH + a/2 + 2fM + 2fL fringe patterns with halved background intensity. The saturated pixels will be replaced with the unsaturated pixels in the π-phase-shifted fringe patterns. Finally, we analyze eight fringe replacement cases and give the corresponding phase calculation, and further give the general formulas. Experiments confirm that the sum of the phase error of the proposed method is 81.4% lower than that of the traditional method, and 61.5% lower than that of the adaptive fringe projection method.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 14, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 10 101202 (2023)
Nanometer-scale displacement measurement based on an orthogonal dual Michelson interferometer
Ju Wang, Ziheng Cai, Jinlong Yu, Hao Luo, and Chuang Ma

In this Letter, we propose a simple structure of an orthogonal type double Michelson interferometer. The orthogonal detection method overcomes the problems of uneven ranging sensitivity and the inability of traditional interferometers to determine the displacement direction. The displacement measurement principle and signal processing method of the orthogonal double interferometer are studied. Unlike the arctangent algorithm, the displacement analysis uses the arc cosine algorithm, avoiding any pole limit in the distance analysis process. The minimum step size of the final experimental displacement system is 5 nm, which exhibits good repeatability, and the average error is less than 0.12 nm.

Chinese Optics Letters
Aug. 18, 2023, Vol. 21 Issue 10 101201 (2023)
Preliminary study on direct measurements and diagnostics for chemical reaction dynamics of NOx by using laser wavelength modulation spectroscopy
Yongjian Li, Shuai Zhang, Jinyi Li, Xiaotao Yang, Yunfei Meng, Xu Liu, and Zhenhui Du

Studies on the kinetics of gas-phase chemical reactions currently rely on calculations or simulations and lack simple, fast, and accurate direct measurement methods. We developed a tunable laser molecular absorption spectroscopy measurement system to achieve direct measurements of such reactions by using wavelength modulated spectroscopy and performed online measurements and diagnostics of molecular concentration, reaction temperature, and pressure change during the redox reaction of ozone with nitrogen oxides (NOx) with 0.1 s temporal resolution. This study provides a promising diagnostic tool for studying gas-phase chemical reaction kinetics.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 07, 2022, Vol. 21 Issue 1 011202 (2023)
Simultaneous temperature and magnetic field measurements using time-division multiplexing
Haobin Lin, Ce Feng, Yang Dong, Wang Jiang, Xuedong Gao, Shaochun Zhang, Xiangdong Chen, and Fangwen Sun

Nitrogen-vacancy color centers can perform highly sensitive and spatially resolved quantum measurements of physical quantities such as magnetic field, temperature, and pressure. Meanwhile, sensing so many variables at the same time often introduces additional noise, causing a reduced accuracy. Here, a dual-microwave time-division multiplexing protocol is used in conjunction with a lock-in amplifier in order to decouple temperature from the magnetic field and vice versa. In this protocol, dual-frequency driving and frequency modulation are used to measure the magnetic and temperature field simultaneously in real time. The sensitivity of our system is about 3.4 nT/Hz and 1.3 mK/Hz, respectively. Our detection protocol not only enables multifunctional quantum sensing, but also extends more practical applications.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 13, 2022, Vol. 21 Issue 1 011201 (2023)
White light interferometry with spectral-temporal demodulation for large-range thickness measurement
Yunlong Zhu, Zhuoran Li, Xu Lu, Yonggui Yuan, and Jun Yang

Film thickness measurement can be realized using white light interferometry, but it is challenging to guarantee high precision in a large range of thicknesses. Based on scanning white light interferometry, we propose a spectral-temporal demodulation scheme for large-range thickness measurement. The demodulation process remains unchanged for either coatings or substrate-free films, while some adjustments are made according to the estimated optical thickness. Experiments show that the single-point repeatabilities for 500 nm SiO2 coating and 68 µm substrate-free Si film are no more than 0.70 nm and 1.22 nm, respectively. This method can be further developed for simultaneous measurement of surface profile and film thickness.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jun. 12, 2022, Vol. 20 Issue 9 091201 (2022)
Wideband Rydberg atom-based receiver for amplitude modulation radio frequency communication
Kai Yang, Zhanshan Sun, Ruiqi Mao, Yi Lin, Yi Liu, Qiang An, and Yunqi Fu

Based on Autler–Townes splitting and AC Stark shifts, we present a Rydberg atom-based receiver for determining the amplitude modulation (AM) frequency among a wideband carrier range utilizing a cesium atomic vapor cell. To verify this approach, we measured the signal-to-noise ratio and the data capacity with a 10 kHz AM frequency in the carrier range from 2 GHz to 18 GHz. Without changing the lasers, the working band can be easily extended to a higher range by optimizing the feed antenna and experimental configurations.

Chinese Optics Letters
May. 28, 2022, Vol. 20 Issue 8 081203 (2022)
Zero field optically pumped magnetometer with independent dual-mode operation
Shaowen Zhang, Jixi Lu, Ying Zhou, Fei Lu, Kaifeng Yin, Di Zhan, Yueyang Zhai, and Mao Ye

We propose a dual-mode optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) that can flexibly switch between single-beam modulation mode and double-beam DC mode. Based on a 4 mm×4 mm×4 mm miniaturized vapor cell, the double-beam DC mode achieves a sensitivity of 7 fT/Hz1/2 with probe noise below 4 fT/Hz1/2 and working bandwidth over 65 Hz. This mode is designed to precisely measure the noise floor of a mu-metal magnetic shield. The single-beam modulation mode (sensitivity 20 fT/Hz1/2) exhibits bandwidth characteristics suitable for biomagnetic measurements. Thus, our design is suitable for a miniaturized OPM with multiple functions, including magnetic-shield background noise measurement and medical imaging.

Chinese Optics Letters
May. 26, 2022, Vol. 20 Issue 8 081202 (2022)
Four-quadrant demodulation fiber sensor for wavelength monitoring of a wavelength phase-shifting interferometer
Xiaoqin Shan, Xingyue Fan, Zhigang Han, Jin Wang, Fengrui Li, and Rihong Zhu

Real-time monitoring of wavelength is important for high-speed wavelength phase-shifting interferometry. In this paper, a wavelength sensor based on a polarization-maintaining fiber interferometer with four-quadrant demodulation was proposed. We built the wavelength sensing system with resolution better than 0.005 pm and 0.1 ms sampling interval and measured the response time of the tuned wavelength at 35 ms in the phase-shifting process of a commercial wavelength phase-shifting free-space interferometer, as well as the wavelength drift velocity of 0.01 pm per second in the hysteresis process. The optical fiber wavelength sensor with four-quadrant demodulation provides a real-time wavelength sensing scheme for high-speed wavelength phase-shifting interferometers.

Chinese Optics Letters
May. 26, 2022, Vol. 20 Issue 8 081201 (2022)
Sensitive carbon monoxide detection based on light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy with a fiber-coupled multipass cell [Invited]
Xiaonan Liu, and Yufei Ma

A sensor based on light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy (LITES) with a fiber-coupled multipass cell was demonstrated for carbon monoxide (CO) detection. The fiber-coupled structure has the merits of reducing optical interference and difficulty in optical alignment and increasing system robustness. A 1.57 µm continuous wave distributed feedback diode laser was used as the excitation source. A minimum detection limit of 9 ppm was obtained, and the calculated normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient was 1.15×10-7 cm-1·W·Hz-1/2. The reported CO-LITES sensor showed excellent linear concentration response and system stability.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jan. 24, 2022, Vol. 20 Issue 3 031201 (2022)
Fiber-delay-line-referenced optical frequency combs: three stabilization schemes
Kai Wang, Haochen Tian, Fei Meng, Baike Lin, Shiying Cao, Yihan Pi, Yan Han, Zhanjun Fang, Youjian Song, and Minglie Hu

We demonstrate the stabilization of an optical frequency comb (OFC) using a segment of fiber delay line as a reference. A mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser is phase locked to a kilometer-long fiber delay line using three different schemes. The short-term stability of the comb modes in the OFC stabilized by these schemes is obviously enhanced, down to the 10-12 level at millisecond average time. Among these three schemes, phase locking two bunches of comb modes in the OFC to the same fiber delay line exhibits the lowest residual phase noise. Fiber-delay-line-referenced OFCs can provide reliable laser sources in precise metrology owing to the advances of low cost, compactness, and high integration.

Chinese Optics Letters
Dec. 14, 2021, Vol. 20 Issue 2 021204 (2022)
Investigation of the laser ultrasound propagation in K9 glass using optical interferometry
Mengmeng Li, Hongchao Zhang, Jian Lu, and Zhonghua Shen

The propagating of laser-generated ultrasonic waves in K9 glass was investigated. Many methods have been developed to detect the laser ultrasound since laser ultrasonic waves can be used to measure material parameters or characterize materials properties. In order to reduce the measuring time, a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, a full field measuring tool, was preferred in this paper. The ultrasonic wave was produced on the K9 glass surface by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser absorbed in a liquid layer. The interferograms were then taken at various delay times by a CCD camera after single pulse induced laser ultrasonic waves. Ultrasonic waves in the K9 glass can be observed from interferogram images. The results provide an understanding of laser ultrasound propagation in K9 glass in the lifetime.

Chinese Optics Letters
Dec. 13, 2021, Vol. 20 Issue 2 021203 (2022)
Multi-channel pseudo-random coding single-photon ranging and imaging
Di Wu, Lei Yang, Xiuliang Chen, Zhaohui Li, and Guang Wu

We demonstrate a multi-channel pseudo-random coding single-photon ranging system. A pseudo-random multiplexing technique is proposed, which realizes multi-channel pseudo-random ranging only by using one single-photon detector and processing circuit. Compared with the time division multiplexing technique, it will not reduce the maximum unambiguous range while increasing the number of the ranging channel. Eight-channel pseudo-random coding single-photon ranging was realized with the ranging accuracy better than 2 cm. Moreover, photon counting imaging was realized through scanning the laser beams of the eight-channel pseudo-random ranging system. There is no crosstalk between channels, which is suitable for multi-beam long-distance single-photon Lidar.

Chinese Optics Letters
Nov. 19, 2021, Vol. 20 Issue 2 021202 (2022)
High performance optical sensor based on double compound symmetric gratings
Chaoying Shi, Xiuhong Liu, Jinhua Hu, Haiyan Han, and Jijun Zhao

A high performance optical sensor based on a double compound symmetric gratings (DCSGs) structure is designed. The reflection spectrum of the DCSG is investigated by utilizing a method that combines a theoretical model with the eigenmode information of the grating structure. The theoretical results, which are observed to agree well with those acquired by rigorous coupled-wave analysis, show that the linewidth of the reflection spectrum decreases upon the increasing distance between the grating strips. This research work will lay a foundation for studying high performance integrated optical sensors in miniature nanostructures.

Chinese Optics Letters
Oct. 08, 2021, Vol. 20 Issue 2 021201 (2022)
Multifunctional single-fiber optical tweezers for particle trapping and transport
Hao Wu, Chunlei Jiang, Shaopeng Tian, Shangzhao Shao, Hangyu Yue, Xiangyu Cui, Bingkun Gao, Xiufang Wang, and Peng Chen

We present and demonstrate a multifunctional single-fiber optical tweezer for particle trapping and transport. The fiber probe of fiber optical tweezers is constructed as a planar structure. Laser sources with wavelengths of 650 nm and 980 nm in a single-mode fiber excite the linearly polarized LP11 mode and LP01 mode beams, respectively. These two laser beams can achieve non-contact trapping and long-distance transport of particles after passing through a flat-facet fiber probe, respectively. This structure makes it possible to perform non-contact trapping and transport of particles by combining multiple wavelengths and multiple modes.

Chinese Optics Letters
Editors' PickSep. 22, 2022, Vol. 20 Issue 12 121201 (2022)
Improving the sensitivity of DC magneto-optical Kerr effect measurement to 10−7rad/Hz
Junying Ma, Feng Gu, Ying Xu, Jiaming Le, Fanlong Zeng, Yizheng Wu, and Chuanshan Tian

A high-sensitivity DC magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) apparatus is described in this Letter. Via detailed analysis on several dominating noise sources, we have proposed solutions that significantly lower the MOKE noise, and a sensitivity of 1.5×10-7 rad/Hz is achieved with long-term stability. The sensitivity of the apparatus is tested by measuring a wedge-shaped Ni thin film on SiO2 with Ni thickness varying from 0 to 3 nm. A noise floor of 1.5×10-8 rad is demonstrated. The possibility of further improving sensitivity to 10-9 rad via applying AC modulation is also discussed.

Chinese Optics Letters
Jul. 14, 2022, Vol. 20 Issue 11 111201 (2022)
Analysis and suppression of thermal effect of an ultra-stable laser interferometer for space-based gravitational waves detection
Guanfang Wang, Zhu Li, Jialing Huang, Huizong Duan, Xiangqing Huang, Hongfan Liu, Qi Liu, Shanqing Yang, Liangcheng Tu, and Hsien-Chi Yeh

In this paper, we present a suppression method for the thermal drift of an ultra-stable laser interferometer. The detailed analysis on the Michelson interferometer indicates that the change in optical path length induced by temperature variation can be effectively reduced by choosing proper thickness and/or incident angle of a compensator. Taking the optical bench of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna Pathfinder as an example, we analyze the optical bench model with a compensator and show that the temperature coefficient of this laser interferometer can be reduced down to 1 pm/K with an incident angle of 0.267828 rad. The method presented in this paper can be used in the design of ultra-stable laser interferometers, especially for space-based gravitational waves detection.

Chinese Optics Letters
Oct. 25, 2021, Vol. 20 Issue 1 011203 (2022)
Ultrasensitive liquid level sensor based on slice-shaped composite long period fiber grating
Xiren Jin, Zeju Rui, Zihang Xiang, Chupeng Lu, Shuo Zhang, Xian Xu, Mingyang Lü, Yiwei Ma, Cuiting Sun, Xinghua Yang, Tao Geng, Weimin Sun, and Libo Yuan

In this paper, a novel liquid level sensor with ultra-high sensitivity is proposed. The proposed sensor is configured by a slice-shaped composite long period fiber grating (SSC-LPFG). The SSC-LPFG is prepared by polishing two opposite sides of a composite multimode–single-mode–multimode fiber structure using a CO2 laser. The method improves the sensitivity of the sensor to external environment. Based on the simulation calculation, a liquid level sensor with a length of 3 mm is designed. The experimental transmission spectrum agrees well with the simulation result. The experimental results show that the sensitivity reaches 7080 pm/mm in the liquid level range of 0–1400 μm in water. The temperature sensitivity is 24.52 pm/°C in the range of 20°C–90°C. Due to the ultra-high sensitivity, good linearity, and compact structure, the SSC-LPFG has potential application in the field of high-precision liquid level measurement.

Chinese Optics Letters
Oct. 25, 2021, Vol. 20 Issue 1 011202 (2022)
Design of a real-time fiber-optic infrared imaging system with wide-angle and large depth of field
Xing Peng, and Lingbao Kong

A key limitation in the observation of instruments used in operations and heart sutures during a procedure is the scattering and absorption during optical imaging in the presence of blood. Therefore, we propose a novel real-time fiber-optic infrared imaging system simultaneously capturing a flexible wide field of view (FOV) and large depth of field infrared image in real time. The assessment criteria for imaging quality of the objective and coupling lens have been optimized and evaluated. Furthermore, the feasibility of manufacturing and assembly has been demonstrated with tolerance sensitivity and the Monte Carlo analysis. The simulated results show that the optical system can achieve a large working distance of 8 to 25 mm, a wide FOV of 120°, and the relative illuminance is over 0.98 in the overall FOV. To achieve high imaging quality in the proposed system, the modulation transfer function is over 0.661 at 16.7 lp/mm for a 320×256 short wavelength infrared camera sensor with a pixel size of 30 µm.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 27, 2021, Vol. 20 Issue 1 011201 (2022)
Review of femtosecond laser fabricated optical fiber high temperature sensors [Invited]
Dong-Ning Wang

The femtosecond laser has been an efficient tool for optical fiber high temperature sensor construction. Here, we review the progress of optical fiber high temperature sensors based on femtosecond laser fabricated fiber gratings and various types of fiber in-line interferometers in silica fibers and sapphire fibers.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 9 091204 (2021)
Random Bragg-grating-based wavelength-tunable random fiber laser with a full-open cavity
Bing Lü, Wentao Zhang, Wenzhu Huang, and Fang Li

A full-open-cavity wavelength-tunable random fiber laser (WT-RFL) with compact structure and hundreds of picometers tuning range is proposed and demonstrated. A π fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is used in the WT-RFL as a filter to select lasing wavelengths. The two random Bragg grating arrays (RBGAs) and a section of high gain erbium-doped fiber result in a low lasing threshold and high stability. A numerical model to analyze the tunable characteristics is developed. The results show that the laser threshold is 22 mW, and the maximum peak-power fluctuation is 0.55 dB. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that a compact and full-open-cavity WT-RFL with two RBGAs and a π-FBG is proposed.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 9 091203 (2021)
Reconstruction of Fabry–Perot cavity interferometer nanometer micro-displacement based on Hilbert transform
Hongwei Liang, Yu Sun, Zhen Huang, Chunlei Jiang, Zihua Zhang, and Lingling Kan

A novel reconstruction method of nanometer micro-displacement of Fabry–Perot (F-P) interference is proposed in this study. Hilbert transforms are performed for F-P interference fringes, and the obtained signal performs tangent operation with the original signal. Finally, the validity of the proposed algorithm and the structure are verified by simulation and several experimental measurements for vibration. Results from the experiments show that the maximum relative error is 4.9%.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 9 091202 (2021)
High sensitivity cascaded helical-core fiber SPR sensors
Xianbin Wang, Hongchang Deng, and Libo Yuan

The distributed optical fiber surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors have attracted wide attention in biosensing and chemical sensing applications. However, due to the limitation of their sensing structure, it is difficult to adjust their resonant wavelength and sensitivity. Here, novel and flexible cascaded helical-core fiber (HCF) SPR sensors are proposed theoretically and experimentally for distributed sensing applications. It is shown that the resonant wavelength and sensitivity of the sensors can be conveniently controlled by adjusting the twist pitch of the helical core. A high sensitivity of 11,180 nm/RIU for refractive-index measurement ranging from 1.355 to 1.365 is realized experimentally when the twist pitch of the helical core is 1.5 mm. It is worth noting that the sensitivity can be further improved by reducing the twist pitch. For example, the sensitivity of the sensor with a twist pitch of 1.4 mm can theoretically exceed 20,000 nm/RIU. This work opens up a new way to implement multi-parameter or distributed measurement, especially to establish sensing networks integrated in a single-core fiber or a multi-core fiber.

Chinese Optics Letters
Sep. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 9 091201 (2021)
Design of low frequency fiber optic Fabry–Perot seismometer based on transfer function analysis
Huicong Li, Wentao Zhang, Wenzhu Huang, and Yanliang Du

We develop a low frequency fiber Fabry–Perot (F-P) seismometer based on transfer function analysis. The seismometer structure and demodulation system accuracy are limitations of low frequency seismic monitoring. The transfer function of the F-P seismometer is analyzed, and the mass displacement spectrum (MDS) is introduced. MDS provides guidance for mechanical structure design and optical interferometer analysis to achieve low noise. The F-P seismometer prototype is built. The experiment shows that the prototype has an average noise of 6.74 ng/√Hz below 50 Hz, and its noise is less than that of the global new high noise model within 0.16–50 Hz, whose potential is considerable.

Chinese Optics Letters
May. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 5 051201 (2021)
Highly sensitive torsion sensor based on triangular-prism-shaped long-period fiber gratings
Senyu Wang, Yiwei Ma, Xiaoyang Li, Yang Yi, Cuiting Sun, Jingyu Lin, Chengguo Tong, Yuxiang Li, Tao Geng, Weimin Sun, and Libo Yuan

We propose and investigate a compact optical fiber sensor that aims to measure the torsion in both amount and direction with high sensitivity. This sensor is configured by a triangular-prism-shaped long-period fiber grating, which is fabricated by the high frequency CO2 laser polished method. The unique design of the triangular-shaped structure breaks the rotational symmetry of the optical fiber and provides high sensitivity for torsion measurement. In preliminary experiments, the torsion response of the sensor achieves a good stability and linearity. The torsion sensitivity is 0.54 nm/(rad/m), which renders the proposed structure a highly sensitive torsion sensor.

Chinese Optics Letters
Apr. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 4 041202 (2021)
Simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature using Fabry–Pérot interferometry and antiresonant mechanism in a hollow-core fiber
Chong He, Cheng Zhou, Qian Zhou, Shiyi Xie, Mengzhe Xiao, Jiajun Tian, and Yong Yao

A fiber-optic sensor for the simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature is proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on Fabry–Pérot (FP) interference and the antiresonance (AR) mechanism. The sensor was implemented using a single-mode fiber (SMF)–hollow-core fiber–SMF structure. A temperature sensitivity of 21.11 pm/°C was achieved by tracing the troughs of the envelope caused by the AR mechanism, and a strain sensitivity of 2 pm/με was achieved by detecting the fine fringes caused by the FP cavity. The results indicate that the dual-parameter sensor is stable and reliable.

Chinese Optics Letters
Apr. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 4 041201 (2021)
Natural logarithm wavelength modulation spectroscopy
Shaomin Li, and Liqun Sun

Natural logarithm wavelength modulation spectroscopy (ln-WMS) is demonstrated in this Letter. Unlike the conventional wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS)-2f technique, it is a linear method even for large absorbance, which is the core advantage of ln-WMS. The treating method used in ln-WMS is to take the natural logarithm of the transmitted intensity. In order to determine the proper demodulation phase, the η-seeking algorithm is introduced, which minimizes the absolute value of the first harmonic within the non-absorbing region. Subsequently, the second harmonic of the absorption signal is extracted by setting the demodulating phase as 2η. To illustrate the validity of ln-WMS, it was applied to water vapor experimentally. The result shows that even if the absorbance (base-e) is between 1.60 and 6.26, the linearity between ln-WMS-2f and volume fraction is still established. For comparison, measurement with conventional WMS-2f was also done, whose response no longer kept linearity. The η values retrieved in continuous measurements and the residuals were shown so as to evaluate the performance of the η-seeking algorithm. Time consumed by this algorithm was roughly 0.28 s per measurement. As an alternative WMS strategy, ln-WMS has a wide range of potential applications, especially where the absorbance is large or varies over a wide area.

Chinese Optics Letters
Mar. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 3 031201 (2021)
Spatially modulated polarimetry based on a vortex retarder and Fourier analysis
Chao Gao, and Bing Lei

We report a spatially modulated polarimetry scheme by using a zero-order vortex half-wave retarder (ZVHR) and a spatial Fourier analysis method. A ZVHR is employed to analyze the input polarized light and convert it into a vectorial optical field, and an analyzer is set after the ZVHR to form an hourglass intensity pattern due to the spatial polarization modulation. Then, the input light’s Stokes parameters can be calculated by spatial Fourier analysis of the hourglass pattern with a single shot. The working principle of the polarimeter has been analyzed by the Stokes–Mueller formalism, and some quantitative measuring experiments of different polarization states have been demonstrated. The experimental results indicate that the proposed polarimeter is accurate, robust, and simple to use.

Chinese Optics Letters
Feb. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 2 021201 (2021)
Broadband instantaneous multi-frequency measurement based on chirped pulse compression
Beibei Zhu, Min Xue, Changyuan Yu, and Shilong Pan

A broadband instantaneous multi-frequency measurement system based on chirped pulse compression, which potentially has a sub-megahertz (MHz) accuracy and a hundred-gigahertz (GHz) measurement range, is demonstrated. A signal-under-test (SUT) is converted into a carrier-suppressed double-sideband (CS-DSB) signal, which is then combined with an optical linearly frequency-modulated signal having the sweeping range covering the +1st-order sideband of the CS-DSB signal. With photodetection, low-pass filtering, and pulse compression, accurate frequencies of the SUT are obtained via locating the correlation peaks. In the experiment, single- and multi-frequency measurements with a measurement range from 3 to 18 GHz and a measurement accuracy of <±100 MHz are achieved.

Chinese Optics Letters
Oct. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 10 101202 (2021)
Generic nonlinear error compensation algorithm for phase measuring profilometry
Xin Yu, Shanshan Lai, Yuankun Liu, Wenjing Chen, Junpeng Xue, and Qican Zhang

In this Letter, the periodical errors, which are caused by the nonlinear effect of the commercial projector and camera, are analyzed as a more generic single-coefficient model. The probability density function of the wrapped phase distributions is used as a tool to find the compensation coefficient. When the compensation coefficient is detected, on the premise of ensuring accuracy, a correlation algorithm process is used to replace the traditional iterative process. Therefore, the proposed algorithm improves the efficiency of coefficient detection dramatically. Both computer simulation and experiment show the effectiveness of this method.

Chinese Optics Letters
Oct. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 10 101201 (2021)
Novel laser Doppler tachometer
Wentao Li, and Jian Zhou

In order to improve the accuracy and universality of the rotational speed measurement, an instantaneous rotational speed measurement method based on laser Doppler technology is proposed. The composition and working principle of the new system are discussed in detail. Theoretical and experimental results show that the new rotational speed measurement system belongs to the non-contact method, which eliminates the quantization error of the contact method and greatly improves the applicability and accuracy. Compared to the commonly used method, the measurement accuracy of the new rotational speed measurement system will not be affected by the system’s installation angle deviation, and it does not need to measure the radius of the rotating body, so the influence of the radius fluctuation of the rotating body on the measurement accuracy can be avoided while outputting the rotational speed in real time. The relative error of the rotational speed measurement is less than 0.06% (1σ).

Chinese Optics Letters
Jan. 10, 2021, Vol. 19 Issue 1 011201 (2021)
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