Chinese Optics Letters (COL) invites original articles for a Special Issue on Lithium Niobate Based Photonic Devices to be published in June 25 2021. Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is a multifunctional crystal with combination of a number of excellent properties, such as electrooptical, acousto-optic, nonlinear optical, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric features. In optics and photonics, the LiNbO3-based devices have been widely applied in various aspects. Typical applications include acoustic- and electro-optic modulators, nonlinear wavelength converters, waveguide amplifiers, and quantum memories. The traditional LiNbO3 based photonic devices are constructed on micro-photonic structures, e.g., optical waveguides. A number of techniques have been utilized to produce low-loss LiNbO3 waveguides towards diverse applications. Recently, thin-film devices based on LiNbO3-On-Insulators (LNOI) technology have emerged as promising candidates due to the on-chip integration and strong confinement of light fields. Exciting LNOI-based devices, such as high speed modulators, highly efficient nonlinear optical elements, or hybrid quantum chips, have been developed through advanced techniques, showing distinguished performance for practical applications. There are continuous interests amid researchers on LiNbO3-based photonic devices and related applications, and a number of research groups are devoted to these interesting works. Regarding to these efforts and achievements, the scope of this special focus, covers all aspects of recent theoretical and experimental research related to LiNbO3–based photonic structures and devices.
We demonstrate high-quality (intrinsic Q factor ∼2.8 × 106) racetrack microresonators fabricated on lithium niobate thin film with a free spectral range (FSR) of ∼86 pm. By integrating microelectrodes alongside the two straight ar
Integrated traveling-wave lithium niobate modulators need relatively large device lengths to achieve low drive voltage. To increase modulation efficiency within a compact footprint, we report an integrated Fabry–Perot-type electro
We theoretically propose a hybrid lithium niobate (LN) thin-film waveguide that consists of an amorphous silicon stripe and etch-free z-cut LN for highly efficient wavelength conversion, circumventing the challenging etching on LN
Based on nonlinear wave mixing, we experimentally propose a scheme for directly generating optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) by a spirally structured fundamental wave interacting with a nonlinear medium, in which the nonlinea
We propose and demonstrate a polarization diversity two-dimensional grating coupler based on the lithium niobate on insulator platform, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The optimization design, performance charact
Periodically poled lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) ridge waveguides are desirable for high-efficiency nonlinear frequency conversions, and the fabrication process of such waveguides is crucial for device performance. In this w
Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI), as an emerging and promising optical integration platform, faces shortages of on-chip active devices including lasers and amplifiers. Here, we report the fabrication of on-chip erbium-doped LNO
We report on the fabrication and optimization of lithium niobate planar and ridge waveguides at the wavelength of 633 nm. To obtain a planar waveguide, oxygen ions with an energy of 3.0 MeV and a fluence of 1.5×1015 ions/cm2 are i
High-Q lithium niobate (LN) optical micro-resonators are an excellent platform for future applications in optical communications, nonlinear optics, and quantum optics. To date, high-Q factors are typically achieved in LN using eit
The nonlinear Talbot effect is a near-field nonlinear diffraction phenomenon in which the self-imaging of periodic objects is formed by the second harmonics of the incident laser beam. We demonstrate the first, to the best of our
Recently, nonlinear photonics has attracted considerable interest. Among the nonlinear effects, second harmonic generation (SHG) remains a hot research topic. The recent development of thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology h
Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) is a versatile crystalline material for various photonic applications. With the recent advances in LiNbO3-on-insulator (LNOI) thin film technology, LiNbO3 has been regarded as one of the most promising pla
We investigate the influences of structure parameters and interface shapes on the bandwidth of the edge state of lithium niobate valley photonic crystals. By increasing the size difference of two air holes in the same unit cell, w
We study the effect of dimension variation for second-harmonic generation (SHG) in lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides. Non-trivial SHG profiles in both type-0 and type-I quasi-phase matching are observed during the wav
A novel thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) electro-optic modulator is proposed and demonstrated. LiNbO3-silica hybrid waveguide is adopted to maintain low optical loss for an electrode spacing as narrow as 3 µm, resulting in a
The heterogeneous integration of silicon thin film and lithium niobate (LN) thin film combines both the advantages of the excellent electronics properties and mature micro-processing technology of Si and the excellent optical prop