Kinetic characterization of photoinduced anisotropy in diarylethene film

Based on the theoretical model we have proposed, a complete study on the kinetics of photoincluced anisotropy in diarylethene films is performed. The kinetic curves of molecular concentration, photoincluced dichroism and birefringence are calculated, respectively. It is found that the colored molecular concentration decreases with the increase of the excitation exposure until saturation, and the photoincluced anisotropy increases to a maximum and then decreases gradually. The optimal exposure is 260 J/cm(2). In addition, the transmittance of probe beam reflecting the anisotropy is measured by experiment. The theoretical results are compared with experimental data, and basic concordance is found between both sets of data. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Active phase control and frequency chirp effects on supercontinuum generation in high birefringence photonic crystal fiber

An acoustic-optics programmable dispersive filter (AOPDF) was first employed to actively control the linearly polarized femtosecond pump pulse frequency chirp for supercontinuum (SC) generation in a high birefringence photonic crystal fiber (PCF). By accurately controlling the second order phase distortion and polarization direction of incident pulses, the output SC spectrum can be tuned to various spectral energy distributions and bandwidths. The pump pulse energy and bandwidth are preserved in our experiment. It is found that SC with broader bandwidth can be generated with positive chirped pump pulses except when the chirp value is larger than the optimal value, and the same optimal value exists for the pump pulses polarized along the two principal axes. With optimal positive chirp, more than 78% of the pump energy can be transferred to below 750 nm. Otherwise, negative chirp will weaken the blue-shift broadening and the SC bandwidth. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relay lens-free birefringence-customized stackable beam-steering modules for optical interconnects

A previously suggested birefringence-customized modular optical interconnect technique is extended for lens-free relay operation. Various lens-free relay imaging models are developed. We claim that the lens-free relay system is important in simplifying an optical interconnect system whenever the imaging conditions permit. To verify the validity of various proposed concepts, we experimentally implemented some 8 x 8 optical permutation modules. High-power efficiency and low channel cross talk were experimentally observed. In general, the larger the channel spacing, the less the cross talk. A quantitative cross-talk measurement of the lens-free relay system shows that, for a fixed channel width of 0.5 mm and channel spacings of 0.5, 1, and 2 mm, a less than -20-dB cross-talk performance can be guaranteed for lens-free relay distances of 40, 280, and 430 mm, respectively. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.

Influence of birefringence dispersion on distributed measurement of polarization coupling in birefringent fibers

A white light interferometer is developed to measure the distributed polarization coupling in high-birefringence polarization-maintaining fibers (PMFs). Usually the birefringence dispersion between two orthogonal eigenmodes of PMFs is neglected in such systems. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the birefringence dispersion becomes a nonnegligible factor in a long-fiber test. Significant broadening of interferograms and loss of longitudinal coherence are observed. The spatial resolution and measurement sensitivity of the system decrease correspondingly. Optimum spectrum width selection is presented for better spatial resolution and measurement range. c 2007 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Distributed measurement of birefringence dispersion in polarization-maintaining fibers

A new method to measure the birefringence dispersion in high-birefringence polarization-maintaining fibers is presented using white-light interferometry. By analyzing broadening of low-coherence interferograms obtained in a scanning Michelson interferometer, the birefringence dispersion and its variation along different fiber sections are acquired with high sensitivity and accuracy. Birefringence dispersions of two PANDA fibers at their operation wavelength are measured to be 0.011 ps/(km nm) and 0.018 ps/(km nm), respectively. Distributed measurement capability of the method is also verified experimentally. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

Characterization of birefringence dispersion in polarization-maintaining fibers by use of white-light interferometry

A new method for measuring the birefringence dispersion in polarization-maintaining fibers (PMFs) with high sensitivity and accuracy is presented. The method employs white-light interferences between two orthogonally polarized modes of PMFs. The group birefringence of the fiber is calibrated first. Then the birefringence dispersion and its variation along different fiber sections are acquired by analyzing the broadening of interferograms at different fiber lengths. The main sources of error are investigated. Bireffingence dispersions of two PANDA fibers at their operation wavelength are measured to be 0.011 ps/(km nm) and 0.018 ps/(km nm). A measurement repeatability of 0.001 ps/(km nm) is achieved. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Influence of birefringence dispersion on distributed measurement of polarization coupling in birefringent fibers

A white light interferometer is developed to measure the distributed polarization coupling in high-birefringence polarization-maintaining fibers (PMFs). Usually the birefringence dispersion between two orthogonal eigenmodes of PMFs is neglected in such systems. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the birefringence dispersion becomes a nonnegligible factor in a long-fiber test. Significant broadening of interferograms and loss of longitudinal coherence are observed. The spatial resolution and measurement sensitivity of the system decrease correspondingly. Optimum spectrum width selection is presented for better spatial resolution and measurement range. c 2007 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Photoinduced effects in amorphous Ge-Se films

With light illumination from an Ar ion laser, the photoinduced changes in vacuum evaporated amorphous GeSe2 films; were investigated with the X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared absorption (IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmitting electron microscope (TEM) and transmittance spectra analysis. It was observed that the optical transmittance edges of films shifted to shorter wavelength according to annealing and light illumination and the shift in well-annealed films could be recovered by annealing at 200 degrees C for 1 h in Ar air. The magnitude of shift increased with the increase of the intensity of illumination light and the illumination time. By sides, photoinduced crystallization was also observed in the exposed regions of GeSe2 films and more of it was observed with stronger intensity of illumination light.

Photoinduced stable second-harmonic generation in chalcogenide glasses

We report on photoinduced second-harmonic generation (SHG) in chalcogenide glasses. Fundamental and second-harmonic waves from a nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser were used to induce second-order nonlinearity in chalcogenide glasses. The magnitude of SHG in 20Ge . 20As . 60S glass was 10(4) larger than that of tellurite glass with a composition of 15Nb(2)O(5) . 85TeO(2) (mol.%). Moreover, no apparent decay of photoinduced SHG in 20Ge . 20As . 60S glass was observed after optical poling at room temperature. We suggest that the large and stable value of X-(2) is due to the induced defect structures and large X-(3) of the chalcogenide glasses. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America

Thermal stress-induced birefringence in borate glass irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses

Thermal stress-induced birefringence in borate glass which has been irradiated by 800-nm femtosecond laser pulses is observed under cross-polarized light. Due to the high temperature and pressure formed in the focal volume, the material at the edge of the micro-modified region is compressed between the expanding region and the unheated one, then stress emerges. Raman spectroscopy is used to investigate the stress distribution in the micro-modified region and indicates the redistributions of density and refractive index by Raman peak shift. We suggest that this technique can develop waveguide polarizers and Fresnel zone plates in integrated optics.

Form Birefringence in thin films with oblique columnar structures

Effective medium theory is useful for designing optical elements with form birefringent subwavelength structures. Thin films fabricated by oblique deposition are similar to the two-dimensional surface relief subwavelength gratings. We use the effective medium theory to calculate the anisotropic optical properties of the thin films with oblique columnar structures. The effective refractive indices and the directions are calculated from effective medium theory. It is shown that optical thin films with predetermined refractive indices and birefringence may be engineered.

Birefringence of UV-written channel waveguides

The combination of the effective index method and the transfer matrix method is adopted to calculate the indices of quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes in a UV-written channel waveguide, and the difference between the indices is used to characterize its birefringence. The dimensions, the ratio of width to thickness, the original index of the core layer, the index of the cladding, and the index profile are all taken into account. The simulation results indicate that the birefringence decreases with increasing dimensions, ratio of width to thickness, and indices of the cladding; on the contrary, increases of the original index of the core layer and of the vertical index gradient intensified the birefringence. (c) 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Photoinduced voltage shift in a three-barrier, two-well resonant tunneling structure integrated with a 1.2-mu m-thick n-type GaAs layer

By integrating a three-barrier, two-well resonant tunneling structure with a 1.2-mu m-thick, slightly doped n-GaAs layer, a photoinduced voltage shift on the order of magnitude of 100 mV in resonant current peaks has been verified at an irradiance of low light power density. The 1.2-mu m-thick, slightly doped n-GaAs layer manifests itself of playing an important role in enhancing photoelectric sensitivity. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.