Experimental Demonstration on Structure-Parameter Dependence of Photonic Crystal Optical Spectrum

We present fabrication and experimental measurement of a series of photonic crystal waveguides and coupled structure of PC waveguide and PC micro-cavity. The complete devices consist of an injector taper down from 3 mu m into a triangular-lattice air-holes single-line-defect waveguide. We fabricated these devices on a silicon-on-insulator substrate and characterized them using tunable laser source. We've obtained high-efficiency light propagation and broad flat spectrum response of photonic-crystal waveguides. A sharp attenuation at photonic crystal waveguide mode edge was observed for most structures. The edge of guided band is shifted about 31 nm with the 10 nm increase of lattice constant. Mode resonance was observed in coupled structure. Our experimental results indicate that the optical spectra of photonic crystal are very sensitive to structure parameters.

Measurement of chirp parameter and modulation index of a semiconductor laser based on optical spectrum analysis

A novel and simple method for measuring the chirp parameter, frequency, and intensity modulation indexes of directly modulated lasers is proposed in a small-signal modulation scheme. A graphical approach is presented. An analytical solution to the measurement of low chirp parameters is also given. The measured results agree well with those obtained using the conventional methods.

Experimental Demonstration on Structure-Parameter Dependence of Photonic Crystal Optical Spectrum

We present fabrication and experimental measurement of a series of photonic crystal waveguides and coupled structure of PC waveguide and PC micro-cavity. The complete devices consist of an injector taper down from 3 mu m into a triangular-lattice air-holes single-line-defect waveguide. We fabricated these devices on a silicon-on-insulator substrate and characterized them using tunable laser source. We've obtained high-efficiency light propagation and broad flat spectrum response of photonic-crystal waveguides. A sharp attenuation at photonic crystal waveguide mode edge was observed for most structures. The edge of guided band is shifted about 31 nm with the 10 nm increase of lattice constant. Mode resonance was observed in coupled structure. Our experimental results indicate that the optical spectra of photonic crystal are very sensitive to structure parameters.

Hänsch--Couillaud locking of Mach--Zehnder interferometer for carrier removal from a phase-modulated optical spectrum

We describe and analyse the operation and stabilization of a Mach--Zehnder interferometer, which separates the carrier and the first-order sidebands of a phase-modulated laser field, and which is locked using the H\"ansch--Couillaud method. In addition to the necessary attenuation, our interferometer introduces, via total internal reflection, a significant polarization-dependent phase delay. We employ a general treatment to describe an interferometer with an object which affects the field along one path, and we examine how this phase delay affects the error signal. We discuss the requirements necessary to ensure the lock point remains unchanged when phase modulation is introduced, and we demonstrate and characterize this locking experimentally. Finally, we suggest an extension to this locking strategy using heterodyne detection.

Optical spectrum of bottom-up graphene nanoribbons: towards efficient atom-thick excitonic solar cells

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Liquid level sensing by use of digital formatted optical spectrum spreading technique

We propose a novel technique for optical liquid level sensing. The technique takes advantage of an optical spectrum spreading technique and directly measures liquid level with a digital format. The performance of the sensor does not suffer from changes of environmental variables and system variables. Due to its distinct measurement principle both high resolution and a large measurement range can be achieved simultaneously.

How optical spectrum of random fiber laser is formed

We experimentally and theoretically describe formation of random fiber laser's optical spectrum. We propose a new concept of active cycled wave kinetics from which we derive first ever nonlinear kinetic theory describing laser spectrum. © OSA 2015.

Optical spectrum analyzer using a 45° tilted fiber grating

We report an optical spectrum analyzer utilizing direct side-tapping by a 45° tilted fiber grating. The angular dispersion is analyzed and 45° is found to give highest dispersion. High resolution up to 0.13nm was obtained. © 2012 Optical Society of America.

Optical absorption, infrared, Raman and EPR spectral studies on natural Iowaite mineral

Natural iowaite, magnesium–ferric oxychloride mineral having light green color originating from Australia has been characterized by EPR, optical, IR, and Raman spectroscopy. The optical spectrum exhibits a number of electronic bands due to both Fe(III) and Mn(II) ions in iowaite. From EPR studies, the g values are calculated for Fe(III) and g and A values for Mn(II). EPR and optical absorption studies confirm that Fe(III) and Mn(II) are in distorted octahedral geometry. The bands that appear both in NIR and Raman spectra are due to the overtones and combinations of water and carbonate molecules. Thus EPR, optical, and Raman spectroscopy have proven most useful for the study of the chemistry of natural iowaite and chemical changes in the mineral.

Lineshape Analysis of the Beat Signal Between Optical Carrier and Delayed Sidebands

This paper presents the lineshape analysis of the beat signal between the optical carrier and the shifted and delayed side-bands produced by sinusoidal amplitude modulation. It is shown that the beat signal has a typical lineshape with a very narrow delta-peak superposed on a quasi-Lorentzian profile. Theoretical explanation for the appearance of this peak has been given based on optical spectral structure constructed by a large number of optical wave trains. It is predicted that the delta-peak is originated from the beat between the wave trains in the carrier and those in the delayed sidebands when their average coherence length is longer than the delay line. Experiments carried out using different delay lines clearly show that the delta-peak is always located at the modulation frequency and decreases with the increasing delay line. Our analysis explicitly indicates that the linewidth is related to the observation time. It is also suggested that the disappearance of the delta-peak can be used as the criterion of coherence elimination.

Estimation of frequency response of directly modulated lasers from optical spectra

A simple method for estimating the frequency responses of directly modulated lasers from optical spectra is presented. The frequency-modulation index and intensity-modulation index of a distributed feedback laser can be obtained through the optical spectrum analyses. The main advantage is that the measurement setup is very simple. Only a microwave source and an optical spectrum analyser are needed and there is no need to use a calibrated broadband photodetector. Experiment shows that the proposed method is as accurate as the swept frequency method using a network analyzer and is applicable to a wide range of modulation powers.

Measurement of gain spectrum for semiconductor lasers utilizing integrations of product of emission spectrum and a phase function over one mode interval

A technique based on the integrations of the product of amplified spontaneous emission spectrum and a phase function over one mode interval is proposed for measuring gain spectrum for Fabry-Perot semiconductor lasers, and a gain correction factor related to the response function of the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) is obtained for improving the accuracy of measured gain spectrum. The gain spectra with a difference less than 1.3 cm(-1) from 1500 to 1600 nm are obtained for a 250-mum-long semiconductor laser at the OSA resolution of 0.06, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 nm. The corresponding gain correction factor is about 9 cm(-1) at the resolution of 0.5 nm. The gain spectrum measured at the resolution of 0.5 nm has the same accuracy as that obtained by the Hakki-Paoli method at the resolution of 0.06 nm for the laser with the mode interval of 1.3 nm.

Measurement of gain spectrum for Fabry-Perot semiconductor lasers by the Fourier transform method with a deconvolution process

To improve the accuracy of measured gain spectra, which is usually limited by the resolution of the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA), a deconvolution process based on the measured spectrum of a narrow linewidth semiconductor laser is applied in the Fourier transform method. The numerical simulation shows that practical gain spectra can be resumed by the Fourier transform method with the deconvolution process. Taking the OSA resolution to be 0.06, 0.1, and 0.2 nm, the gain-reflectivity product spectra with the difference of about 2% are obtained for a 1550-nm semiconductor laser with the cavity length of 720 pm. The spectra obtained by the Fourier transform method without the deconvolution process and the Hakki-Paoli method are presented and compared. The simulation also shows that the Fourier transform method has less sensitivity to noise than the Hakki-Paoli method.

Magnetoexcitonic optical absorption in semiconductors under strong magnetic fields and intense terahertz radiation in the Voigt configuration

The magnetoexcitonic optical absorption of a GaAs bulk semiconductor driven by a terahertz (THz) field is investigated numerically. The method of the solution of the initial-value problem, in combination with the perfect matched layer technique, is used to calculate the optical susceptibility, with Coulomb interaction, Landau quantization, and THz fields involved nonperturbatively. It shows that there appear replicas and sidebands of magnetoexciton of different Landau levels, which greatly enrich the magneto-optical spectrum in the presence of a driving THz field. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2008.

The impact of accretion disc winds on the optical spectra of cataclysmic variables

Many high-state non-magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs) exhibit blueshifted absorption or P-Cygni profiles associated with ultraviolet (UV) resonance lines. These features imply the existence of powerful accretion disc winds in CVs. Here, we use our Monte Carlo ionization and radiative transfer code to investigate whether disc wind models that produce realistic UV line profiles are also likely to generate observationally significant recombination line and continuum emission in the optical waveband. We also test whether outflows may be responsible for the single-peaked emission line profiles often seen in high-state CVs and for the weakness of the Balmer absorption edge (relative to simple models of optically thick accretion discs). We find that a standard disc wind model that is successful in reproducing the UV spectra of CVs also leaves a noticeable imprint on the optical spectrum, particularly for systems viewed at high inclination. The strongest optical wind-formed recombination lines are H alpha and He ii lambda 4686. We demonstrate that a higher density outflow model produces all the expected H and He lines and produces a recombination continuum that can fill in the Balmer jump at high inclinations. This model displays reasonable verisimilitude with the optical spectrum of RW Trianguli. No single-peaked emission is seen, although we observe a narrowing of the double-peaked emission lines from the base of the wind. Finally, we show that even denser models can produce a single-peaked H alpha line. On the basis of our results, we suggest that winds can modify, and perhaps even dominate, the line and continuum emission from CVs.