Optical waveguides and switches based on periodic arrays of carbon nanotubes

This document presents the modeling and characterization of novel optical devices based on periodic arrays of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes can be grown in the arrangement of two-dimensional arrays of precisely determined dimensions. Having their dimensions comparable to the wavelength of light makes carbon nanotubes good candidates for utilization in nano-scale optical devices. We report that highly dense periodic arrays of multiwalled carbon nanotubes can be utilized as sub-wavelength structures for establishing advanced optical materials, such as metamaterials and photonic crystals. We demonstrate that when carbon nanotubes are grown close together at spacing of the order of few hundred nanometers, they display artificial optical properties towards the incident light, acting as metamaterials. By utilizing these properties we have established micro-scaled plasmonic high pass filter which operates in the optical domain. Highly dense arrays of multiwalled also offer a periodic dielectric constant to the incident light and display interesting photonic band gaps, which are frequency domains within which on wave propagation can take place. We have utilized these band gaps displayed by a periodic nanotube array, having 400 nm spacing, to construct photonic crystals based optical waveguides and switches. © 2011 IEEE.

Computation of high-stability DC balancing scheme for ferroelectric liquid crystal on silicon holograms using graphics processing units.

Spatial light modulators based around liquid crystal on silicon have found use in a variety of telecommunications applications, including the optimization of multimode fibers, free-space communications, and wavelength selective switching. Ferroelectric liquid crystals are attractive in these areas due to their fast switching times and high phase stability, but the necessity for the liquid crystal to spend equal time in each of its two possible states is an issue of practical concern. Using the highly parallel nature of a graphics processing unit architecture, it is possible to calculate DC balancing schemes of exceptional quality and stability.

辽西中生代银杏目和茨康目植物生殖器官研究

本文研究了采自辽宁西部下白垩统义县组和上三叠统羊草沟组的三种植物的生殖器官，它们分别属于银杏目 (Ginkgoales) 和茨康目 (Czekanowskiales)。辽宁银杏 (G. liaoningensis Liu, Crane, Li et Wang sp. nov.) 和纤细堆囊穗 (Sorosaccus gracilis Harris 1935 emend. Liu, Hueber, Li et Wang) 是银杏目植物的雄球花，通过将这两种雄球花与现存银杏 (Ginkgo biloba L.) 雄球花的对比研究，讨论了自晚三叠世至今银杏目雄性生殖器官可能的演化途径。蟹形薄果穗 (Leptostrobus cancer Harris 1951 emend. Liu, Li et Wang) 是茨康目植物的雌性生殖器官，我们根据辽西标本对该种的特征集要做了修订，并对薄果穗属 (Leptostrobus Heer 1876) 的种进行了讨论，将三个种归并到蟹形薄果穗薄。主要内容包括： 1. 银杏属植物雄球花——辽宁银杏 采自中国辽宁下白垩统义县组的辽宁银杏，为葇荑花序状，主轴基部有鳞片。小孢子叶螺旋排列在主轴上，小孢子叶上着生3—4个 (少数为2个) 卵形到椭圆形的小孢子囊。小孢子囊下垂，纵状开裂。成熟花粉粒单沟，长椭圆形;而未成熟的花粉粒处在四分体阶段。辽宁银杏的特征和现存银杏十分相似。主要差别在于辽宁银杏的小孢子叶着生3—4个 (少数为2个) 小孢子囊，而现存银杏的小孢子叶绝大多数着生2个小孢子囊。辽宁银杏在大小及小孢子囊数目上区别于其它的银杏属雄球花化石种，如：英国约克郡侏罗纪的胡顿银杏 (Ginkgo huttoni (Sternberg) Heer) 雄球花，加拿大阿尔贝塔晚白垩世一个未定名的银杏属雄球花。辽宁银杏 (化石) 和银杏 (现存) 的比较支持了根据银杏属胚珠器官而提出的缩减假说，因为自早白垩世至今，银杏属雄球花小孢子叶着生的小孢子囊的数目经历了从3—4个到2个的减少。 2. 银杏目植物雄球花——纤细堆囊穗 本文研究的纤细堆囊穗采自中国东北上三叠统羊草沟组。这种雄球花小孢子 叶末端的裂片在形态上差异很大，这是在以前对这种植物的研究中没有发现的重要特征。这些保存精美的化石对于纤细堆囊穗特征的阐明和修订以及种的复原很有帮助。将中国的标本与西伯利亚堆囊穗 (Sorosaccus sibiricus Prynada 1962)、小堆囊穗 (S. minor Harris 1935)、乌马尔堆囊穗 (S. umaltensis Krassilov 1972) 和被定为长叶拜拉 (Baiera longifolia (Pom.) Heer 1876) 的雄球花进行了比较，发现它们与纤细堆囊穗在特征上一致，故将它们处理为纤细堆囊穗的异名。同时，也讨论了堆囊穗属可能的演化意义。它可能是银杏属的远祖，经过小孢子囊数目的减少和小孢子叶长度的缩短而演化到现在的银杏，而辽西早白垩世的辽宁银杏可能代表了堆囊穗和现代银杏在演化上的一个中间阶段。 3. 茨康目雌性生殖器官——蟹形薄果穗 本文研究的蟹形薄果穗采自辽西上三叠统羊草沟组和下白垩统义县组。羊草沟组的材料是蟹形薄果穗属最早的纪录，从而该种的分布在时间上有了新的资料：从晚三叠世到早白垩世。据标本穗轴顶端的完整性，我们修订了蟹形薄果穗的特征集要和提供了它的复原图，并将三种薄果穗归并到蟹形薄果穗。我们也回顾了薄果穗属自1876年建立以来100多年的研究历史，并列出了该属所有材料，还讨论了该属各种的主要特征和建种依据。

Paintable band-edge liquid crystal lasers.

In this paper we demonstrate photonic band-edge laser emission from emulsion-based polymer dispersed liquid crystals. The lasing medium consists of dye-doped chiral nematic droplets dispersed within a polymer matrix that spontaneously align as the film dries. Such lasers can be easily formed on single substrates with no alignment layers. The system combines the self-organizing periodic structure of chiral nematic liquid crystals with the simplicity of the emulsion procedure so as to produce a material that retains the emission characteristics of band-edge lasers yet can be readily coated. Sequential and stacked layers demonstrate the possibility of achieving simultaneous multi-wavelength laser output from glass, metallic, and flexible substrates.

Nanophotonic three-dimensional microscope.

Three-dimensional (3D) optical microscopy based on integral imaging techniques is limited mainly by diffraction effects and the pitch of the microlens array used to sample the specimen. We integrate nanotechnology to the integral imaging technique and demonstrate a nanophotonic 3D microscope, where a nanophotonic lens array is used to finely sample the specimen. The resolution limitation due to diffraction is reduced by capturing images before the diffraction effects predominate and hence overcomes the bottleneck of achieving high resolution in an integral imaging 3D microscope.

Polychromatic liquid crystal laser arrays towards display applications.

Band-edge liquid crystal lasers are of interest for a number of applications including laser projection displays. Herein, we demonstrate simultaneous red-green-blue lasing from a single liquid crystal sample by creating a two-dimensional laser array fabricated from dye-doped chiral nematic liquid crystals. By forming a pitch gradient across the cell, and optically pumping the sample using a lenslet array, a polychromatic laser array can be observed consisting simultaneously of red-green-blue colors. Specifically, the two-dimensional polychromatic array could be used to produce a laser-based display, with low speckle and wide color gamut, whereby no complex fabrication procedure is required to generate the individual 'pixels'.

Transparent liquid-crystal-based microlens array using vertically aligned carbon nanofiber electrodes on quartz substrates.

A novel transparent liquid-crystal-based microlens array has been fabricated using an array of vertically aligned multi-wall carbon nanofibers (MWCNFs) on a quartz substrate and its optical characteristics investigated. Electron beam lithography was used for the catalyst patterning on a quartz substrate to grow the MWCNF array of electrodes. The structure of the electrode array was determined through simulation to achieve the best optical performance. Both the patterned catalyst and growth parameters were optimized for optimal MWCNF properties. We report an in-depth optical characterization of these reconfigurable hybrid liquid crystal and nanofiber microlens arrays.

Optical phase modulation using a hybrid carbon nanotube-liquid-crystal nanophotonic device.

The carbon nanotube-liquid-crystal (CNT-LC) nanophotonic device is a class of device based on the hybrid combination of a sparse array of multiwall carbon nanotube electrodes grown on a silicon surface in a liquid-crystal cell. The multiwall carbon nanotubes act as individual electrode sites that spawn an electric-field profile, dictating the refractive index profile within the liquid crystal and hence creating a series of graded index profiles, which form various optical elements such as a simple microlens array. We present the refractive index and therefore phase modulation capabilities of a CNT-LC nanophotonic device with experimental results as well as computer modeling and potential applications.

Electro-optic characteristics of a transparent nanophotonic device based on carbon nanotubes and liquid crystals.

We present electro-optic characteristics of a transparent nanophotonic device fabricated on quartz substrate based on multiwall carbon nanotubes and nematic liquid crystals (LCs). The nanotube electrodes spawn a Gaussian electric field to three dimensionally address the LC molecules. The electro-optic characteristics of the device were investigated to optimize the device performance and it was found that lower driving voltages were suitable for microlens array and phase modulation applications, while higher driving voltages with a holding voltage can be used for display-related applications.