A range-extended acidity detector based on Nile red was designed and analyzed in this work. In light of the good lasing property and solvatochromism characteristic of Nile red/ethanol solution, we have obtained laser spectra of sulfuric acid in different concentrations doped in this substrate. Moreover, to expand the acidity detection range, we proposed a tandem cuvette system containing rhodamine 6G/ethanol and Nile red/ethanol. Consequently, the detection range could be enlarged from 26 nm to 40 nm, by changing not only the wavelength peak but also by the intensity ratio of dual-wavelength laser output. In addition, by changing the detection and substrate materials, the whole detection range could be expanded, and therefore a wide range of applications in polarity and acidity detection could be implemented via this method.

All-optical magnetization switching with features of low-power consumption and high writing speed is a promising road map to satisfy the demand for volume data storage. To promote denser and faster magnetic recording technologies, herein, all-optical helicity-dependent switching (AO-HDS) in multi-layer magnetic recording is proposed based on the chromatic aberration of an optical lens (Thorlabs’s N-BK7 plano-convex uncoated lens). The power of the incident beams and the thickness of the multi-layer magnetic recording film are designed carefully. Besides, the uniformity of this multi-layer magnetic recording is optimized. At last, a prototype system of information multiplexing based on this multi-layer magnetic recording technology is constructed as well. Flexible and controllable magnetization reversals in different layers are also demonstrated by tuning the wavelength and helicity of working beams. We believe that such a prototype system can pave the way for increasing the storage density in an effective and low-cost mode.

In this work, an all-fiber-based mode converter for generating orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams is proposed and numerically investigated. Its structure is constructed by cascading a mode selective coupler (MSC) and an inner elliptical cladding fiber (IECF). OAM modes refer to a combination of two orthogonal LPlm modes with a phase difference of ±π/2. By adjusting the parameters and controlling the splicing angle of MSC and IECF appropriately, higher-order OAM modes with topological charges of l = ±1, ±2, ±3 can be obtained with the injection of the fundamental mode LP01, resulting in a mode-conversion efficiency of almost 100%. This achievement may pave the way towards the realization of a compact, all-fiber, and high-efficiency device for increasing the transmission capacity and spectral efficiency in optical communication systems with OAM mode multiplexing.

In this Letter, an effective method using a mode selective coupler (MSC), which is composed of a three-core fiber is presented to generate optical vortices (OVs). The conversions of OVs with different topological charges, 0→±1 and 0→±3, are simulated in detail. We also prove that a higher-order topological charge can be obtained simply by changing the parameters of the fiber to increase the number of modes in the fiber. The polarization of OVs can be controlled as well.