The effects of turbulence intensity and turbulence region on the distribution of femtosecond laser filaments are experimentally elaborated. Through the ultrasonic signals emitted by the filaments, it is observed that increasing turbulence intensity and an expanding turbulence active region cause an increase in the start position of the filament and a decrease in filament length, which can be well explained by theoretical calculation. It is also observed that the random perturbation of the air refractive index caused by atmospheric turbulence expands the spot size of the filament. Additionally, when the turbulence refractive index structure constant reaches 8.37×10-12m-2/3, multiple filaments are formed. Furthermore, the standard deviation of the transverse displacement of filament is found to be proportional to the square root of the turbulent structure constant under the experimental turbulence parameters in this paper. These results contribute to the study of femtosecond laser propagation mechanisms in complex atmospheric turbulence conditions.

Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) technology enables high-bandwidth data transmission using orthogonal waveguide modes to construct parallel data streams. However, few demonstrations have been realized for generating and supporting high-order modes, mainly due to the intrinsic large material group-velocity dispersion (GVD), which make it challenging to selectively couple different-order spatial modes. We show the feasibility of on-chip GVD engineering by introducing a gradient-index metamaterial structure, which enables a robust and fully scalable MDM process. We demonstrate a record-high-order MDM device that supports TE₀–TE₁₅ modes simultaneously. 40-GBaud 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation signals encoded on 16 mode channels contribute to a 2.162 Tbit / s net data rate, which is the highest data rate ever reported for an on-chip single-wavelength transmission. Our method can effectively expand the number of channels provided by MDM technology and promote the emerging research fields with great demand for parallelism, such as high-capacity optical interconnects, high-dimensional quantum communications, and large-scale neural networks.

The spatial distribution of the forward-propagating amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of nitrogen molecular ions during femtosecond laser filamentation in air is studied via numerical simulations. The results suggest that the divergence angle and signal intensity are extremely sensitive to the external focal length. Concurrently, we show that the optical Kerr effect plays a significant role in concentrating the directivity of ASE signals, particularly in cases of loose focusing. Furthermore, the simulations demonstrate that ASE signals are enhanced for a tight focus, although the corresponding filament length is shorter. The main physical mechanism underlying this process is the competition between the plasma defocusing and optical Kerr effects. The result is important for filamentation-based light detection and ranging applied to remote sensing.

研究采用分子动力学模拟(Molecular dynamics simulation, MD)的方法, 以苯酚、α-萘酚和4-辛基酚为代表, 研究了酚类有机污染物(Phenolic Organic Pollutants, POPs)在氧化石墨烯(Graphene Oxide, GO)上单独和竞争吸附过程。通过自由能计算得到三种POPs在GO表面的吸附能分别为: 4-辛基酚(41.34 kJ/mol)>α-萘酚(33.23 kJ/mol)>苯酚(19.31 kJ/mol)。吸附过程中的主要作用力为POPs的疏水作用, 而分子团簇、范德华相互作用、静电相互作用以及氢键等在一定程度上增加了GO对POPs的吸附能力。在混合体系中, POPs之间存在明显的竞争吸附现象, 吸附过程包含了直接吸附和形成分子团簇的间接性吸附两个过程。本研究结果为含POPs水体的治理以及GO材料的设计和筛选提供了一定的理论依据。