Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) has promising applications in smart windows and active micro-optical devices due to its thermochromic properties. However, the successful fabrication and patterning of VO₂ thin films with the correct stoichiometry and phase are challenging. In this study, we investigated lithographically patterned and non-patterned VO₂ thin films fabricated by reactive ion beam deposition, using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, Raman spectroscopy, and transmission and reflection measurements. The results show that the refractive index and extinction coefficient exhibit significant changes for near-infrared wavelengths when heated above 68 °C, confirming its thermochromic properties. The Raman spectroscopy results indicate the formation of the monoclinic phase VO₂(M) after annealing, which was not changed by reactive ion etching. Lithographically structured VO₂-layers were successfully realized demonstrating the potential of VO₂ as a material for active micro-optical devices, such as guided mode resonance filters with switchable reflectance. The results suggest that VO₂ has great potential as a promising material for actively switched optical elements and micro-optical devices.

光学器件的微型化和集成化是当前研究的热点，其中利用微纳结构实现局域电磁改性的超构光学更是引人关注。本文从微纳结构的制备出发，总结了利用超衍射精密加工的飞秒激光直写技术，制备偏振转换器件和几何相位器件的工作。介绍了微纳结构改性的物理机制，飞秒激光直写光刻胶、飞秒激光烧蚀金属薄膜、飞秒激光诱导纳米光栅等手段在偏振转换器件和几何相位器件制备方面的进展，展望了飞秒激光微纳加工技术在超构光学器件制备方面的挑战。

The flat endface of an optical fiber tip is an emerging light-coupled microscopic platform that combines fiber optics with planar micro- and nanotechnologies. Since different materials and structures are integrated onto the endfaces, optical fiber tip devices have miniature sizes, diverse integrated functions, and low insertion losses, making them suitable for all-optical networks. In recent decades, the increasing demand for multifunctional optical fibers has created opportunities to develop various structures on fiber tips. Meanwhile, the unconventional shape of optical fibers presents challenges involving the adaptation of standard planar micro- and nanostructure preparation strategies for fiber tips. In this context, researchers are committed to exploring and optimizing fiber tip manufacturing techniques, thereby paving the way for future integrated all-fiber devices with multifunctional applications. First, we present a broad overview of current fabrication technologies, classified as “top-down,” “bottom-up,” and “material transfer” methods, for patterning optical fiber tips. Next, we review typical structures integrated on fiber tips and their known and potential applications, categorized with respect to functional structure configurations, including “optical functionalization” and “electrical integration.” Finally, we discuss the prospects for future opportunities involving multifunctional integrated fiber tips.

In this Letter, we demonstrate high-quality (Q), millimeter-size, and V-shaped calcium fluoride crystalline resonators for modal modification. To manufacture such resonators, we develop a home-made machining system and explore a detailed process. With a dedicated polished container, three special polishing steps, including grinding, smoothing, and polishing, are employed to achieve the required surface smoothness, which is characterized by less than 3 nm. An ultra-high-Q factor exceeding 10⁸ is obtained by a coupled tapered fiber. In addition, a customized packaged structure for our disk resonator is achieved. The Q maintenance and stable spectrum are realized by sealing the coupling system in a hard disk. The simple, stable, portable, controlled, and integratable device would provide great potential in optical filters, sensors, nonlinear optics, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and especially some applications that require large resonators such as gyroscopes.

Optical traps use focused laser beams to generate forces on targeted objects ranging in size from nanometers to micrometers. However, for their high coefficients of scattering and absorption, micrometer-sized metallic particles were deemed non-trappable in three dimensions using a single beam. This barrier is now removed. We demonstrate, both in theory and experiment, three-dimensional (3D) dynamic all-optical manipulations of micrometer-sized gold particles under high focusing conditions. The force of gravity is found to balance the positive axial optical force exerted on particles in an inverted optical tweezers system to form two trapping positions along the vertical direction. Both theoretical and experimental results confirm that stable 3D manipulations are achievable for these particles regardless of beam polarization and wavelength. The present work opens up new opportunities for a variety of in-depth research requiring metallic particles.

In this Letter, we experimentally demonstrate a full-duplex transmission system of IEEE 802.11ac-compliant multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) signals over a 2-km 7-core fiber for in-building wireless local-area network (WLAN) distributed antenna systems. For full-duplex 3×3 MIMO demonstration, the crosstalk impacts of both fiber-transmission-only and optic-wireless transmission situation are evaluated. The results indicate that the impact of crosstalk on radio-over-fiber (ROF) link performance is not significant and the quality of the cascaded multi-core fiber and wireless channel is mainly determined by the wireless part. To further improve the system capacity, polarization multiplexing (PolMux) technology is employed to achieve a full-duplex 6×6 MIMO over a single 7-core fiber. Although employing the PolMux method will slightly decrease the EVM and condition number performance as opposed to a non-PolMux MCF system, it is still a competitive solution in large optical connection demand scenarios that require a low cost.