High-Q lithium niobate (LN) optical micro-resonators are an excellent platform for future applications in optical communications, nonlinear optics, and quantum optics. To date, high-Q factors are typically achieved in LN using either dielectric masks or femtosecond laser ablation, while the more standard and commonly available lift-off metallic masks are often believed to lead to rough sidewalls and lowered Q factors. Here, we show that LN microring resonators with strong light confinement and intrinsic Q factors over 1 million can be fabricated using optimized lift-off metallic masks and dry etching processes, corresponding to a waveguide propagation loss of ～0.3dB/cm. The entire process is fully compatible with wafer-scale production and could be transferred to other photonic materials.

Integrated traveling-wave lithium niobate modulators need relatively large device lengths to achieve low drive voltage. To increase modulation efficiency within a compact footprint, we report an integrated Fabry–Perot-type electro-optic thin film lithium niobate on insulator modulator comprising a phase modulation region sandwiched between two distributed Bragg reflectors. The device exhibits low optical loss and a high tuning efficiency of 15.7 pm/V. We also confirm the modulator’s high-speed modulation performance by non-return-to-zero modulation with a data rate up to 56 Gbit/s.

One-step precipitation of Ag nanoparticles in Ag⁺-doped silicate glasses was achieved through a focused picosecond laser with a high repetition rate. Absorption spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that metallic Ag nanoparticles were precipitated within glass samples in the laser-written domain. The surface plasmon absorbance fits well with the experimental absorption spectrum. The nonlinear absorption coefficient β is determined to be 2.47 × 10^-14 m/W by fitting the open aperture Z-scan curve, which originated from the intraband transition in the s-p Ag band. The formation mechanism of Ag-glass nanocomposites is discussed as well.

The diffraction of a dielectric microline pair is optimized by numerical simulations to generate an efficient focusing pattern with a micron-scale footprint. Microlines separated by 1.12 μm are fabricated by two-photon polymerization on a glass substrate, and their diffraction pattern is characterized by three-dimensional wide-field transmission microscopy. A line pair, having a width W=0.40 μm and a height H=0.80 μm, leads to diffraction-limited focusing in the visible spectrum. Depending on wavelength, its focal length, lateral resolution, and depth of focus are in the ranges of 0.8–1.3 μm, 0.22–0.44 μm, and 1.7–2.13 μm, respectively. Such a microlens based on the diffraction of only two subwavelength scatterers could be used for the design of miniature optical sensors with micron and sub-micron pixels.

Spatio-temporal coupling characteristics of ultrafast laser pulses are quantitatively tailored. An asymmetric microstructure is induced in the focal volume when the laser scans perpendicularly to the direction of the spatial chirp in fused silica. The tilted direction reverses when adding a Dove prism into the light path. The sign of the pulse front tilt can be turned from positive to negative by changing the group delay dispersion by steps. We reveal that the tilted direction of a microstructure depends on spatial chirp, and the interplay between spatio-temporal chirp leads to the change of tilted angles.