We propose a design for efficient end-fire coupling of surface plasmon polaritons in a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide with an optical fiber as part of a simple photoplastic connector. The design was analyzed and optimized using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. The calculated excitation efficiency coefficient of the waveguide is 83.7% ( 0.77 dB) at a wavelength of 405 nm. This design enables simple connection of an optical fiber to a MIM waveguide and highly efficient local excitation of the waveguide. Moreover, the length of the metallic elements of the waveguide, and thus the dissipative losses, can be reduced. The proposed design may be useful in plasmonic-type waveguide applications such as near-field investigation of live cells and other objects with super-resolution.

We report a method to tune the second harmonic generation (SHG) frequency of a metallic octamer by employing cylindrical vector beams as the excitation. Our method exploits the ability to spatially match the polarization state of excitations with the fundamental target plasmonic modes, enabling flexible control of the SHG resonant frequency. It is found that SHG of the octamer is enhanced over a broad band (400 nm) by changing the excitation from the linearly polarized Gaussian beam to radially and azimuthally polarized beams. More strikingly, when subjected to an azimuthally polarized beam, the SHG intensity of the octamer becomes 30 times stronger than that for the linearly polarized beam even in the presence of Fano resonance.

We report on the enhancement of phase conjugation degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) in hot atomic Rb vapor by using a Bessel beam as the probe beam. The Bessel beam was generated using cross-phase modulation based on the thermal nonlinear optical effect. Our results demonstrated that the DFWM signal generated by the Bessel beam is about twice as large as that generated by the Gaussian beam, which can be attributed to the extended depth and tight focusing features of the Bessel beam. We also found that a DFWM signal with reasonable intensity can be detected even when the Bessel beam encounters an obstruction on its way, thanks to the self-healing property of the Bessel beam. This work not only indicates that DFWM using a Bessel beam would be of great potential in the fields of high-fidelity communication, adaptive optics, and so on, but also suggests that a Bessel beam would be of significance to enhance the nonlinear process, especially in thick and scattering media.

In this paper, we propose a methodology to maximize the absorption bandwidth of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) based absorber. The proposed structure is made of a Cr-Al2O3-Cr multilayer design. At the initial step, the optimum MIM planar design is fabricated and optically characterized. The results show absorption above 0.9 from 400 nm to 850 nm. Afterward, the transfer matrix method is used to find the optimal condition for the perfect light absorption in an ultra-broadband frequency range. This modeling approach predicts that changing the filling fraction of the top Cr layer can extend light absorption toward longer wavelengths. We experimentally proved that the use of proper top Cr thickness and annealing temperature leads to a nearly perfect light absorption from 400 nm to 1150 nm, which is much broader than that of a planar design. Therefore, while keeping the overall process lithography-free, the absorption functionality of the design can be significantly improved. The results presented here can serve as a beacon for future performance-enhanced multilayer designs where a simple fabrication step can boost the overall device response without changing its overall thickness and fabrication simplicity.

To seek high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is critical but challenging for single-shot intense terahertz (THz) coherent detection. This paper presents an improved common-path spectral interferometer for single-shot THz detection with a single chirped pulse as the probe for THz electro-optic (EO) sampling. Here, the spectral interference occurs between the two orthogonal polarization components with a required relative time delay generated with only a birefringent plate after the EO sensor. Our experiments show that this interferometer can effectively suppress the noise usually suffered in a non-common-path interferometer. The measured single-shot SNR is up to 88.85, and the measured THz waveforms are independent of the orientation of the used ZnTe EO sensor, so it is easy to operate and the results are more reliable. These features mean that the interferometer is quite qualified for applications where strong THz pulses, usually with single-shot or low repetition rate, are indispensable.

We report here a nanostructure that traps single quantum dots for studying strong cavity-emitter coupling. The nanostructure is designed with two elliptical holes in a thin silver patch and a slot that connects the holes. This structure has two functionalities: (1) tweezers for optical trapping; (2) a plasmonic resonant cavity for quantum electrodynamics. The electromagnetic response of the cavity is calculated by finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, and the optical force is characterized based on the Maxwell’s stress tensor method. To be tweezers, this structure tends to trap quantum dots at the edges of its tips where light is significantly confined. To be a plasmonic cavity, its plasmonic resonant mode interacts strongly with the trapped quantum dots due to the enhanced electric field. Rabi splitting and anti-crossing phenomena are observed in the calculated scattering spectra, demonstrating that a strong-coupling regime has been achieved. The method present here provides a robust way to position a single quantum dot in a nanocavity for investigating cavity quantum electrodynamics.

Graphene-based surface plasmon waveguides (SPWs) show high confinement well beyond the diffraction limit at terahertz frequencies. By combining a graphene SPW and nonlinear material, we propose a novel graphene/AlGaAs SPW structure for terahertz wave difference frequency generation (DFG) under near-infrared pumps. The composite waveguide, which supports single-mode operation at terahertz frequencies and guides two pumps by a high-index-contrast AlGaAs/AlOx structure, can confine terahertz waves tightly and realize good mode field overlap of three waves. The phase-matching condition is satisfied via artificial birefringence in an AlGaAs/AlOx waveguide together with the tunability of graphene, and the phase-matching terahertz wave frequency varies from 4 to 7 THz when the Fermi energy level of graphene changes from 0.848 to 2.456 eV. Based on the coupled-mode theory, we investigate the power-normalized conversion efficiency for the tunable terahertz wave DFG process by using the finite difference method under continuous wave pumps, where the tunable bandwidth can reach 2 THz with considerable conversion efficiency. To exploit the high peak powers of pulses, we also discuss optical pulse evolutions for pulse-pumped terahertz wave DFG processes.

Relative intensity noise (RIN) and high-speed modulation characteristics are investigated for an AlGaInAs/InP hybrid square-rectangular laser (HSRL) with square side length, rectangular length, and width of 15,300, and 2 μm, respectively. Single-mode operation with side-mode suppression larger than 40 dB has been realized for the HSRL over wide variation of the injection currents. In addition, the HSRL exhibits a 3 dB modulation bandwidth of 15.5 GHz, and an RIN nearly approaches standard quantum shot-noise limit 2hv/P= 164 dB/Hz at high bias currents due to the strong mode selection of the square microcavity. With the increase of the DC bias current of the Fabry–Perot section, significantly enhanced modulation bandwidth and decreased RIN are observed. Furthermore, intrinsic parameters such as resonance frequency, damping factor, and modified Schawlow–Townes linewidth are extracted from the noise spectra.

Black phosphorus (BP), with thickness-dependent direct energy bandgaps (0.3–2 eV), shows an enhanced nonlinear optical response at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. In this paper, we present experimentally multilayer BP flakes coated on microfiber (BCM) as a saturable absorber with a modulation depth of 16% and a saturable intensity of 6.8 MW/cm2. After inserting BCM into an Er-doped fiber ring laser, a stable dual-wavelength Q-switched state with central wavelengths of 1542.4 nm and 1543.2 nm (with wavelength spacing as small as 0.8 nm) is obtained with the aid of two cascaded fiber Bragg gratings as a coarse wavelength selector. Moreover, single-wavelength Q-switched operation at 1542.4 nm or 1543.2 nm is also realized, which can be switched between the two wavelengths flexibly just by adjusting the intracavity birefringence. These results suggest that BP combined with the cascaded fiber gratings can provide a simple and feasible candidate for a multiwavelength fiber laser. Our fiber laser may have potential applications in terahertz generation, laser radar, and so on.

A silver quadrumer consisting of four parallel aligned rectangular nanobars, with three at the bottom and one at the top, is proposed to provide two Fano resonances. These two resonances can be adjusted either simultaneously or independently simply by tuning the geometrical parameters. Due to the formation of the two resonances in a relatively short wavelength range, one of them can be spectrally squeezed to be very narrow, which induces a very high figure of merit (FoM=45). By decomposing the scattering spectrum into bright modes and dark modes, the double Fano resonances are found to be originated from grouping the unit cells into two different groups. The evolution of the scattering spectrum with the central dimer position along the polarization direction suggests that the symmetry reducing induces the second Fano resonance and improves the FoM of the first one. By introducing one more nanobar into the quadrumer system, the FoM can approach the material’s limit, although the dip is relatively shallow. The ultrahigh FoM of the Fano resonance in the proposed quadrumer can provide ultra-sensitive refractive index sensing. Furthermore, the method for providing multiple independently tunable Fano resonances can offer new solutions to designing plasmonic-related nanolasers, photocatalysis, and biochemical sensors, etc.

Side channel effects such as temporal disparity and intensity fluctuation of the photon pulses caused by random bit generation with multiple laser diodes in high-speed polarization-based BB84 quantum key distribution (QKD) systems can be eliminated by increasing the DC bias current condition. However, background photons caused by the spontaneous emission process under high DC bias current degrade the performance of QKD systems. In this study, we investigated the effects of spontaneously emitted photons on the system performance in a high-speed QKD system at a clock rate of 400 MHz. Also, we show further improvements in the system performance without side channel effects by utilizing the temporal filtering technique with real-time field-programmable gate array signal processing.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with potential applications in photonic and optoelectronic devices have attracted increasing attention due to their unique structures and captivating properties. However, generation of stable high-energy ultrashort pulses requires further boosting of these materials’ optical properties, such as higher damage threshold and larger modulation depth. Here we investigate a new type of heterostructure material with uniformity by employing the magnetron sputtering technique. Heterostructure materials are synthesized with van der Waals heterostructures consisting of MoS2 and Sb2Te3. The bandgap, carrier mobility, and carrier concentration of the MoS2-Sb2Te3-MoS2 heterostructure materials are calculated theoretically. By using these materials as saturable absorbers (SAs), applications in fiber lasers with Q-switching and mode-locking states are demonstrated experimentally. The modulation depth and damage threshold of SAs are measured to be 64.17% and 14.13J/cm2, respectively. Both theoretical and experimental results indicate that MoS2-Sb2Te3-MoS2 heterostructure materials have large modulation depth, and can resist high power during the generation of ultrashort pulses. The MoS2-Sb2Te3-MoS2 heterostructure materials have the advantages of low cost, high reliability, and suitability for mass production, and provide a promising solution for the development of 2D-material-based devices with desirable electronic and optoelectronic properties.