We introduce a multi-step protocol for optical quantum state engineering that performs as “bright quantum scissors,” namely truncates an arbitrary input quantum state to have at least a certain number of photons. The protocol exploits single-photon pulses and is based on the effect of single-photon Raman interaction, which is implemented with a single three-level Λ system (e.g., a single atom) Purcell-enhanced by a single-sided cavity. A single step of the protocol realizes the inverse of the bosonic annihilation operator. Multiple iterations of the protocol can be used to deterministically generate a chain of single photons in a W state. Alternatively, upon appropriate heralding, the protocol can be used to generate Fock-state optical pulses. This protocol could serve as a useful and versatile building block for the generation of advanced optical quantum states that are vital for quantum communication, distributed quantum information processing, and all-optical quantum computing.

The uncertainty relation is one of the fundamental principles in quantum mechanics and plays an important role in quantum information science. We experimentally test the error-disturbance uncertainty relation (EDR) with continuous variables for Gaussian states. Two incompatible continuous-variable observables, amplitude and phase quadratures of an optical mode, are measured simultaneously using a heterodyne measurement system. The EDR values with continuous variables for coherent, squeezed, and thermal states are verified experimentally. Our experimental results demonstrate that Heisenberg’s EDR with continuous variables is violated, while Ozawa’s and Branciard’s EDRs with continuous variables are validated.

In this paper we describe the scanning electron microscopy techniques of electron backscatter diffraction, electron channeling contrast imaging, wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and cathodoluminescence hyperspectral imaging. We present our recent results on the use of these non-destructive techniques to obtain information on the topography, crystal misorientation, defect distributions, composition, doping, and light emission from a range of UV-emitting nitride semiconductor structures. We aim to illustrate the developing capability of each of these techniques for understanding the properties of UV-emitting nitride semiconductors, and the benefits were appropriate, in combining the techniques.

We report on the direct generation of passively mode-locked vortex lasers in the visible spectral region, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, using a Pr:LiYF4 (Pr:YLF) crystal as the gain medium. A stable mode-locked TEM00 mode has been achieved with a maximum average output power of 75 mW using a graphene saturable absorber mirror. The mode-locked pulse width is measured to be as short as about 73.4 ps at a repetition rate of about 140 MHz, and the laser wavelength is at about 721 nm with spectral width of about 0.5 nm. By slightly misaligning the laser resonator, a first-order Laguerre-Gaussian mode (LG0,1) has also been obtained with output power reduced to about 22 mW. The achieved LG0,1 mode has been verified via a home made improved Fizeau interferometer. This work provides a simple and universal method for direct generation of an ultrafast vortex laser, which can be readily extended to other spectral regions by using different laser gain mediums.

In this work, we investigate the possibility of achieving nanojoule level pulse energy in an all-fiber Er-doped oscillator by using a graded index multimode fiber (GIMF) as the saturable absorber (SA). This GIMF-based SA demonstrates the desirable characteristics of high-power tolerance, large modulation depth of 29.6%, and small saturation fluence of ～7.19×10 3μJ/cm2, which contribute to the high-energy soliton generation. In the experiments, the oscillator generates stable ultrafast pulse trains with high pulse energy/average output power up to 13.65 nJ/212.4 mW in the anomalous regime and 6.25 nJ/72.5mW in the normal regime, which are among the highest energy/average output power values achieved by all-fiber Er lasers. The results obtained demonstrate that the GIMF-based SA can be used as an effective photonic device for high-energy wave-breaking free pulse generation.

This work investigates the dynamic and nonlinear properties of quantum dot (QD) lasers directly grown on silicon with a view to isolator-free applications. Among them, the chirp parameter, also named the αH factor, is featured through a thermally insensitive method analyzing the residual side-mode dynamics under optical injection locking. The αH at threshold is found as low as 0.32. Then, the nonlinear gain is investigated from the gain compression factor viewpoint. The latter is found higher for epitaxial QD lasers on silicon than that in heterogeneously integrated quantum well (QW) devices on silicon. Despite that, the power dependence of the αH does not lead to a large increase of the chirp coefficient above the laser’s threshold at higher bias. This effect is confirmed from an analytical model and attributed to the strong lasing emission of the ground-state transition, which transforms into a critical feedback level as high as 6.5dB, which is ～19dB higher than a comparable QW laser. Finally, the intensity noise analysis confirms that QD lasers are overdamped oscillators with damping frequencies as large as 33 GHz. Altogether, these features contribute to fundamentally enhancing the reflection insensitivity of the epitaxial QD lasers. This last feature is unveiled by the 10 Gbit/s error-free high-speed transmission experiments. Overall, we believe that this work is of paramount importance for future isolator-free photonics technologies and cost-efficient high-speed transmission systems.

Previous works for achieving mechanical squeezing focused mainly on the sole squeezing manipulation method. Here we study how to construct strong steady-state mechanical squeezing via the joint effect between Duffing nonlinearity and parametric pump driving. We find that the 3 dB limit of strong mechanical squeezing can be easily overcome from the joint effect of two different below 3 dB squeezing components induced by Duffing nonlinearity and parametric pump driving, respectively, without the need of any extra technologies, such as quantum measurement or quantum feedback. Especially, we first demonstrate that, in the ideal mechanical bath, the joint squeezing effect just is the superposition of the two respective independent squeezing components. The mechanical squeezing constructed by the joint effect is fairly robust against the mechanical thermal noise. Moreover, different from previous mechanical squeezing detection schemes, which need to introduce an additional ancillary cavity mode, the joint mechanical squeezing effect in the present scheme can be directly measured by homodyning the output field of the cavity with an appropriate phase. The joint idea opens up a new approach to construct strong mechanical squeezing and can be generalized to realize other strong macroscopic quantum effects.

We apply the notion of discrete supersymmetry based on matrix factorization to quantum systems consisting of coupled bosonic oscillators to construct isospectral bosonic quantum networks. By using the algebra that arises due to the indistinguishability of bosonic particles, we write down the Schr dinger equations for these oscillators in the different boson-number sectors. By doing so, we obtain, for every partner quantum network, a system of coupled differential equations that can be emulated by classical light propagation in optical waveguide arrays. This mathematical scheme allows us to build quasi-two-dimensional optical arrays that are either isospectral or share only a subset of their spectrum after deliberately omitting some chosen eigenstates from the spectrum. As an example, we use this technique (which we call bosonic discrete supersymmetry or BD-SUSY) to design two optical, silica-based waveguide arrays consisting of six and three elements, respectively, with overlapping eigenspectrum.

We report InP-based room-temperature high-average-power quantum cascade lasers emitting at 14 μm. Using a novel active region design, a diagonal bound-to-bound lasing transition is guaranteed by efficient electron injection into the upper laser level and fast nonresonant electron extraction through a miniband from the lower laser level. For a 4 mm long and 40 μm wide double channel ridge waveguide laser with 55 stages of the active region, the threshold current density is only 3.13kA/cm2 at room temperature. At 293 K, and the maximum single-facet peak power and average power are up to 830 mW and 75 mW, respectively. The laser exhibits a characteristic temperature T0 of 395 K over a temperature range from 293 to 353 K.

There exists an increasing demand of industrial-scale production of high-purity ligand-free nanoparticles due to the continuous development of biomedicine, catalysis, and energy applications. In this contribution, a simultaneous spatial and temporal focusing (SSTF) setup is first proposed for increasing nanoparticle productivity of the eco-friendly pulsed laser ablation in liquids (PLAL) technique. In spite of the fact that femtosecond pulses have proved to achieve higher ablation rates in air than picosecond pulses, in PLAL this is reversed due to the nonlinear energy losses in the liquid. However, thanks to the incorporation of SSTF, the energy delivered to the target is increased up to 70%, which leads to a nanoparticle production increase of a 2.4 factor. This breaks a barrier toward the employment of femtosecond lasers in high-efficiency PLAL.

Starting from well-known absolute instruments that provide perfect imaging, we analyze a class of rotationally symmetric compact closed manifolds, namely, geodesic lenses. We demonstrate with a numerical method that light rays confined on geodesic lenses form closed trajectories, and that for optical waves, the spectrum of a geodesic lens is (at least approximately) degenerate and equidistant. Moreover, we fabricate two geodesic lenses in micrometer and millimeter scales and observe curved light rays along the geodesics. Our experimental setup may offer a new platform to investigate light propagation on curved surfaces.

Tiny but universal beam shifts occur when a polarized light beam is reflected upon a planar interface. Although the beam shifts of Gaussian beams have been measured by the weak measurement technique, the weak measurement for orbital angular momentum (OAM)-induced spatial shifts of vortex beams is still missing. Here, by elaborately choosing the preselection and postselection states, the tiny OAM-induced Goos–H nchen and Imbert–Fedorov shifts are amplified at an air–prism interface. The maximum shifts along directions both parallel and perpendicular to the incident plane are theoretically predicted and experimentally verified with optimal preselection and postselection states. These maximum shifts can be used to determine the OAM of vortex beams.

We propose a new type of dispersion flattening technology, which can generate an ultra-flat group velocity dispersion profile with five and six zero-dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs). The dispersion value varies from 0.15 to 0.35 ps/(nm·km) from 4 to 8 μm, which to the best of our knowledge is the flattest one reported so far, and the dispersion flatness is improved by more than an order of magnitude. We explain the principle of producing six ZDWs. Mode distribution in this waveguide is made stable over a wide bandwidth. General guidelines to systematically control the dispersion value, sign, and slope are provided, and one can achieve the desired dispersion by properly adjusting the structural parameters. Fabrication tolerance of this waveguide is also examined.

We investigate numerically the pattern formation in 2-μm thulium-doped Mamyshev fiber oscillators, associated with the dissipative Faraday instability. The dispersion-managed fiber ring oscillator is designed with commercial fibers, allowing the dynamics for a wide range of average dispersion regimes to be studied, from normal to near-zero cavity dispersion where the Benjamin–Feir instability remains inhibited. For the first time in the 2-μm spectral window, the formation of highly coherent periodic patterns is demonstrated numerically with rates up to ～100GHz. In addition, irregular patterns are also investigated, revealing the generation of rogue waves via nonlinear collision processes. Our investigations have potential applications for the generation of multigigahertz frequency combs. They also shed new light on the dissipative Faraday instability mechanisms in the area of nonlinear optical cavity dynamics.

Artificial magnetism in optical frequencies is one of the most intriguing phenomena associated with metamaterials. The Mie resonance of high-index resonators provides an alternative approach to achieving optical magnetism with simple structures. Given the generally moderate refractive index exhibited by available materials at optical frequencies, Mie resonances usually suffer from coupling between the multipole modes, and the corresponding response of the Mie metasurfaces can be analyzed based on the concept of “meta-optics.” Here, we show that the optical magnetism in high-index resonators can be significantly enhanced by adding a highly reflective back mirror to the system. To highlight the transformative ability of this approach for improving meta-optics in the linear and nonlinear regimes, two proof-of-concept demonstrations are presented. Theoretical modeling reveals that low-pump power ultrafast nonlinear optics can be realized in periodic Si nanodisk arrays backed with a gold film, a system supporting guided resonance modes. Moreover, based on the enhanced magnetism of individual high-index resonators, a pair of silicon cuboids is demonstrated as a magnetic antenna for directional excitation of surface plasmon waves. The interference-enhanced magnetism of high-index resonators provides a disruptive technology for enabling meta-optics comprising ultracompact, high-speed, and power-efficient photonic devices.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel physical layer encryption scheme for high-speed optical communication. A 10 Gb/s on-off keying signal is secretly transmitted over 100 km standard single-mode fiber. The intensity-modulated message is secured by the encryption mechanism, which is composed of an external noise source and an internal time-delayed feedback loop. The external noise serves as an entropy source with sufficient randomness. The feedback loop structure in the transmitter introduces a time-domain encryption key space, and a corresponding open-loop configuration at the receiver side is used for synchronization and decryption. Experiment results show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. For a legitimate terminal, bit error rate below 10 8 can be obtained. Decryption degradations with the mismatch of different hardware parameters are researched. The time delay in the feedback loop provides a sensitive encryption key. For other hardware parameters, the system is robust enough for synchronization. Meanwhile, the time-delay signature of the loop is able to be well concealed by the external noise. Moreover, the proposed scheme can support density wavelength division multiplexing transmission with a relatively simple structure. This work also provides a new concept to establish optical secure communication by combining a time-delayed feedback chaotic system and random noise.

We propose and theoretically and numerically investigate narrowband integrated filters consisting of identical resonant dielectric ridges on the surface of a single-mode dielectric slab waveguide. The proposed composite structures operate near a bound state in the continuum (BIC) and enable spectral filtering of transverse-electric-polarized guided modes propagating in the waveguide. We demonstrate that by proper choice of the distances between the ridges, flat-top reflectance profiles with steep slopes and virtually no sidelobes can be obtained using just a few ridges. In particular, the structure consisting of two ridges can optically implement the second-order Butterworth filter, whereas at a larger number of ridges, excellent approximations to higher-order Butterworth filters can be achieved. Owing to the BIC supported by the ridges constituting the composite structure, the flat-top reflection band can be made arbitrarily narrow without increasing structure size. In addition to the filtering properties, the investigated structures support another type of BIC—the Fabry–Perot BIC—arising when the distances between adjacent ridges meet the Fabry–Perot resonance condition. In the vicinity of the Fabry–Perot BIC, an effect similar to electromagnetically induced transparency is observed, namely, sharp transmittance peaks against the background of a wide transmittance dip.

The optical memory effect is an interesting phenomenon that has attracted considerable attention in recent decades. Here, we present a new physical picture of the optical memory effect, in which the memory effect and the conventional spatial shift invariance are united. Based on this picture we depict the role of thickness, scattering times, and anisotropy factor and derive equations to calculate the ranges of the angular memory effect (AME) of different scattering components (ballistic light, singly scattered, doubly scattered, etc.), and hence a more accurate equation for the real AME ranges of volumetric turbid media. A conventional random phase mask model is modified according to the new picture. The self-consistency of the simulation model and its agreement with the experiment demonstrate the rationality of the model and the physical picture, which provide powerful tools for more sophisticated studies of the memory-effect-related phenomena and wavefront-sensitive techniques, such as wavefront shaping, optical phase conjugation, and optical trapping in/through scattering media.

Dissipative solitons emerge as stable pulse solutions of nonintegrable and nonconservative nonlinear physical systems, owing to a balance of nonlinearity, dispersion, and loss/gain. A considerable research effort has been dedicated to characterizing amplitude and phase evolutions in the spatiotemporal dynamics of dissipative solitons emerging from fiber lasers. Yet, the picture of the buildup process of dissipative solitons in fiber lasers is incomplete in the absence of corresponding information about the polarization evolution. Here, we characterize probabilistic polarization distributions in the buildup of dissipative solitons in a net-normal dispersion fiber laser system, mode-locked by single-wall carbon nanotubes. The output optical spectra under different pump powers are filtered by a tunable filter, and are detected by a polarization state analyzer. The laser system operates from random amplified spontaneous emission into a stable dissipative soliton state as the cavity gain is progressively increased. Correspondingly, the state of polarization of each spectral wavelength converges towards a fixed point. To reveal the invariant polarization relationship among the various wavelength components of the laser output field, the phase diagram of the ellipticity angle and the spherical orientation angle is introduced. We find that, within the central spectral region of the dissipative soliton, the state of polarization evolves with frequency by tracing a uniform arc on the Poincaré sphere, whereas in the edges of the dissipative soliton spectrum, the state of polarization abruptly changes its path. Increasing cavity gain leads to spectral broadening, accompanied by a random scattering of the state of polarization of newly generated frequencies. Further increases of pump power result in dissipative soliton explosions, accompanied by the emergence of a new type of optical polarization rogue waves. These experimental results provide a deeper insight into the transient dynamics of dissipative soliton fiber lasers.

Recently, the perfect vector (PV) beam has sparked considerable interest because its radius is independent of the topological charge (TC), which has demonstrated special capabilities in optical manipulation, microscopy imaging, and laser micromachining. Previous research about the generation and manipulation of such PV beams only focuses on the linear optical fields. Therefore, the generation of nonlinear PV beams is still lacking. Here, we propose a dual waveband generator to simultaneously generate the PV beams in linear and nonlinear wavebands. In our experiment, PV beams with different polarization states are realized. It is proved that the polarization states of the generated PV beams can be flexibly adjusted by changing the axis direction of a half wave plate. The experimental results show that the radii of the generated PV beams are equal and independent of the TCs. With proper alteration of the nonlinear crystals, this approach could be further extended to other nonlinear processes, such as sum-frequency generation and difference-frequency generation.

We have developed a numerical framework that allows estimation of coherence in spatiotemporal and spatiospectral domains. Correlation properties of supercontinuum (SC) pulses generated in a bulk medium are investigated by means of second-order coherence theory of non-stationary fields. The analysis is based on simulations of individual space–time and space–frequency realizations of pulses emerging from a 5 mm thick sapphire plate, in the regimes of normal, zero, and anomalous group velocity dispersion. The temporal and spectral coherence properties are analyzed in the near field (as a function of spatial position at the exit plane of the nonlinear medium) and as a function of propagation direction (spatial frequency) in the far field. Unlike in fiber-generated SC, the bulk case features spectacularly high degrees of temporal and spectral coherence in both the spatial and spatial-frequency domains, with increasing degrees of coherence at higher pump energies. When operating near the SC generation threshold, the overall degrees of temporal and spectral coherence exhibit an axial dip in the spatial domain, whereas in the far field, the degree of coherence is highest around the optical axis.

We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of a highly nonlinear few-mode fiber (HNL-FMF) with an intermodal nonlinear coefficient of 2.8(W·km) 1, which to the best of our knowledge is the highest reported to date. The graded-index circular core fiber supports two mode groups (MGs) with six eigenmodes and is highly doped with germanium. This breaks the mode degeneracy within the higher-order MG, leading to different group velocities among corresponding eigenmodes. Thus, the HNL-FMF can support multiple intermodal four-wave mixing processes between the two MGs at the same time. In a proof-of-concept experiment, we demonstrate simultaneous intermodal wavelength conversions among three eigenmodes of the HNL-FMF over the C band.

We propose to use the low-coherence property of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise to mitigate optical crosstalk, such as spatial, polarization, and modal crosstalk, which currently limits the density of photonic integration and fibers for dense space-division multiplexing. High optical crosstalk tolerance can be achieved by ASE-based low-coherence matched detection, which avoids dedicated optical lasers and uses spectrally filtered ASE noise as the signal carrier and as a matched local oscillator. We experimentally demonstrate spatial and modal crosstalk reduction in multimode fiber (MMF) and realize mode- and wavelength-multiplexed transmission over 1.5-km MMF supporting three spatial modes using a single ASE source. Performance degradation due to model dispersion over MMF is experimentally investigated.