U-shape core-offset fiber sensor with submicrostrain resolution over a 35 millistrain range.

Large strain with submicro resolution is essential for steel structural monitoring; however, the fiber base sensors are limited by the glass extension to be less than 1%. Here, we propose a U-shape core-offset fiber sensor including four fiber segments to realize a large strain sensor. Four fiber segments with slight length differences in between are core-offset fused together to achieve U-shape spring-like microstructure fiber for large transverse bending radius. The reflected high-order modes at three silica/air interfaces interfere to give a broad spectrum due to unequal segment length, which enables continuous strain detection over 35 mɛ. The air and glass hybrid structure of the device enables the large bending, and hence compression and tension measurement can be achieved simultaneously. The strain sensitivity is up to 20.75 pm/µÉ› with the strain accuracy of 0.5 µÉ›. This novel, to the best of our knowledge, core-offset fiber has high strain sensitivity and large strain range for compression and tension strain measurement. Furthermore, the proposed strain sensor can be fabricated easily for practical applications where large strain with high strain accuracy is needed.

Efficient continuous-wave eye-safe Nd:YVO4 self-Raman laser at 1.5 µm.

Due to a high Raman threshold and serious thermal effect, a challenge is to achieve efficient continuous-wave (CW) operation of a crystalline Raman laser at 1.5 µm. Based on effective thermal management and the self-Raman effect, we demonstrate, to our knowledge, the first efficient CW operation of a Nd:YVO4 Raman laser at 1.5 µm. We achieve 685 mW of CW eye-safe emission at 1524.5 nm by the use of a 20-mm-long composite Nd:YVO4 and 300-µm pump beam radius, with a diode-to-Stokes conversion efficiency of 4.8%. Lasers operating at ∼1.5µm have found many important applications in various areas such as optical communication, laser radar, laser ranging, remote sensing, and spectral research.

Widely tunable surface plasmon resonance and uniquely superior SERS performance of Au nanotube network films.

Three-dimensional Au network films with flexibility and transferability were fabricated based on sputtering deposition onto electrospun nanofibers as a template. The films are constructed using long Au nanotubes that are cross-linked with each other and that have dense nanoparticles on the tube wall surface. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peaks for the films are tunable in a wide range, from visible light to the near-infrared region, by tuning the inner diameter and/or wall thickness of the nanotubes. Such structured film exhibits significant surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity with good signal uniformity and stability, and possesses great potential in thein situdetection of trace organic pollutants on a solid surface by simple transferring. This study provides a Au film with a unique structure and widely tunable SPR forin situSERS sensing and other needs.

Controllable coupling between an ultra-high-Q microtoroid cavity and a graphene monolayer for optical filtering and switching applications.

Whispering-gallery-mode optical microresonators have found impactful applications in various areas due to their remarkable properties such as ultra-high quality factor (Q-factor), small mode volume, and strong evanescent field. Among these applications, controllable tuning of the optical Q-factor is vital for on-chip optical modulation and various opto-electronic devices. Here, we report an experimental demonstration with a hybrid structure formed by an ultra-high-Q microtoroid cavity and a graphene monolayer. Thanks to the strong interaction of the evanescent wave with the graphene, the structure allows the Q-factor to be controllably varied in the range of 3.9 × 105 ∼ 6.2 × 107 by engineering optical absorption via changing the gap distance in between. At the same time, a resonant wavelength shift of 32 pm was also observed. Besides, the scheme enables us to approach the critical coupling with a coupling depth of 99.6%. As potential applications in integrated opto-electronic devices, we further use the system to realize a tunable optical filter with tunable bandwidth from 116.5 MHz to 2.2 GHz as well as an optical switch with a maximal extinction ratio of 31 dB and response time of 21 ms.

Combined compression-tension strain sensor over 1 µÎµ-20 mε by using non-uniform multiple-core-offset fiber.

Combined compression-tension strain sensors with a range of 1 micro to a maximum of 20 milli-strain based on non-uniform multiple-core-offset fibers have been realized. A large strain range with high resolution is ideal for monitoring deformation of steel structures where a large compressive and tensile strain co-exists. Thanks to core-offset splicing of non-uniform fiber segments, unique asymmetric waveguides reduce the degeneracy of each section, realizing a reflection spectrum with a large range and irregular shape. Furthermore, enhanced multi-mode interference induced from high-order modes in silica cladding and air results in the large strain range with high resolution in both compression and tension regions. The sensitivity of 7.93 pm/µÎµ with a strain step of 1.7 µÎµ is achieved for micro-strain measurement. For milli-strain measurement, a strain coefficient of 1.298 nm/mε over a tensile strain of 13.2 mε is realized; in the compressive strain case, a coefficient of -1.251nm/mε over compression of 20.1 mε is observed.

Chalcogenide microfiber-assisted silica microfiber for ultrasound detection.

An ultra-compact ultrasound sensor with a chalcogenide (ChG) microfiber and a silica microfiber is fabricated. It can detect the ultrasound wave generated by a piezoelectric transducer peaked at 3.7 MHz. The sensor shows the broadband ultrasound frequency response with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), owing to the high refractive index and small Young's modulus of ChG material. A ChG (${{\rm As}_2}{{\rm Se}_3}$As2Se3) microfiber of 2 µm diameter is adhered to the surface of a silica microfiber with a diameter of 5 µm via Van der Waals force; the transmission spectrum has high contrast due to multi-mode interference in this hybrid structure. The SNR response could be up to 70 dB, especially at low frequency due to the soft ChG microfiber as a sensing unit to magnify the ultrasound signal, along with an SNR over 12 dB at ultrasound of 31.2 MHz. As a comparison, a silica taper with the same size as the ChG microfiber is also placed on the silica microfiber with a diameter of 5 µm to detect an ultrasound signal from 18 kHz to 9.4 MHz with an SNR lower than that based on the ChG microfiber up to 38.8 dB, showing the high sensitivity of the ChG microfiber.

Ultracompact twisted silica taper for 20 kHz to 94 MHz ultrasound sensing.

An ultracompact twisted silica taper with an asymmetric structure is fabricated by fire-drawing two twisted single-mode fibers for broadband ultrasound sensing. A piezoelectric transducer (PZT), peaked at 3.7 MHz, is used as an ultrasound generator. A steel plate with a silica taper attached is adhered to the PZT and is used as the ultrasound propagation medium. The transmission spectrum of the silica taper has high contrast owing to multimode interference in this twisted silica structure. Specially, the taper waist length and waist diameter are optimized for the highest optical sensitivity with high contrast at high slope in the transmission spectrum. The ultrasound sensitivity is characterized by a different thickness of the steel plate from 0 to 2.36 mm to achieve the highest ultrasound frequency response. With the taper waist length of 5 mm, waist diameter of 5 µm, and steel thickness of 0 mm, a broadband ultrasound frequency of 20 kHz to 94.4 MHz can be detected at high harmonics of the PZT, verifying the high sensitivity of the compact twisted silica taper.

Ultrasound sensing based on an in-fiber dual-cavity Fabry-Perot interferometer.

Highly sensitive and broadband ultrasound (tens of megahertz) detectors can extend the capabilities of photo-acoustic imaging in biomedical application and nondestructive test inspection. Here ultra-compact fiber-based multi-mode dual-cavity Fabry-Perot interferometer (DC-FPI) ultrasound sensors are proposed by splicing three sections of cleaved standard single-mode fibers with the fiber off-core cross section in the middle. The contrasts, reflectivity, and linewidths of the DC-FPIs have been comprehensively characterized. The broadband frequency responses, ranging from 5 kHz to 45.4 MHz, are demonstrated by using the high harmonics of a piezoelectric transducer centered at 3.7 MHz. In addition, the influences of different resonant modes in the DC-FPI on the ultrasound frequency response have been demonstrated. The high-frequency and broadband response of such a simple and cost-effective ultrasound device offers new opportunities to the industrial ultrasound-based and advanced biomedical applications.

Microlaser based on a hybrid structure of a semiconductor nanowire and a silica microdisk cavity.

We experimentally demonstrate a hybrid structure microlaser on chip with a single CdSe nanowire attached to a high-Q silica microdisk cavity at room temperature. When pumped by a 532 nm pulse laser, both single-longitudinal mode and multi-longitudinal mode lasers with linewidth of 0.18 nm are obtained from the hybrid structure with a 58-µm-diameter microdisk and a 250-nm diameter nanowire. The measured lasing threshold of the microlaser is as low as 100 µJ/cm².

Controllable optical analog to electromagnetically induced transparency in coupled high-Q microtoroid cavities.

We experimentally demonstrate an all-optical analog to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) on chip using coupled high-Q silica microtoroid cavities with Q-factors above 10(6). The transmission spectrum of the all-optical analog to EIT is precisely controlled by tuning the distance between the two microtoroids, as well as the detunings of the resonance frequencies of the two cavities.