Wearable strain sensor integrating mechanoluminescent fiber with a flexible printed circuit.

This paper reports an optical strain sensor that integrates a self-powered mechanoluminescent (ML) elastic fiber with a flexible circuit. The inclusion of an alumina nanoparticle as the additive results in seven-fold enhancement of ML intensity while maintaining flexibility of 120% strain. The sensor facilitates the detection of strain and stretching speed. It attains a sensitivity of 0.0022 lx/(1% strain) and a resolution of 0.2% strain, respectively. We have successfully applied it to detect bending motions of the finger, wrist, and elbow. This wearable strain sensor holds promise for diverse applications in wearable technology.

Reconfigurable ultra-broadband mode converter based on a two-mode fiber with pressure-loaded phase-shifted long-period alloyed waveguide grating.

We present a reconfigurable ultra-broadband mode converter, which consists of a two-mode fiber (TMF) and pressure-loaded phase-shifted long-period alloyed waveguide grating. We design and fabricate the long-period alloyed waveguide gratings (LPAWG) with SU-8, chromium, and titanium via the photo-lithography and electric beam evaporation technique. With the help of the pressure loaded or released from the LPAWG onto the TMF, the device can realize reconfigurable mode conversion between the LP01 mode and the LP11 mode in the TMF, which is weak sensitive to the state of polarization. The mode conversion efficiency larger than 10 dB can be achieved with operation wavelength range of about 105 nm, which ranges from 1501.9 nm to 1606.7 nm. The proposed device can be further used in the large bandwidth mode division multiplexing (MDM) transmission and optical fiber sensing system based on few-mode fibers.

Three-dimensional mode multiplexer based on adiabatic-tapered waveguides forming vertical directional couplers over C + L band and beyond.

We present a mode multiplexer based on vertical directional couplers that are formed by adiabatic-tapered waveguides. We design and fabricate the device via the micro-fabrication processing to (de)multiplex the E11, E21, and E12 modes from the few-mode bus waveguide. Our experimental device shows a coupling ratio higher than 98.6% and 97.0% for the E21 and E12 modes, respectively, over the C + L band and beyond. The modal cross talk of this device can be lower than -17.1 dB, -18.4 dB, and -15.1 dB caused by the unintended E11, E21, and E12 modes, respectively. This mode multiplexer can work over a broader wavelength range with weak polarization sensitivity, which could be used in the mode-division-multiplexing systems where mode (de)multiplexing is required in the expanded communication wavelength window other than the C-band.

Low-power all-optical switch based on a graphene-buried polymer waveguide Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

We propose a low-power all-optical switch based on the structure of a graphene-buried balanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), where the signal light is switched between the two output ports of the MZI by the heat generated from graphene's absorption of the pump light. We use orthogonal polarizations for the pump and the signal light to maximize pump absorption and minimize graphene-induced signal loss. Our experimental device fabricated with polymer waveguides buried with 5-mm long graphene shows a pump absorption of 10.6 dB (at 980 nm) and a graphene-induced signal loss of 1.1 dB (at 1550 nm) and can switch the signal light with a pump power of 6.0 mW at an extinction ratio of 36 dB. The actual pump power absorbed by graphene for activating switching is estimated to be 2.2 mW. The rise and fall times of the switch are 1.0 and 2.7 ms, respectively. The switching characteristics are weakly sensitive to ambient temperature variations. Our device can be butt-coupled to single-mode fibers and could find applications in fiber-based and on-chip all-optical signal processing.

Ultra-broadband LP11 mode converter with high purity based on long-period fiber grating and an integrated Y-junction.

We report an ultra-broadband LP11 mode converter with high purity based on integrated two shunt-wound long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) and an adiabatic Y-junction, together with a high-order-mode bandpass filter. Two shunt-wound LPFGs are inscribed by CO2 laser in a two-mode fiber to achieve a 10 dB bandwidth of 50 nm and 51 nm at resonance wavelengths of 1530 nm and 1570 nm, respectively. Meanwhile, the Y-junction fabricated by lithography can be operated over S + C+L band to combine the converted LP11 mode. The presented ultra-broadband mode converter is able to achieve a mode conversion efficiency of 95%, together with a wavelength-dependent loss of less than 3 dB over the S + C+L band. This device has low modal crosstalk of 17 dB between the LP01 and LP11 modes, because most of the residual LP01 mode is further filtered by a high-order-mode bandpass filter at the output port of the Y-junction. The insertion loss of mode converter is estimated to be lower than 2.7 dB, due to the use of low loss polymer material during the fabrication. The proposed ultra-broadband LP11 mode converter with high purity is promising for the application of ultra-broadband mode-division-multiplexing transmission systems.

All-optical light manipulation based on graphene-embedded side-polished fiber.

We present a study of all-optical light manipulation arising in a graphene-embedded side-polished fiber (SPF) with a Norland Optical Adhesives (NOA)-coated structure. With the help of the Pauli blocking effect, such an all-fiber device serves to manage the loss of transverse-electric-polarized light when the control light and the signal light are polarized along the direction parallel to the graphene surface. The insertion loss of this device can be effectively reduced with the NOA coating. An enhanced interaction between the graphene and the propagated light can be achieved via the strong evanescent field of the SPF and longer interaction length. This results in effective all-optical manipulation of light with a modulation depth of 10.4 dB (or modulation efficiency of ∼91%) and a modulation slope of ∼1.3, where the required control power is only about 14 dBm. The device has broadband operation wavelength. The insertion loss for both the signal light and the control light are only about 0.6 dB. The experimental results are well-fitting with the simulation study. Such an all-fiber device has the potential for all-optical signal processing.

Graphene electrodes for electric poling of electro-optic polymer films.

We propose electric poling of electro-optic (EO) polymer films with graphene electrodes. The use of graphene electrodes can waive the use of buffer layers and minimize the poling voltage. To demonstrate the idea, we prepared EO polymer thin-film waveguides for poling with traditional Au/ITO electrodes and graphene electrodes, where the EO polymer is a guest-host system formed by doping 15 wt% of dipolar polyene chromophore AJLZ53 into the random copolymer P(S-co-MMA). Our experiments confirm that the use of graphene electrodes can significantly reduce the poling voltage. For a 3.8-µm-thick EO polymer film, we achieve high EO coefficients of 82 pm/V at 1541 nm and 110 pm/V at 1300 nm with a poling voltage of 420 V. In addition, the use of graphene electrodes allows more flexible waveguide designs and can potentially simplify the fabrication of devices based on EO polymer.

Optical modulation in hybrid antiresonant hollow-core fiber infiltrated with vanadium dioxide phase change nanocrystals.

We present a study of optical modulation by the effect of temperature-induced insulator-to-metal phase transition of vanadium dioxide (VO2) nanocrystals deposited in an antiresonance hollow-core fiber (AR-HCF). We fabricate such a VO2-coated fiber by embedding alkylsilane functionalized VO2 nanocrystals into the air holes of an AR-HCF. With this fiber, we achieve an optical loss modulation of ∼60% at a temperature above ∼53∘C over an ultrabroad spectral range that encompasses the S+C+L band.

Broadband mode switch based on a three-dimensional waveguide Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

We propose a mode switch that operates on modulating the optical phases of a three-dimensional balanced four-arm waveguide Mach-Zehnder interferometer. We design and fabricate the device with polymer material to achieve thermo-optic switching between any two of the E11, E21, E12, and E22 modes of the waveguide. Our experimental device shows an extinction ratio higher than 14 dB and a switching time shorter than 3.7 ms, measured with the E11 mode switched to any of the other modes at 1550 nm. This mode switch can operate over a wide range of wavelengths with weak polarization dependence and could be used in reconfigurable fiber-based mode-division-multiplexing systems where mode routing is required.

Micro-bending vector sensor based on six-air-hole grapefruit microstructure fiber using lateral offset splicing.

A one-dimensional micro-bending vector sensor based on two-mode interference has been introduced. This device was fabricated by lateral offset splicing a piece of six-air-hole grapefruit microstructure fiber (GMF) with single mode fiber (SMF). Variation of effective mode index occurred by micro-bending was investigated in simulation and experiment. This device exhibits micro-bending sensitivities of 0.441 nm/m(-1) and -0.754 nm/m(-1) at 0° and 180° bending orientations, respectively. Moreover, this sensor is immune to surrounding refractive index (SRI) and presents a low crosstalk of temperature.

Ambient refractive index-independent bending vector sensor based on seven-core photonic crystal fiber using lateral offset splicing.

A novel, simple, and compact optical fiber directional bending vector sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The device consists of a piece of seven-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sandwiched between two single mode fibers (SMFs) with a lateral offset splicing joint that covering two cores of PCF. Bending sensitivity of the seven-core PCF based MZI is changed by an axial rotation angle, which shows its capacity for recognizing positive and negative directions. Within a curvature range of -7.05 m-1 to 7.05 m-1, the calculated bending sensitivities of two resonant central wavelengths with opposite fiber orientations are 1.232 nm/m-1 and 1.174 nm/m-1, respectively. This novel MZI is formed by invoking interference between the LP01-like supermode and other higher order supermodes in the core, which leads to insensitive to ambient refractive index (ARI). We have also investigated the transmission characteristics of the sensor with the temperature change.

Low Power Consuming Mode Switch Based on Hybrid-Core Vertical Directional Couplers with Graphene Electrode-Embedded Polymer Waveguides.

We propose a mode switch based on hybrid-core vertical directional couplers with an embedded graphene electrode to realize the switching function with low power consumption. We designed the device with Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA) material as the guide wave cores and epoxy polymer material as cladding to achieve a thermo-optic switching for the E11, E21 and E12 modes, where monolayer graphene served as electrode heaters. The device, with a length of 21 mm, had extinction ratios (ERs) of 20.5 dB, 10.4 dB and 15.7 dB for the E21, E12 and E11 modes, respectively, over the C-band. The power consumptions of three electric heaters were reduced to only 3.19 mW, 3.09 mW and 2.97 mW, respectively, and the response times were less than 495 µs, 486 µs and 498 µs. Additionally, we applied such a device into a mode division multiplexing (MDM) transmission system to achieve an application of gain equalization of few-mode amplification among guided modes. The differential modal gain (DMG) could be optimized from 5.39 dB to 0.92 dB over the C-band, together with the characteristic of polarization insensitivity. The proposed mode switch can be further developed to switch or manipulate the attenuation of the arbitrary guided mode arising in the few-mode waveguide.