Laser restructuring and photoluminescence of glass-clad GaSb/Si-core optical fibres.

Semiconductor-core optical fibres have potential applications in photonics and optoelectronics due to large nonlinear optical coefficients and an extended transparency window. Laser processing can impose large temperature gradients, an ability that has been used to improve the uniformity of unary fibre cores, and to inscribe compositional variations in alloy systems. Interest in an integrated light-emitting element suggests a move from Group IV to III-V materials, or a core that contains both. This paper describes the fabrication of GaSb/Si core fibres, and a subsequent CO2 laser treatment that aggregates large regions of GaSb without suppressing room temperature photoluminescence. The ability to isolate a large III-V crystalline region within the Si core is an important step towards embedding semiconductor light sources within infrared light-transmitting silicon optical fibre.

Kerr nonlinear switching in a hybrid silica-silicon microspherical resonator.

A hybrid silicon-core, silica-clad microspherical resonator has been fabricated from the semiconductor core fiber platform. Linear and nonlinear characterization of the resonator properties have shown it to exhibit advantageous properties associated with both materials, with the low loss cladding supporting high quality (Q) factor whispering gallery modes which can be tuned through the nonlinear response of the crystalline core. By exploiting the large wavelength shift associated with the Kerr nonlinearity, we have demonstrated all-optical modulation of a weak probe on the timescale of the femtosecond pump pulse. This novel geometry offers a route to ultra-low loss, high-Q silica-based resonators with enhanced functionality.

Silicon-core glass fibres as microwire radial-junction solar cells.

Vertically aligned radial-junction solar cell designs offer potential improvements over planar geometries, as carrier generation occurs close to the junction for all absorption depths, but most production methods still require a single crystal substrate. Here, we report on the fabrication of such solar cells from polycrystalline, low purity (99.98%) p-type silicon starting material, formed into silicon core, silica sheath fibres using bulk glass draw techniques. Short segments were cut from the fibres, and the silica was etched from one side, which exposed the core and formed a conical cavity around it. We then used vapour deposition techniques to create p-i-n junction solar cells. Prototype cells formed from single fibres have shown conversion efficiencies up to 3.6%, despite the low purity of the starting material. This fabrication method has the potential to reduce the energy cost and the silicon volume required for solar cell production. Simulations were performed to investigate the potential of the conical cavity around the silicon core for light collection. Absorption of over 90% of the incident light was predicted, over a wide range of wavelengths, using these structures in combination with a 10% volume fraction of silicon.

Improved longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr effect signal contrast from nanomagnets with dielectric coatings.

We report on the use of dielectric coatings to improve the contrast of longitudinal magneto-optic Kerr effect signals from submicron magnetic structures. Electron-beam lithography was used to define disks in 22 nm thick Ni films deposited on Si substrates. The structures were measured in four configurations: as-deposited, through a fused silica prism using index-matching fluid, coated with ZnS, and using a prism on top of the ZnS layer. The modified samples show up to 20 times improvement in the MOKE contrast due to admittance matching to the magnetic material and suppression of the substrate reflectance. The behavior is successfully predicted by a model that includes the magneto-optic response of the nickel layer and accounts for the fraction of the beam intercepted by the magnetic structure.

Effects of low substrate temperature and ion assisted deposition on composition, optical properties, and stress of ZnS thin films.

ZnS thin films were deposited with and without ion assisted deposition onto substrates held at temperatures ranging from -120 to 50 degrees C. Effects on chemical and crystalline composition, film microstructure, refractive index, stress, and waveguide losses were investigated. We observed that minimum stress and minimum losses occurred at the same deposition temperature (-50 degrees C) in ZnS films, which also corresponded to a quenching of crystallinity.

Prism coupling into ZnS waveguides: a classic example of a nonlinear coupler.

Prism coupling of an argon laser into a nonlinear ZnS waveguide was investigated for power slew rates much less than the nonlinearity relaxation time. The angular variation in coupling efficiency becomes progressively more asymmetric with increasing power until switching occurs on one side of the curve. For large detunings on the switching side, increasing absorption bistability was observed.