Tunable Optical Frequency Comb Generated Using Periodic Windows in a Laser and Its Application for Distance Measurement.

A novel method for the generation of an optical frequency comb (OFC) is presented. The proposed approach uses a laser diode with optical feedback and operating at a specific nonlinear dynamic state named periodic window. In this case, the laser spectrum exhibits a feature with a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency components, and the repetition rate can be flexibly adjusted by varying the system parameters (e.g., external cavity length), which can provide many potential applications. As an application example, a dual-OFC system for distance measurement is presented. The results demonstrate the system's ability to achieve target distance detection, underscoring its potential for real-world applications in this field.

Achieving Long Distance Sensing Using Semiconductor Laser with Optical Feedback by Operating at Switching Status.

In this study, a novel distance sensing method is presented by using a semiconductor laser (SL) with optical feedback (OF) and operating the SL at a switching status happened between two nonlinear dynamic states (stable state and period-one state). In this case, without the need for any electronic or optical modulation devices, the laser intensity can be modulated in a square wave form due to the switching via utilizing the inherent SL dynamics. The periodicity in the switching enables us to develop a new approach for long-distance sensing compared to other SL with OF-based distance measurement systems and lift the relevant restrictions that existed in the systems. Moreover, the impact of system controllable parameters on the duty cycle of the square wave signals generated was investigated on how to maintain the proposed system robustly operating at the switching status. Both simulation and experiment verified the proposed sensing approach.

Predictive learning of multi-channel isochronal chaotic synchronization by utilizing parallel optical reservoir computers based on three laterally coupled semiconductor lasers with delay-time feedback.

In this work, we utilize three parallel optical reservoir computers to model three optical dynamic systems, respectively. Here, the three laser-elements in the response laser array with both delay-time feedback and optical injection are utilized as nonlinear nodes to realize three optical chaotic reservoir computers (RCs). The nonlinear dynamics of three laser-elements in the driving laser array are predictively learned by these three parallel RCs. We show that these three parallel reservoir computers can reproduce the nonlinear dynamics of the three laser-elements in the driving laser array with self-feedback. Very small training errors for their predictions can be realized by the optimization of two key parameters such as the delay-time and the interval of the virtual nodes. Moreover, these three parallel RCs to be trained will well synchronize with three chaotic laser-elements in the driving laser array, respectively, even when there are some parameter mismatches between the response laser array and the driving laser array. Our findings show that optical reservoir computing approach possibly provide a successful path for the realization of the high-quality chaotic synchronization between the driving laser and the response laser when their rate-equations imperfectly match each other.

Exploring new chaotic synchronization properties in the master-slave configuration based on three laterally coupled semiconductor lasers with self-feedback.

We have developed a theory model for a three-element laser array where three lasers are laterally coupled using the coupled mode theory and Maxwell equations. New chaotic synchronization properties have been observed systematically in the master-slave configuration, consisting of the driving three-element laser array with self-feedback and the response three-element laser array subjected to the parallel injection or cross injection. Under the parallel injection, the dynamic evolutions of high-quality complete chaotic synchronization between laser elements in different parameter spaces seriously depend on the self-feedback mode of the driving laser elements, such as one, two and all of them with self-feedback. It is found that when only the driving middle one or all of the driving laser elements are subject to self-feedback, high-quality complete chaotic synchronization of all laser elements can be achieved in the same large region of the most of the parameter spaces. In addition, we report here for the first time (to our knowledge) the interestingly symmetrical properties of leader/ laggard chaotic synchronization in the configuration under the cross-injection. Namely, the leader/ laggard chaotic synchronization with high quality between laser elements periodically varies with the delay differences, under the key parameters limited to a certain range. The varying traces of these synchronizations are like sine wave. The mirror symmetry between the laggard chaotic synchronization with in-phase (anti-phase) and the leader one with in-phase (anti-phase) can be achieved by the optimization of the structural parameters of laser waveguides. With the optimization of the related operating parameters, for one of the side-lasers, its leader/ laggard chaotic synchronization can be achieved the anti-symmetry between in-phase and anti-phase. On the other hand, for two symmetrical side-lasers, their leader/ laggard chaotic synchronization with in-phase and anti-phase can reach the anti-symmetry.

Automated reconstruction of multiple objects with individual movement based on PSP.

Many methods have been proposed to reconstruct the moving object based on phase shifting profilometry. Quality reconstruction results can be achieved when a single moving object or multiple objects with same movement are measured. However, errors will be introduced when multiple objects with individual movements are reconstructed. This paper proposes an automated method to track and reconstruct the multiple objects with individual movement. First, the objects are identified automatically and their bounding boxes are obtained. Second, with the identified objects' images before movement, the objects are tracked by the KCF algorithm in the successive fringe pattern after movement. Third, the SIFT method is applied on the tracked object images and the objects' movement is described individually by the rotation matrix and translation vector. Finally, the multiple objects are reconstructed based on the different movement information. Experiments are presented to verify the effectiveness.

Optical chaotic flip-flop operations with multiple triggering under clock synchronization in the VCSEL with polarization-preserved optical injection.

We investigate the evolution of nonlinear dynamic behaviors of two polarization components (x-PC and y-PC), as well as the interplay of polarization bistability and injection strength in the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with polarization-preserved optical injection. We explore a new threshold mechanism to judge two logic outputs encoded in different dynamic behaviors of the x-PC and y-PC emitted by the VCSEL with polarization-preserved optical injection. We demonstrate implementations of two parallel optical chaotic reset-set flip-flop operations and two parallel chaotic toggle flip-flop operations that are synchronized by a clock signal and response for as short as 1 ns bit time. We further observe the reconfiguration of these two kinds of flip-flop operations with clock synchronization in different time periods by controlling the duration-time of the reset (toggle) signal with high-level. The probability of the correct trigger responses for these two kinds of flip-flop operations is controlled by the interplay of the duration-time of the reset (toggle) signal and the noise strength of the spontaneous emission. The probability that is equal to 1 for the reset-set flip-flop operations occurs in the long duration-time of the reset (toggle) signal ranging from 480 ps to 592 ps. The probability with 1 for the toggle flip-flop operations takes place in the short duration-time between 116 ps and 170 ps. Moreover, these two kinds of flip-flop operations have strong robust to the spontaneous emission noise. The optical chaotic flip-flop operation device with clock synchronization and reconfigurable trigger function proposed in our scheme offers interesting perspectives for applications where noise is unavoidable and synchronized multiple triggering is required.

Dual-Frequency Doppler LiDAR Based on External Optical Feedback Effect in a Laser.

A novel Dual-frequency Doppler LiDAR (DFDL) is presented where the dual-frequency light source is generated by using external optical feedback (EOF) effect in a laser diode (LD). By operating a LD at period-one (P1) state and choosing suitable LD related parameters, a dual-frequency light source can be achieved. Such a dual-frequency source has advantages of the minimum part-count scheme, low cost in implementation, and ease in optical alignment. Theory and system design are presented for the proposed DFDL for velocity measurement with high measurement resolution. The proposed design has a potential contribution to the Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) in practical engineering applications.

Modeling for optical feedback laser diode operating in period-one oscillation and its application.

An optical feedback laser diode (OFLD) operating in period-one oscillation (POO) with a moving external target is investigated by exploring its potential sensing capability. First, the modeling of an OFLD-POO sensing system is presented. An analytical expression is derived for OFLD-POO sensing signal, from which a new displacement measurement method is developed. The proposed sensing model is verified by the well-known Lang-Kobayashi equations used to describe the dynamic behavior of a laser with optical feedback. Then, an experimental OFLD-POO system is built in order to demonstrate an application example for displacement sensing. The measurement results show that the OFLD-POO sensing system can achieve displacement measurement with large measurement range, high sensitivity, and resolution.

Optical chaotic data-selection logic operation with the fast response for picosecond magnitude.

We investigate the evolution of nonlinear dynamic behaviors of two polarization components (x-PC and y-PC), as well as the interplay of polarization bistability, frequency detuning and injection strength in the vertical cavity surface emitting laser with optical injection. Specifically, by encoding two logic inputs and one clock input in the amplitude of the light from a sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector laser, and by decoding two output logic responses from the x-PC and y-PC emitted by the laser, we demonstrate two parallel data-selection computing. The correct logic output encoded in two emitted PCs response for as short as 100 ps bit time and the response bit time of the correct logic output encoded in the y-PC may be 67 ps by the optimization of the injection strength. The probability of a correct response is controlled by the interplay of the bit time, the injection strength and noise strength, and is equal to 1 in a wide region of the injection strength and noise strength. The chaotic data-selection computing in an optically VCSEL offer interesting perspectives for applications where noise is unavoidable and fast switching is required.

Channel Covariance Matrix Estimation via Dimension Reduction for Hybrid MIMO MmWave Communication Systems.

Hybrid massive MIMO structures with lower hardware complexity and power consumption have been considered as potential candidates for millimeter wave (mmWave) communications. Channel covariance information can be used for designing transmitter precoders, receiver combiners, channel estimators, etc. However, hybrid structures allow only a lower-dimensional signal to be observed, which adds difficulties for channel covariance matrix estimation. In this paper, we formulate the channel covariance estimation as a structured low-rank matrix sensing problem via Kronecker product expansion and use a low-complexity algorithm to solve this problem. Numerical results with uniform linear arrays (ULA) and uniform squared planar arrays (USPA) are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.

Robust Entangled-Photon Ghost Imaging with Compressive Sensing.

This work experimentally demonstrates that the imaging quality of quantum ghost imaging (GI) with entangled photons can be significantly improved by properly handling the errors caused by the imperfection of optical devices. We also consider compressive GI to reduce the number of measurements and thereby the data acquisition time. The image reconstruction is formulated as a sparse total least square problem which is solved with an iterative algorithm. Our experiments show that, compared with existing methods, the new method can achieve a significant performance gain in terms of mean square error and peak signal⁻noise ratio.

General model for phase shifting profilometry with an object in motion.

When implementing the phase shifting profilometry to reconstruct an object, the object is always required to be kept stable as multiple fringe patterns are required. Movement during the measurement will cause failed reconstruction. This paper proposes a general model describing the fringe patterns with any three-dimensional movement based on phase shifting profilometry. The object movement is classified as five types and their characteristics are analyzed respectively. Then, by introducing a virtual plane, the influence on the phase value caused by different types of movement is described mathematically and a new model including movement information is proposed. At last, with the help of the movement tracking and least-square algorithm, the moving object is reconstructed with high accuracy. The proposed method can remove the reference plane during the reconstruction of the moving object, which extends the application range of the phase shifting profilometry. The effectiveness of the proposed model is verified by the experiments.

Measuring Linewidth Enhancement Factor by Relaxation Oscillation Frequency in a Laser with Optical Feedback.

This paper presents a new method for measuring the linewidth enhancement factor (alpha factor) by the relaxation oscillation (RO) frequency of a laser with external optical feedback (EOF). A measurement formula for alpha is derived which shows the alpha can be determined by only using the RO frequencies and no need to know any other parameters related to the internal or external parameters associated to the laser. Unlike the existing EOF based alpha measurement methods which require an external target has a symmetric reciprocate movement. The proposed method only needs to move the target to be in a few different positions along the light beam. Furthermore, this method also suits for the case with alpha less than 1. Both simulation and experiment are performed to verify the proposed method.

Laser Self-Mixing Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor for Acoustic Emission Measurement.

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is considered a good candidate for acoustic emission (AE) measurement. The sensing and measurement in traditional FBG-based AE systems are based on the variation in laser intensity induced by the Bragg wavelength shift. This paper presents a sensing system by combining self-mixing interference (SMI) in a laser diode and FBG for AE measurement, aiming to form a new compact and cost-effective sensing system. The measurement model of the overall system was derived. The performance of the presented system was investigated from both aspects of theory and experiment. The results show that the proposed system is able to measure AE events with high resolution and over a wide dynamic frequency range.

Automated approach for the surface profile measurement of moving objects based on PSP.

Phase shifting profilometry can achieve high accuracy for the 3D shape measurement of static object. Errors will be introduced when the object is moved during the movement. The fundamental reason causing the above issue is: PSP requires multiple fringe patterns but the reconstruction model does not include the object movement information. This paper proposes a new method to automatically measure the 3D shape of the rigid object with arbitrary 2D movement. Firstly, the object movement is tracked by the SIFT algorithm and the rotation matrix and translation vector describing the movement are estimated. Then, with the reconstruction model including movement information, a least-square algorithm is applied to retrieve the correct phase value. The proposed method can significantly reduce the errors caused by the object movement. The whole reconstruction process does not need human intervention and the proposed method has high potential to be applied in industrial applications. Experiments are presented to verify the effectiveness.

Displacement sensing using the relaxation oscillation frequency of a laser diode with optical feedback.

A laser diode (LD) with external optical feedback can generate undamped relaxation oscillation (RO) under certain operational conditions. The RO frequency can be modified by the external cavity length of the LD and is highly sensitive to the variation of the cavity length (ΔL). This work first investigates the relationship between the RO frequency and ΔL by solving the well-known Lang-Kobayashi (L-K) equations and then verifies the relationship by experiments. Both theory and experiment show that the RO frequency changes in a sawtooth-like quasi-periodic manner with respect to ΔL. The fundamental period is half laser wavelength. This sawtooth feature enables us to achieve period unwrapping and thus extend the measurement range up to a few micrometers. This work shows a possible new solution for achieving high-resolution, large-range displacement measurements.

Etched Polymer Fibre Bragg Gratings and Their Biomedical Sensing Applications.

Bragg gratings in etched polymer fibres and their unique properties and characteristics are discussed in this paper. Due to the change in material and mechanical properties of the polymer fibre through etching, Bragg gratings inscribed in such fibres show high reflectivity and enhanced intrinsic sensitivity towards strain, temperature, and pressure. The short-term and long-term stability of the gratings and the effect of hysteresis on the dynamic characteristics are also discussed. The unique properties and enhanced intrinsic sensitivity of etched polymer fibre Bragg grating are ideal for the development of high-sensitivity sensors for biomedical applications. To demonstrate their biomedical sensing capabilities, a high-sensitivity pressure transducer that operates in the blood pressure range, and a breathing rate monitoring device are developed and presented.

A Fiber-Coupled Self-Mixing Laser Diode for the Measurement of Young's Modulus.

This paper presents the design of a fiber-coupled self-mixing laser diode (SMLD) for non-contact and non-destructive measurement of Young's modulus. By the presented measuring system, the Young's modulus of aluminum 6061 and brass are measured as 70.0 GPa and 116.7 GPa, respectively, showing a good agreement within the standards in the literature and yielding a much smaller deviation and a higher repeatability compared with traditional tensile testing. Its fiber-coupled characteristics make the system quite easy to be installed in many application cases.

Features of a Self-Mixing Laser Diode Operating Near Relaxation Oscillation.

When a fraction of the light reflected by an external cavity re-enters the laser cavity, both the amplitude and the frequency of the lasing field can be modulated. This phenomenon is called the self-mixing effect (SME). A self-mixing laser diode (SM-LD) is a sensor using the SME. Usually, such LDs operate below the stability boundary where no relaxation oscillation happens. The boundary is determined by the operation condition including the injection current, optical feedback strength and external cavity length. This paper discovers the features of an SM-LD where the LD operates beyond the stability boundary, that is, near the relaxation oscillation (RO) status. We call the signals from such a SM-LD as RO-SM signals to differentiate them from the conventional SM signals reported in the literature. Firstly, simulations are made based on the well-known Lang and Kobayashi (L-K) equations. Then the experiments are conducted on different LDs to verify the simulation results. It shows that a RO-SM signal exhibits high frequency oscillation with its amplitude modulated by a slow time varying envelop which corresponds to the movement of the external target. The envelope has same fringe structure (half-wavelength displacement resolution) with the conventional SM signals. However, the amplitudes of the RO-SM signals are much higher compared to conventional SM signals. The results presented reveal that an SM-LD operating near the RO has potential for achieving sensing with improved sensitivity.

Skeleton extraction and phase interpolation for single ESPI fringe pattern based on the partial differential equations.

A novel phase extraction method for single electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) fringes is proposed. The partial differential equations (PDEs) are used to extract the skeletons of the gray-scale fringe and to interpolate the whole-field phase values based on skeleton map. Firstly, the gradient vector field (GVF) of the initial fringe is adjusted by an anisotropic PDE. Secondly, the skeletons of the fringe are extracted combining the divergence property of the adjusted GVF. After assigning skeleton orders, the whole-field phase information is interpolated by the heat conduction equation. The validity of the proposed method is verified by computer-simulated and experimentally obtained poor-quality ESPI fringe patterns.