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Asymmetric control of light with nonlinear material is of great significance in the design of novel micro-photonic components, such as asymmetric imaging devices and nonreciprocal directional optical filters. However, the use of nonlinear photonic crystals for asymmetric optical transmission, to the best of our knowledge, is still an untouched area of research. Herein we propose the 3D nonlinear detour phase holography for realizing asymmetric SH wavefront shaping by taking advantage of the dependence of the SH phase on the propagation direction of the excitation beam. With the proposed method, the designed nonreciprocal 3D nonlinear detour phase hologram yields SH phases with opposite signs for the forward and backward transmission situations. Moreover, the quasi-phase-matching scheme and orbital angular momentum conservation in the asymmetric SH wavefront shaping process are also discussed. This study conceptually extends the 2D nonlinear detour phase holography into 3D space to build the nonreciprocal 3D nonlinear detour phase hologram for achieving SH twin-image elimination and asymmetric SH wavefront shaping, offering new possibilities for the design of nonreciprocal optical devices.
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Direct femtosecond laser writing of ferroelectric domain structures has been an indispensable technique for engineering the second-order optical nonlinearity of materials in three dimensions. It utilizes localized thermoelectric field motivated by nonlinear absorption at the position of laser focus to manipulate domains. However, the impact of laser wavelengths, which is pivotal in nonlinear absorption, on the inverted domains is still sketchy. Herein, the light-induced ferroelectric domain inversion is experimentally studied. It is shown that the domain inversions can be achieved over a broad spectral range, but the optical threshold for domain inversion varies dramatically with the laser wavelength, which can be explained by considering the physical mechanism of femtosecond laser poling and nonlinear absorption properties of the crystal. Meanwhile, the effects of other laser processing parameters are also experimentally investigated. Our findings are useful to guide the fabrication of high-performance optical and electronic devices based on ferroelectric domains.
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Nonlinear wavefront shaping in periodically poled ferroelectric crystals has received great attention because it offers a convenient way to generate a structured light beam at new frequencies. In contrast to structurally uniform beams like Laguerre-Gaussian or Hermite-Gaussian modes, here we demonstrate the possibility to generate a spatially varied optical bottle beam via a frequency doubling process in a domain-engineered Sr0.61Ba0.39Nb2O6 (SBN) crystal. The nonlinear holography method was employed to design the modulation pattern of the second-order nonlinear coefficient χ(2), and the femtosecond laser poling was used to imprint the χ(2) pattern into the SBN crystal via ferroelectric domain inversion. The second harmonic bottle beam with zero intensity in its center that is surrounded in all three dimensions by light was observed with the incidence of a fundamental Gaussian beam. These results are useful for nonlinear generation and control of structured light at new frequencies, which has important applications in nonlinear photonics and quantum optics.
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We report an experimental study on transmission of orbital angular momentum mode in antiresonant fibers generated with a dedicated all-fiber optical vortex phase mask. The vortex generator can convert Gaussian beam into vortex beams with topological charge l = 1. Generated vortex beam is directly butt-coupled into the antiresonant fiber and propagates over distance of 150â cm. The stability and sensitivity of the transmitted vortex beam on the external perturbations including bending, axial stress, and twisting is investigated. We demonstrate distortion-free vortex propagation for the axial stress force below 0.677 N, a bend radius greater than 10â cm.
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Transverse second-harmonic generation, in which the emission angles of the second harmonic are determined by the spatial modulation of the quadratic nonlinearity, has important applications in nonlinear optical imaging, holography, and beam shaping. Here we study the role of the local duty cycle of the nonlinearity on the light intensity distribution in transverse second-harmonic generation, taking the generation of perfect vortices in periodically poled ferroelectric crystal as an example. We show, theoretically and experimentally, that spatial variations of the nonlinearity modulation must be accompanied by the corresponding changes of the width of inverted ferroelectric domains, to ensure uniformity of the light intensity distribution in the generated second harmonic. This work provides a fundamental way to achieve high-quality transverse second-harmonic generation and, hence, opens more possibilities in applications based on harmonic generation and its control.
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We used an all-optical poling method to fabricate quadratic nonlinearity gratings in a tetragonal 0.62Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.38PbTiO3 (PMN-38PT) crystal. We then employed these gratings in quasi-phase matched collinear second harmonic generation processes. By measuring the second harmonic output, we provided, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, quantitative estimates of all three non-zero quadratic nonlinearity coefficients of the PMN-38PT crystal.
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We investigate scalar and vector multi-hump spatial solitons resulting from competing Kerr-like nonlinear responses excited in a nonlocal medium by either one or two (mutually incoherent) light beams. Two-color vector supermode solitons are more amenable to control but exhibit an intriguing form of spontaneous symmetry breaking in propagation.
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We study the propagation dynamics of bright optical vortex solitons in nematic liquid crystals with a nonlocal reorientational nonlinear response. We investigate the role of optical birefringence on the stability of these solitons. In agreement with recent experimental observations, we show that the birefringence-induced astigmatism can eventually destabilize these vortex solitons. However, for low and moderate birefringence, vortex solitons can propagate stably over experimentally relevant distances.
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We study the theoretical formation of optical vortices using a nanostructured gradient index phase mask. We consider structures composed of spatially distributed thermally matched glass nanorods with high and low refractive indices. Influence of effective refractive profile distribution, refractive index contrast of component glasses and charge value on the quality of generation of vortices are discussed. A trade-off between waveguiding and phase modulation effects for various refractive index contrast is presented and analysed.
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We study experimentally the interaction of mutually incoherent bright spatial solitons in dye-doped nematic liquid crystals (LCs). The dye-induced light absorption results in a complex nonlinear optical response of the LC having spatially nonlocal focusing and defocusing contributions. The competition between both nonlinearities leads to the separation-dependent soliton interaction with repulsion of distant and attraction of closely placed solitons.
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We study nonlinear propagation of light in colloidal suspension of metallic nanoparticles, in the regime of particles surface plasmon resonance. We show that the propagation exhibits features typical for purely defocusing media and the observed spatial confinement is not a real self-trapping, as for solitons, but rather than is caused by the phase modulation of the beam via nonlocal defocusing nonlinearity. We also show that the light-induced refractive index change in the suspension leads to stabilization of structured light beams. In particular, we demonstrate a stable nonlinear propagation of bright ring beams with complex states of polarization, including practically important radial and azimuthal states.
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We present an experimental study on the Cerenkov second harmonic emission in a novel sunflower spiral array of ferroelectric domains in LiNbO3 crystal. The spiral patterns offer a diffusive, circularly symmetric distribution of reciprocal lattice vectors, thereby enabling enhanced emission of the Cerenkov beam in a broad spectral range. Instead of the traditional electric field poling, the sunflower spiral patterns are fabricated here by using our pioneering method of ferroelectric domain engineering with ultrafast light. This all-optical method gives access to high quality domain structures with short periods, which is beneficial for efficient Cerenkov harmonic generation.
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We report on the first experimental observation of stable vortex solitons in nematic liquid crystals with nonlocal nonlinear reorientational response. We show how these nonlinear vortex beams can be formed and confined in extraordinary optical waves by employing the cell with no lateral boundary conditions and the application of an external magnetic field that effectively controls the molecular direction and propagation of the self-trapped beams. We also find that these vortex solitons can be generated in certain ranges of the input beam power.
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We study light propagation in nematic liquid crystals in the context of spatial optical solitons formation. We propose a simple analytical model with multiplicative nonlinearity, which represents (qualitatively) the liquid crystal response by comprising the competition between focusing (reorientational) and defocusing (thermal) nonlocal nonlinearities. We show that at sufficiently high input power the interplay between both nonlinearities leads to the formations of two-peak solitons, which represent supermodes of the self-induced extended waveguide structure. We explain the beam splitting mechanism, discuss threshold effects and conclude that similar phenomena might be present in other media with competing nonlocal nonlinearities.
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We report the development of microscopic size gradient index vortex masks using the modified stack-and-draw technique. The vortex mask has a form of flat surface all-glass plate. Its functionality is determined by an internal nanostructure composed of two types of soft glass nanorods. The generation of optical vortices with charges 1 and 2 is demonstrated.
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We introduce a custom-cut periodically poled ferroelectric crystal for the phase matching of multistep cascading frequency conversion processes. Our approach involves combination of collinear second harmonic generation and transverse sum frequency mixing via the total internal reflection of the fundamental and collinear second harmonic beams. As a proof of concept we demonstrate multiple frequency generation with an enhanced fourth harmonic signal in a one-dimensional periodically poled LiNbO3 crystal.
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We demonstrate an all-optical fabrication method of quasi-phase matching structures in lithium niobate (LiNbO3) waveguides using a tightly focused femtosecond near-infrared laser beam (wavelength of 800 nm). In contrast to other all-optical schemes that utilize a periodic lowering of the nonlinear coefficient χ(2) by material modification, here the illumination of femtosecond pulses directly reverses the sign of χ(2) through the process of ferroelectric domain inversion. The resulting quasi-phase matching structures, therefore, lead to more efficient nonlinear interactions. As an experimental demonstration, we fabricate a structure with the period of 2.74 µm to frequency double 815 nm light. A maximum conversion efficiency of 17.45% is obtained for a 10 mm long waveguide.
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This work represents experimental demonstration of nonlinear diffraction in an orientation-patterned semiconducting material. By employing a new transverse geometry of interaction, three types of second-order nonlinear diffraction have been identified according to different configurations of quasi-phase matching conditions. Specifically, nonlinear Cerenkov diffraction is defined by the longitudinal quasi-phase matching condition, nonlinear Raman-Nath diffraction satisfies only the transverse quasi-phase matching condition, and nonlinear Bragg diffraction fulfils the full vectorial quasi-phase matching conditions. The study extends the concept of transverse nonlinear parametric interaction toward infrared frequency conversion in semiconductors. It also offers an effective nondestructive method to visualise and diagnose variations of second-order nonlinear coefficients inside semiconductors.
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We report on the first experimental observation of stable-vector vortex solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media with a reorientational response, such as nematic liquid crystals. These solitons consist of two co-polarized, mutually trapped beams of different colors, a bright fundamental spatial soliton, and a nonlinear optical vortex. The nonlinear vortex component, which is normally unstable in nonlinear media, is stabilized and confined here by the highly nonlocal refractive potential induced by the soliton.
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New forms of electron beams have been intensively investigated recently, including vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum, as well as Airy beams propagating along a parabolic trajectory. Their traits may be harnessed for applications in materials science, electron microscopy, and interferometry, and so it is important to measure their properties with ease. Here, we show how one may immediately quantify these beams' parameters without need for additional fabrication or nonstandard microscopic tools. Our experimental results are backed by numerical simulations and analytic derivation.