John E. Heebner

Sensitive disk resonator photonic biosensor

We describe a photonic device based on a high-finesse, whispering-gallery-mode disk resonator that can be used for the detection of biological pathogens. This device operates by means of monitoring the change in transfer characteristics of the disk resonator when biological materials fall onto its active area. High sensitivity is achieved because the light wave interacts many times with each pathogen as a consequence of the resonant recirculation of light within the disk structure. Specificity of the detected substance can be achieved when a layer of antibodies or other binding material is deposited onto the active area of the resonator. Formulas are presented that allow the sensitivity of the device to be quantified and that show that, under optimum conditions, as few as 100 molecules can be detected.

Analysis of the scalability of diffraction-limited fiber lasers and amplifiers to high average power

We analyze the scalability of diffraction-limited fiber lasers considering thermal, non-linear, damage and pump coupling limits as well as fiber mode field diameter (MFD) restrictions. We derive new general relationships based upon practical considerations. Our analysis shows that if the fibers MFD could be increased arbitrarily, 36 kW of power could be obtained with diffraction-limited quality from a fiber laser or amplifier. This power limit is determined by thermal and non-linear limits that combine to prevent further power scaling, irrespective of increases in mode size. However, limits to the scaling of the MFD may restrict fiber lasers to lower output powers.

Enhanced all-optical switching by use of a nonlinear fiber ring resonator

We predict dramatically reduced switching thresholds for nonlinear optical devices incorporating fiber ring resonators. The circulating power in such a resonator is much larger than the incident power; also, the phase of the transmitted light varies rapidly with the single-pass phase shift. The combined action of these effects leads to a finesse-squared reduction in the switching threshold, allowing for photonic switching devices that operate at milliwatt power levels in ordinary optical fibers.

Optical transmission characteristics of fiber ring resonators

We present the results of an experimental investigation of the transfer characteristics of a fiber ring resonator for various values of the resonator finesse. In particular, we measure the spectral dependence of the intensity transmission and the induced phase shift in the undercoupled, critically coupled, and overcoupled regimes. We also demonstrate tunable optical (true time) group delay via a fiber ring resonator and show that a high finesse is unnecessary. Our laboratory results are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions.

SLOW AND STOPPED LIGHT 'Slow' and 'fast' light in resonator-coupled waveguides

We describe a device constructed of a sequence of microresonators coupled to an optical waveguide. The influence of these resonators is to enhance nonlinearities and to induce strong dispersive effects, leading to exotic optical properties including slow and superluminal group velocities of propagation.

Conversion of unpolarized light to polarized light with greater than 50% efficiency by photorefractive two-beam coupling.

All known polarizers operate through a separation of orthogonal electric field components, one of which is subsequently discarded. As a result, 50% of the unpolarized incident light is wasted in the process of conversion to polarized light. We demonstrate a new method by which we use the optical power in the ordinarily discarded component as the pump to amplify the retained component through photorefractive two-beam coupling to achieve greater than 50% throughput.

Nanofabrication of optical structures and devices for photonics and biophotonics

Abstract Nanofabrication offers promise for the design of artificial materials with optical properties unlike those of materials occurring in nature and for the design of new and exotic optical devices. We describe some specific ideas for applications in this area, and present some laboratory results on the development of these applications.

Beyond the absorption-limited nonlinear phase shift with microring resonators

We show that the nonlinear phase shift produced by a ring resonator constructed from a given nonlinear optical material can be greater than the phase shift produced by a single pass through an infinite length of the same material when linear and nonlinear absorption are taken into consideration. The figure of merit (defined by the phase shift times the throughput) also improves for the ring resonator over that of the native nonlinear absorbing material. We finally show that these benefits of using the ring resonator as a nonlinear phase-shifting element can enhance the switching characteristics of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

Generalized formulation for performance degradations due to bending and edge scattering loss in microdisk resonators

We present a generalized formulation for the treatment of both bending (whispering gallery) loss and scattering loss due to edge roughness in microdisk resonators. The results are applicable to microrings and related geometries. For thin disks with radii greater than the bend-loss limit, we find that the finesse limited by the scattering losses induced by edge roughness is independent of radii. While a strong lateral refractive index contrast is necessary to prevent bending losses, unless the radii are of the order of a few microns, lateral air-cladding is detrimental and only enhances scattering losses. The generalized formulation provides a framework for selecting the refractive index contrast that optimizes the finesse at a given radius.

Power scaling analysis of fiber lasers and amplifiers based on non-silica materials

A developed formalism1 for analyzing the power scaling of diffraction limited fiber lasers and amplifiers is applied to a wider range of materials. Limits considered include thermal rupture, thermal lensing, melting of the core, stimulated Raman scattering, stimulated Brillouin scattering, optical damage, bend induced limits on core diameter and limits to coupling of pump diode light into the fiber. For conventional fiber lasers based upon silica, the single aperture, diffraction limited power limit was found to be 36.6kW. This is a hard upper limit that results from an interaction of the stimulated Raman scattering with thermal lensing. This result is dependent only upon physical constants of the material and is independent of the core diameter or fiber length. Other materials will have different results both in terms of ultimate power out and which of the many limits is the determining factor in the results. Materials considered include silica doped with Tm and Er, YAG and YAG based ceramics and Yb doped phosphate glass. Pros and cons of the various materials and their current state of development will be assessed. In particular the impact of excess background loss on laser efficiency is discussed.