Liyong Ren

Wideband ultraflat slow light with large group index in a W1 photonic crystal waveguide

We demonstrate that slow light with large group-index, wideband, and low dispersion can be realized in a silicon-on-insulator w1-type photonic crystal waveguide by simply shifting the first two rows of air-holes adjacent to the waveguide to specific directions. keeping the group index at 46, 60, 86, 111, 151, and 233, respectively, while restricting its variation within a +/- 10% range, we accordingly obtain a slow light bandwidth of 9.0 nm, 6.7 nm, 4.6 nm, 3.3 nm, 2.4 nm, and 1.7 nm, respectively. the normalized delay-bandwidth product keeps around 0.25 for all cases. moreover, we obtain ultraflat slow light with bandwidths over 3.0 nm, 2.4 nm, 1.6 nm, 1.3 nm, 0.93 nm, and 0.6 nm, respectively, where the group index variation is in a range of only +/- 0.8%. numerical simulations are performed, utilizing the 2d plane wave expansion method and the finite-difference time-domain method. (c) 2011 american institute of physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3634074]

Casting preforms for microstructured polymer optical fibre fabrication

A monolithic structured polymer preform was formed by in-situ chemical polymerization of high-purity MMA monomer in a home-made mould. The conditions for fabrication of the preforms were optimized and the preform was drawn to microstructured polymer optical fibre. The optical properties of the resultant elliptical-core fibre were measured. This technique provides advantages over alternative preform fabrication methods such as drilling and capillary stacking, which are less suitable for mass production.

Zero-broadening SBS slow light propagation in an optical fiber using two broadband pump beams

A new method of tailoring stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) gain spectrum for slow light propagation is proposed by use of two Gaussian-shaped broadband pump beams with different powers and spectral widths. The central frequency interval between the two pump beams are carefully set to be two inherent Brillouin frequency shift, ensuring that the gain spectrum of one pump has the same central frequency with the loss spectrum of the other one. Different gain profiles are obtained and analyzed. Among them a special gain profile is found that ensures a zero-broadening of the signal pulse independent of the Brillouin gain. This is owing to the compensation between the positive gain-dependent broadening and the negative GVD (group velocity dispersion) dependent broadening. The relationship of two pump beams is also found for constructing such a gain profile. It provides us a new idea of managing the broadening of SBS-based slow pulse by artificially constructing and optimizing the profile of gain spectrum.

Nonvolatile holograms in LiNbO3:Fe:Cu by use of the bleaching effect.

We report our observation of a bleaching effect under an ultraviolet exposure in LiNbO3:Fe:Cu crystals. Two three-step recording-transferring-fixing schemes are proposed to record nonvolatile photorefractive holograms in such crystals. In the schemes two red laser beams and an ultraviolet illumination are used selectively to write the charge grating inthe shallow-level Fe centers, to develop the charge grating inthe deep-level Cu centers by transferring the charge grating in the Fe centers, and to fix only thecharge grating in the Cu centers for unerasable read-out. Experimental results, verifications, and an optimal recording scheme are given. A comparison of the lithium niobate crystals of the same double-doping system of Fe:Mn, Ce:Mn, Ce:Cu, and Fe:Cu is outlined.

Recording and fixing dynamics of nonvolatile photorefractive holograms in LiNbO 3 :Fe:Mn crystals

A theoretical explanation of nonvolatile holographic recording in LiNbO3:Fe:Mn crystals is given based on jointly solving the two-center material equations and the coupled-wave equations. The nonuniformity of the dynamics of the photorefractive grating can be effectively described and analyzed by using this method. The time–space evolution, including the space-charge field, the diffraction efficiency, the light modulation depth, the phases of the space-charge field and the interference field, as well as the relative spatial phase shift between them, is studied for both oxidized and reduced crystals. The optimal conditions for material prescriptions and oxidation–reduction processing are discussed in detail. The bending isophase of the fringe pattern and the redistributed intensities of the two-coupled beams inside the crystal are presented. The theoretical results can confirm and predict experimental results. Some new effects are also discovered, such as: The fixed diffraction efficiency can exceed the saturation diffraction efficiency for strongly recorded gratings; the energy transfer direction between two-coupled beams can be reversed with crystal thickness; and the holographic readout in reduced crystal is always accompanied by fast phase changes, which results in the slow deterioration of the recorded holograms as a result of the production of homogeneous distributions of electrons.

Wideband slow light with ultralow dispersion in a W1 photonic crystal waveguide

A dispersion tailoring scheme for obtaining slow light in a silicon-on-insulator W1-type photonic crystal waveguide, novel to our knowledge, is proposed in this paper. It is shown that, by simply shifting the first two rows of air holes adjacent to the waveguide to specific directions, slow light with large group-index, wideband, and low group-velocity dispersion can be realized. Defining a criterion of restricting the group-index variation within a ±0.8% range as a flattened region, we obtain the ultraflat slow light with bandwidths over 5.0, 4.0, 2.5, and 1.0 nm when keeping the group index at 38.0, 48.8, 65.2, and 100.4, respectively. Numerical simulations are performed utilizing the three-dimensional (3D) plane-wave expansion method and the 3D finite-difference time-domain method.

Polarization multiplexed write-once-read-many optical data storage in bacteriorhodopsin films

In polymeric films of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) a photoconversion product, which was named the F620 state, was observed on excitation of the film with 532 nm nanosecond laser pulses. This photoproduct shows a strong nonlinear absorption. Such BR films can be used for write-once-read-many (WORM) optical data storage. We demonstrate that a photoproduct similar or even identical to that obtained with nanosecond pulses is generated on excitation with 532 nm femtosecond pulses. This photoproduct also shows strong anisotropic absorption, which facilitates polarization storage of data. The product is thermally stable and is irretrievable to the initial B state either by photochemical reaction or through a thermal pathway. The experimental results indicate that the product is formed by a two-photon absorption process. Optical WORM storage is demonstrated by use of two polarization states, but more polarization states may be used. The combination of polarization data multiplexing and extremely short recording time in the femtosecond range enables very high data volumes to be stored within a very short time.

Optimal switching from recording to fixing for high diffraction from a LiNbO3:Ce:Cu photorefractive nonvolatile hologram.

An oscillatory characteristic of diffraction is observed as a result of strong beam coupling in a weakly oxidized LiNbO3:Ce:Cu crystal during the recording step in the production of nonvolatile photorefractive holograms. On this basis the optimal switching time from the recording step to the fixing step for high diffraction of a fixed hologram is studied. It is shown that switching after the first diffraction maximum leads theoretically to fixed diffraction of as much as 100% with a suitable switching time. Both an experimental demonstration and a theoretical simulation are presented.

Method for enhancing visibility of hazy images based on polarimetric imaging

A novel polarimetric dehazing method is proposed based on three linear polarization images (0°, 45°, and 90°). The polarization orientation angle of the light scattered by the haze particles is introduced in the algorithm. No additional image-processing algorithm is needed in the postprocessing. It is found that the dehazed image suffers from little noise and the details of the objects close to the observer can be preserved well. In addition, this algorithm is also proved to be useful for preserving image colors. Experimental results demonstrate that such an algorithm has some universality in handling all kinds of haze. We think that this robust algorithm might be very suitable for real-time dehazing.

Low-Cost Multipoint Liquid-Level Sensor With Plastic Optical Fiber

A simple and low-cost discrete liquid-level measurement system is present in this letter. It consists of a group of plastic optical fiber segments, which are aligned coaxially and spaced equally. When the spacing between every two adjacent fiber segments is filled with liquid, the light power will be easier to couple from one segment to the next as compared with the situation that the fibers are exposed in air. Based on this point, we design this intensity-based sensor and investigate its working properties theoretically by using the ray-tracing method. The performance of this sensor is demonstrated in detail where different liquids are utilized as specimens.