Si-Min Li

Taming the Collapse of Optical Fields

Field collapse, which occurs in various nonlinear systems, has attracted much attention, owing to its universality, complexity, and applicability. A great challenge and expectation is to achieve the controllable and designable collapsing pattern. Here we predict theoretically and demonstrate experimentally the novel collapsing behaviors of the vector optical fields in a self-focusing Kerr medium. Surprisingly, the results reveal that the collapse of the vector optical field is controllable and designable by engineering the distribution of hybrid states of polarization, and has the robust feature insensitive to the random noise. Our idea has its significance which it opens a new window for manipulating the optical field and the different kinds of field, and then facilitates to push the related researches.

Bending sensor based on intermodal interference properties of two-dimensional waveguide array fiber

We propose a highly sensitive bending sensor based on the intermodal interference properties of a strongly coupled two-dimentional waveguide array fiber (WAF). The interference resonance peaks formed by the SMF-WAF-SMF Mach-Zehnder interferometer are intrinsically the result of interference between the LP(01)-like supermode and other higher order supermodes, displaying supernormal sensitivity to bending in a wide curvature range. The bending sensitivity of the intermodal MZI is a quadratic function of curvature, and the resonance wavelength shift is up to 100 nm within a curvature range 0-10 m(-1). The fabrication reveals briefness, and temperature response shows little impact on the bend sensing precision. The high bending sensitivity and wide sensing range can make this device a candidate for bending discrimination and measurement in widespread areas.

Elliptic-symmetry vector optical fields

We present in principle and demonstrate experimentally a new kind of vector fields: elliptic-symmetry vector optical fields. This is a significant development in vector fields, as this breaks the cylindrical symmetry and enriches the family of vector fields. Due to the presence of an additional degrees of freedom, which is the interval between the foci in the elliptic coordinate system, the elliptic-symmetry vector fields are more flexible than the cylindrical vector fields for controlling the spatial structure of polarization and for engineering the focusing fields. The elliptic-symmetry vector fields can find many specific applications from optical trapping to optical machining and so on.

Optical spin-dependent angular shift in structured metamaterials

The physics behind the spin (polarization)-dependent electromagnetic hot-spot phenomenon is due to the presence of the geometric phase resulting from the optical spin-orbit interaction in the interaction of light with the subwavelength microstructures. Unlike the tiny spin-dependent shift of light associated with the usual spin-Hall effect of light, here we present the distinct polarization-dependent angular shift by employing an array of subwavelength metallic apertures. More importantly, this novel electromagnetic precession is accompanied by the extraordinary optical transmission phenomenon and offers the exciting possibilities for novel applications for subwavelength structured metallic systems.

Generalized Poincaré sphere.

We present a generalized Poincaré sphere (G sphere) and generalized Stokes parameters (G parameters), as a geometric representation, which unifies the descriptors of a variety of vector fields. Unlike the standard Poincaré sphere, the radial dimension in the G sphere is not used to describe the partially polarized field. The G sphere is constructed by extending the basic Jones vector bases to the general vector bases with the continuously changeable ellipticity (spin angular momentum, SAM) and the higher dimensional orbital angular momentum (OAM). The north and south poles of different spherical shells in the G sphere represent the pair of different orthogonal vector basis with different ellipticity (SAM) and the opposite OAM. The higher-order Poincaré spheres are just the two special spherical shells of the G sphere. We present a quite flexible scheme, which can generate all the vector fields described in the G sphere.

Security enhancement of double-random phase encryption by iterative algorithm

We propose an approach to enhance the security of optical encryption based on double-random phase encryption in a 4f system. The phase key in the input plane of the 4f system is generated by the Yang–Gu algorithm to control the phase of the encrypted information in the output plane of the 4f system, until the phase in the output plane converges to a predesigned distribution. Only the amplitude of the encrypted information must be recorded as a ciphertext. The information, which needs to be transmitted, is greatly reduced. We can decrypt the ciphertext with the aid of the predesigned phase distribution and the phase key in the Fourier plane. Our approach can resist various attacks.

An efficient and robust scheme for controlling the states of polarization in a Sagnac interferometric configuration

We present a convenient, efficient, and robust scheme for controlling the states of polarization and then generating vector fields using a closed-loop Sagnac interferometric configuration. A geometric phase introduced by the wave plates is used to control the phase shift between the two counterpropagating orthogonally linearly polarized fields. A space-variant phase plate substitutes for a spatial light modulator as a space-variant phase device. We have demonstrated experimentally that this scheme has an efficiency beyond 83% converting the input traditional linearly polarized laser into the vector fields. This scheme should also be efficient and reliable for creating the ultrashort-pulsed, high-power, and single-photon vector sources.

Vector optical fields with bipolar symmetry of linear polarization.

We focus on a new kind of vector optical field with bipolar symmetry of linear polarization instead of cylindrical and elliptical symmetries, enriching members of family of vector optical fields. We design theoretically and generate experimentally the demanded vector optical fields and then explore some novel tightly focusing properties. The geometric configurations of states of polarization provide additional degrees of freedom assisting in engineering the field distribution at the focus to the specific applications such as lithography, optical trapping, and material processing.

Unveiling stability of multiple filamentation caused by axial symmetry breaking of polarization

Femtosecond laser filamentation is generally initialized from unpredictable symmetry breaking caused by random noise, causing it to be barely controlled. However, it is always anticipated for stable and controllable filamentation. We present and demonstrate the idea that hybridly polarized vector fields with axial symmetry broken polarization, associated with a pair of orthogonally linearly polarized vortices carrying the opposite-handed orbital angular momenta, could achieve controllable and robust multiple filamentation. Here, our motivation is to unveil the underlying physics behind such controllable and robust multiple filamentation. The symmetry breaking should first be actively controllable and then be able to effectively inhibit random noise. Robust multiple filamentation is inseparable from the fact that the phases between the multiple filaments are always locked. In contrast, uncontrollable multiple filamentation is always accompanied with loss of phase, i.e., the multiple filaments become incoherent to each other. Our results may offer a suggestion for achieving controllable and robust multiple filamentation in other systems.

Second-harmonic generation in one-dimensional metal gratings with dual extraordinary transmissions

We investigate the enhanced second-harmonic generation (SHG) in nonlinear metal gratings with simultaneously extraordinary optical transmissions (EOTs) for the fundamental and the second-harmonic wavelengths, i.e., dual EOTs. We show that the strongly temporal and spatial dispersions at Wood’s anomalies, the asymmetry in the grating structure and the intrinsic dispersion of the media are of great importance in achieving dual-EOT SHG. Metal gratings with dual EOTs are present and the maximum enhancement on SHG is around 20. Weak points of dual-EOT SHG, potential improvement and future applications are discussed.