Nanophotonics: Linear and Nonlinear Optics at the Nanoscale

Abstract

Light propagation in sub-wavelength waveguides enables tight confinement over long propagation lengths to enhance nonlinear optical interactions. Not only can sub-wavelength waveguides compress light spatially, they also provide a tunable means to control the spreading of light pulses in time, producing significant effects even for nanojoule pulse energies. By exploring linear and nonlinear light propagation, first for free-space conditions, then for sub-wavelength guided conditions, we demonstrate how sub-wavelength structure can enhance nonlinear optics at the nanoscale. We demonstrate key applications including wavelength generation and all-optical modulation. Lastly, we show how to assemble these devices to form all-optical logic gates.