Reconfigurable generation of optical vortices based on forward stimulated intermodal Brillouin scattering in subwavelength-hole photonic waveguides

Abstract

An all-optically reconfigurable generation of optical vortices would be highly beneficial to the implementation of next-generation optical communication and advanced information processing. The previously demonstrated approaches based on the parametric nonlinear optical processes, however, have exhibited limited conversion efficiency due to the group velocity mismatch and nonlinear phase shifts, and require the cumbersome preparation of either the optical element or initial seed beam having a non-zero topological charge. Here, we propose and analyze a novel scheme for highly efficient all-optical generation and control of optical vortices based on the dynamic acoustic vortex grating created by forward stimulated intermodal Brillouin scattering in a subwavelength-hole photonic waveguide. The dual-frequency pump beams in two different hybrid optical modes drive an acoustic vortex mode, which transforms a signal in the fundamental optical mode into an optical vortex mode. This scheme not only eliminates the need for the initial preparation of an angular-momentum-carrying medium or an optical vortex seed but also guarantees high modal purity and nearly 100% conversion efficiency assisted by the energy-momentum conservation. We also investigate the feasibility and practicability of the subwavelength-hole waveguides by examining the intermodal conversion efficiency and robustness of guidance of the optical vortices, taking into account the impact of the Kerr-type nonlinear effects on the intermodal Brillouin interactions based on our rigorous full-vectorial analytical theory.