Aperiodic Gratings Research Articles

A new gas detection technique through cross-correlation with a complex aperiodic FBG

Optical cross-correlation is a technique that can achieve both high specificity and high sensitivity when deployed as the basis for a sensing technology. Offering significant gains in cost, size and complexity, it can also deliver significantly higher signal-to-noise ratios than traditional approaches such as absorption methodologies. In this paper, we present an optical cross-correlation technology constructed around a bespoke customised Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG). Exploiting the remarkable flexibility in design enabled by multiple aperiodic Bragg gratings, optical filters are devised that exactly mimic the absorption features of a target gas species (for this paper, acetylene C2H2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C_2H_2$$\\end{document}) over some waveband of interest. This grating forms the heart of the sensor architecture described here that employs modulated optical cross-correlation for gas detection. An experimental demonstration of this approach is presented, and shown to be capable of differentiating between different concentrations of the C2H2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C_2H_2$$\\end{document} target gas. Furthermore these measurements are shown to be robust against interloper species, with minimal impact on the detection signal-to-noise arising from the introduction of contaminant gases. This represents is a significant step toward the use of customised FBGs as low-cost, compact, and highly customisable photonic devices for deployment in gas detection.

Inverse design and optimization of an aperiodic multi-notch fiber Bragg grating using neural networks

Recent developments in the application of aperiodic fiber Bragg gratings (AFBGs) in astrophotonics, such as AFBG for astronomical near-infrared OH suppression and gas detection based on cross-correlation spectroscopy, have illuminated the problem that the optimization for AFBG with certain fabrication constraints has not been fully investigated and solved. Previous solutions will either sacrifice part of the spectral features or consume a significant amount of computation resources and time. Inspired by recently successful applications of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in photonics inverse design, we develop an AFBG optimization approach employing ANNs in conjunction with genetic algorithms (GAs) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The approach maintains the spectral notch depths and preserves the fourth-order super-Gaussian spectral features with improvements of interline loss by ∼100 times. We also implement, to our knowledge, the first inverse scattering neural network based on a tandem architecture for AFBG, using a first-order Gaussian notch profile. The neural network successfully converges but has a poor predictive capability for the phase part of the design. We discuss possible ways to overcome these limitations.

All-Angle Scanning Perfect Anomalous Reflection by Using Passive Aperiodic Gratings

All-Angle Scanning Perfect Anomalous Reflection by Using Passive Aperiodic Gratings

Perfect Talbot self-imaging effect of aperiodic gratings.

We propose and investigate a class of aperiodic grating structure which can achieve perfect Talbot effect under certain conditions. The aperiodic grating structure is obtained by the superposition of two or more sine terms. In the case of two sine terms, the Talbot effect can be realized when the period ratio of two terms is arbitrary. While in the case of more than two sine terms, the period ratios of each term must meet certain extra conditions. The theory has been further verified by numerical simulations. It expands the field of Talbot effect and is of potential significance for subsequent research applications such as optical imaging and measurement.

Customized Design of Aperiodic Liquid Crystal Grating for Generation of Multiple Optical Patterns

Liquid crystal (LC) grating has drawn extensive attention due to its merits, including tunability, easy preparation process, cost effectiveness, and high diffraction efficiency. However, limited efforts have been made to explore LC grating for the generation of customized diffraction patterns, despite the fact that the patterning size of LC molecular director orientation has been tremendously reduced even to subwavelength scale via high-precision photoalignment techniques. Here, we propose a versatile method based on the binary particle swarm optimization algorithm to efficiently design aperiodic LC gratings for customized optical patterns generation, including needle beam, multi-foci, and hollow beam. The optical performance of the LC gratings was simulated using both the vectorial Rayleigh–Sommerfeld method (with discrete zero or π phase, in this article) and the actual director orientations. These results matched each other well, which proves the effectiveness of the optimization method based on discrete phase. This study paves the way for designing LC gratings with engineered functionalities, which may find applications in optical tweezers, laser delivery systems, and laser scanning imaging.

Al/Mo/SiC multilayer diffraction gratings with broadband efficiency in the extreme ultraviolet.

Al/Mo/SiC periodic and aperiodic multilayers were optimized and deposited on high groove density gratings to achieve broadband efficiency in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV). Grating efficiencies were measured by monochromatic synchrotron radiation under 5° and 45° incident angles in the wavelength ranges 17-25 nm and 22-31 nm, respectively. We study the influence of the number of deposited periods on the initial trapezoidal profile and the EUV diffraction efficiency. We propose models of periodic and aperiodic coatings based on a combination of characterizations and compare rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) simulations with experimental data. We demonstrate the possibility to select the optimal balance between peak efficiency and bandwidth by adjusting the number of periods in the case of periodic multilayer grating. We also report unprecedented broadband diffraction efficiency with an Al/Mo/SiC aperiodic multilayer grating.

Pre-compensation method for optimizing recording process of holographic optical element lenses with spherical wave reconstruction.

We propose a pre-compensated recording process of holographic optical element (HOE) lenses, where both of reference and signal waves have spherical wavefronts, for solving a wavelength mismatch problem between the recording and displaying process. Based on a localized approximation for aperiodic volume gratings, the wavelength mismatch and shrinkage effects are pre-compensated by optimizing the recording setup of HOE lenses, so that the Bragg condition of each local grating is satisfied. In order to realize the practical implementations of recording setup, complicated wavefronts to be required for the wavelength and shrinkage compensation are approximated into spherical waves. The simulation results using the volume hologram models of OpticStudio verify that the undesirable focal shift and color breakup problems in the HOE lens due to the wavelength mismatch are compensated. Displaying experiments using a full-color HOE lens with the field of view of 30° are presented, where the maximum wavelength mismatch between the recording and displaying process is 17 nm.

Soft X-ray spectrometers based on aperiodic reflection gratings and their application

This paper is concerned with the history, properties, development, application, and prospects of soft X-ray (2 – 300 Å) VLS spectrometers, i.e., spectrometers with reflection diffraction gratings whose spacing varies monotonically across the aperture according to a prescribed law (so-called Varied Line-Space (VLS) gratings). An important feature of grazing-incidence VLS spectrometers is that the spectrum is formed on a nearly flat surface perpendicular (or slightly inclined) to the diffracted beams, making them perfectly compatible with modern CCD detectors. VLS spectrometers are employed for the spectroscopy of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, including the diagnostics of relativistic laser-produced plasmas, for measuring the linewidth of an X-ray laser, for recording the high-order harmonics of laser radiation, and for recording the emission of fast electric discharges and other laboratory X-ray sources. Instruments with VLS gratings are employed to advantage in reflectometry/metrology, X-ray fluorescence analysis, and microscopy with the use of synchrotron, free-electron laser, and laser-produced plasma radiation, as well as in SXR emission spectroscopy, combined with an electron microscope (SXES). Recent years have seen the active development of VLS spectrometers dedicated to the investigation of the electronic structure of different materials and molecules by resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectroscopy with synchrotron radiation. Among recent trends is the development of VLS gratings with a multilayer reflective coating and extension of the operating spectral range towards ‘tender’ X-rays (ℏω ∼ 1.5 – 6 keV), some projects aiming to achieve a resolving power λ/δ λ ∼ 105 in the region ℏω ∼ 1 keV.

Спектрометры для мягкого рентгеновского диапазона на основе апериодических отражательных решеток и их применение

Спектрометры для мягкого рентгеновского диапазона на основе апериодических отражательных решеток и их применение

Photonic crystals based on aperiodic dielectric multilayers for optical filtering

In this study, we demonstrate two different methods to generate one-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs) based on aperiodic dielectric gratings and investigate their optical filtering characteristics. The first grating design approach relies on a function formed by the summation of two cosine functions that exhibit different spatial frequencies corresponding to predefined reciprocal lattice vectors (RLVs) and hence generating a grating function by placing the refractive index layer boundaries at the zero-crossing locations of this function. The second design approach starts with the discretization of the total grating thickness with layers of equal thicknesses and each layer’s refractive index is selected to maximize the magnitude of the Fourier transform of the grating function at the spatial frequency locations corresponding to predefined RLVs. The non-periodic dielectric multilayers are exposed to time domain calculations utilizing finite-difference time domain method. Using numerical calculations, transmission properties of the designs are investigated and the free adjustability of the photonic bandgap locations in the spectra is demonstrated for both methods. With these advantages, both methods prove to be practical solutions for the design of optical filters based on one-dimensional PCs utilizing aperiodic index modulation.

Analytic method for fast design of aperiodic fiber Bragg grating devices

An analytic method for fast design of aperiodic fiber Bragg grating (AFBG) devices by use of Fourier mode coupling (FMC) theory is presented. AFBG devices, which are often used in practice, include the superstructure, phase-shifted FBG, and the apodized FBGs with Gauss, cosine, raised-cosine, Hamming, or Blackman windows, and include the in-fiber Fabry–Perot cavities formed by two AFBGs. The analytic solutions to the reflectivities of these AFBG devices are obtained on the basis of FMC theory, from which closed-form expressions for the relation between the AFBG structure parameters and their reflection properties are derived. According to these expressions, an analytic algorithm is established to quickly design AFBG devices with the desired reflection properties, which has linear complexity. The design of each AFBG device was achieved in ∼50 ms on a general PC, and the reflection properties of the designed AFBG device were confirmed by using the transfer matrix method. This indicates that the analytic design methods proposed are highly efficient and sufficiently accurate.

Aperiodic reflection diffraction gratings for soft X-ray radiation and their application

We briefly review the works concerned with the development and experimental use of the spectral instruments based on aperiodic reflection gratings whose spacing varies monotonically across the aperture according to a prescribed law (VLS gratings). The review considers the employment of VLS-grating instruments intended for the spectroscopy of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, including the diagnostics of relativistic laser plasmas, for measuring X-ray laser linewidths, for recording the high-order harmonics of laser radiation, the radiation of fast electric discharges and other laboratory X-ray sources, as well as in reflectometry, X-ray fluorescence analysis and microscopy with the use of synchrotron radiation and laser-plasma radiation, and in emission spectroscopy combined with an electron microscope. Also discussed are achievements in the recently undertaken design and development of special-purpose VLS spectrometers intended for the investigation of the electronic structure of different materials and molecules by the spectroscopic technique of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering of synchrotron radiation. We describe flat-field grazing-incidence spectrometers with concave VLS gratings, which are compatible with modern CCD detectors, as well as plane VLS gratings, which are the key elements of scanning high- and ultrahigh-resolution spectrometers/monochromators with a constant deviation angle and stigmatic (imaging) spectrometers, which are also compatible with CCD detectors.

Realization of aperiodic fiber Bragg gratings with ultrashort laser pulses and the line-by-line technique

We demonstrate the fabrication of aperiodic fiber Bragg gratings (AFBGs) for their application as filter elements. Direct inscription was performed by focusing ultrashort laser pulses with an oil-immersion objective into the fiber core and utilizing the line-by-line technique for flexible period adaptation. The AFBGs inscribed allow for the suppression of 10 lines in a single grating and are in excellent agreement with simulations based on the specific design. Applications in astronomy for the suppression of hydroxyl emission lines are discussed.

Distributed and Side-Pumped Fiber Laser Using a Laser Diode Bar Stack

A distributed, side-pumped Yb3+-doped fiber laser is demonstrated using a laser diode stack as a pump source. Four subwavelength gratings fabricated on the same fused-silica substrate were aligned with four laser diode bars of the laser diode stack package for coupling pump light into double-clad fibers. Under the 975-nm pump power of 124.6 W, a 58 W Yb3+-doped fiber laser has been demonstrated. Due to the distributed pumping scheme, the nonuniformity of fiber heating from quantum defect is reduced as seen from the narrow linewidth of the fiber laser output across the entire pump power range. As a further step, the genetic algorithm method was used to design an aperiodic grating with a 40-nm fine structure. The adoption of the aperiodic grating, fabricated by using the E-beam lithography process, reduced the edge coupling loss effect, which allowed to reach 70% coupling efficiency. The side pumping scheme is compact and efficient, and power scaling is possible with more laser diode bars in the laser diode bar stacks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a distributed pumped fiber laser using a laser diode bar stack as the pump source.

Spectral and spatial shaping of Smith-Purcell radiation

The Smith Purcell effect, observed when an electron beam passes in the vicinity of a periodic structure, is a promising platform for the generation of electromagnetic radiation in previously-unreachable spectral ranges. However, most of the studies of this radiation were performed on simple periodic gratings, whose radiation spectrum exhibits a single peak and its higher harmonics predicted by a well-established dispersion relation. Here, we propose a method to shape the spatial and spectral far-field distribution of the radiation using complex periodic and aperiodic gratings. We show, theoretically and experimentally, that engineering multiple peak spectra with controlled widths located at desired wavelengths is achievable using Smith-Purcell radiation. Our method opens the way to free-electron driven sources with tailored angular and spectral response, and gives rise to focusing functionality for spectral ranges where lenses are unavailable or inefficient.

A study of the brightest peaks in the diffraction pattern of Fibonacci gratings

The diffraction patterns of 1D aperiodic Fibonacci gratings (FGs) are investigated here. We derive a set of simple formulae which allow the finding of the positions and the intensities of the strongest diffraction peaks amongst the infinite ones present inside a given reciprocal space interval , chosen according to a user-defined threshold. In this way the diffraction spectrum of FGs and of their generalizations, generalised Fibonacci gratings (GFGs), can be approximated to a good level as a set of discrete, properly indexed peaks with varying intensity, similarly to what is done for periodic structures. This approach is applied to real cases of GFGs fabricated and tested by two dedicated setups on a substrate of photorefractive Fe: LiNbO3. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with the proposed description and confirm the applicability of our approach.

Idler-efficiency-enhanced long-wave infrared beam generation using aperiodic orientation-patterned GaAs gratings.

In this paper, we design aperiodic gratings based on orientation-patterned gallium arsenide (OP-GaAs) for converting 2.1μm pump laser radiation into long-wave infrared (8-12μm) in an idler-efficiency-enhanced scheme. These single OP-GaAs gratings placed in an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) or an optical parametric generator (OPG) can simultaneously phase match two optical parametric amplification (OPA) processes, OPA 1 and OPA 2. We use two design methods that allow simultaneous phase matching of two arbitrary χ(2) processes and also free adjustment of their relative strength. The first aperiodic grating design method (Method 1) relies on generating a grating structure that has domain walls located at the zeros of the summation of two cosine functions, each of which has a spatial frequency that equals one of the phase-mismatch terms of the two processes. Some of the domain walls are discarded considering the minimum domain length that is achievable in the production process. In this paper, we propose a second design method (Method 2) that relies on discretizing the crystal length with sample lengths that are much smaller than the minimum domain length and testing each sample's contribution in such a way that the sign of the nonlinearity maximizes the magnitude sum of the real and imaginary parts of the Fourier transform of the grating function at the relevant phase mismatches. Method 2 produces a similar performance as Method 1 in terms of the maximization of the height of either Fourier peak located at the relevant phase mismatch while allowing an adjustable relative height for the two peaks. To our knowledge, this is the first time that aperiodic OP-GaAs gratings have been proposed for efficient long-wave infrared beam generation based on simultaneous phase matching.

Nonperiodic metallic gratings transparent for broadband terahertz waves

In this work, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that nonperiodic metallic gratings can become transparent for broadband terahertz waves. It is shown that broadband high transmission appears in aperiodic metallic gratings (including quasiperiodic and disordered ones), which originates from the nonresonant excitations in the grating system. Quasiperiodic and disordered metallic gratings effectively weaken and even eliminate Wood's anomalies, which are the diffraction-related characters of periodic gratings. Consequently, both the transparence bandwidth and transmission efficiency are significantly increased due to the structural aperiodicity. An optimal condition is also achieved for broadband high transparency in aperiodic metallic gratings. Experimental measurements at the terahertz regime reasonably agree with both analytical analysis and numerical simulations. Furthermore, we show that for a specific light source, for example, a line source, a corresponding nonperiodic transparent grating can be also designed. We expect that our findings can be applied for transparent conducting panels, perfect white-beam polarizers, antireflective conducting solar cells, and beyond.

Mid-infrared pulse generation via achromatic quasi-phase-matched OPCPA.

We demonstrate a new regime for mid-infrared optical parametric chirped- pulse amplification (OPCPA) based on achromatic quasi-phase-matching. Our mid-infrared OPCPA system is based on collinear aperiodically poled lithium niobate (APPLN) pre-amplifiers and a non-collinear PPLN power amplifier which is operated in an achromatic phase-matching configuration. The idler output has a bandwidth of 800 nm centered at 3.4 µm. After compression, we obtain a pulse duration of 44.2 fs and a pulse energy of 21.8 µJ at a repetition rate of 50 kHz. We explain the wide applicability of the non-collinear QPM amplification scheme we used, including how it could enable octave-spanning OPCPA in a single device when combined with an aperiodic QPM grating.

Aperiodic Diffract: Study of diffraction gratings

In this work we introduce a virtual laboratory, APERIODIC DIFFRACT, developed in Matlab GUI (Graphical User Interface) as an informatics tool for teaching the diffractive properties of aperiodic gratings. This GUI allows the student to generate aperiodic sequences by iterating and lets to study the spectra for different iterating orders.<br /><br />