Far-field Intensity Distribution Research Articles

Deformation of optical vortex beam by displacement of incident-beam optical axis from spiral phase plate center

An optical vortex beam (OVB) is obtained when a Gaussian beam is transmitted through an appropriately designed spiral phase plate (SPP). The OVB can be deformed in its optical intensity and phase distributions by displacements of the optical axis of the incident Gaussian beam from the center of the SPP. This deformation is discussed using theoretical simulations and experimental examples for an eight-segmented SPP. The far-field patterns of the output beams are calculated by using a two-dimensional fast Fourier transform. A dark hole appears at the center of the OVB. When the incident-beam optical axis is shifted from the SPP center, the dark hole is shifted from the output-beam center. It is shown that the shift direction of the dark hole is orthogonal to that of the incident-beam optical axis. The far-field optical intensity distribution of a doughnut shape is changed to a crescent pattern and finally becomes to a Gaussian beam according to the dark hole shift. Predicted crescent patterns are experimentally demonstrated using SPP-integrated photonic-crystal lasers. Obtained results by quantitative discussion will be helpful in constructing a SPP integrated laser as a high-quality chip-scale OVB source.

Direct laser writing of depressed-cladding waveguides in extremely low expansion lithium aluminosilicate glass-ceramics

We report on direct femtosecond laser writing of depressed-cladding optical waveguides in extremely low expansion lithium aluminosilicate glass-ceramics. The waveguide cladding was formed by space-selective vitrification of nanocrystals in laser-modified regions of glass-ceramics responsible for the negative refractive index change up to 0.005. The optical properties of the laser-written waveguides were evaluated in terms of near-field and far-field intensity distribution and propagation losses at the wavelength of 1064 nm. The possibility of single-mode waveguiding with the upper limit of propagation losses 2.4 or 2.7 dB/cm for vertically or horizontally polarized light, respectively, was demonstrated. The obtained results open up new frontiers in the laser-assisted fabrication of 3D optical waveguide circuits in the media with outstanding thermal stability.

Investigating the Nonlinear Optical Response of Pepper Oil under Low Power Irradiation with Continuous Wave Visible Laser Beam

The nonlinear optical properties of pepper oil are studied by diffraction ring patterns and Z-scan techniques with continuous wave beam from solid state laser at 473 nm wavelength. The nonlinear refractive index of the sample is calculated by both techniques. The sample show high nonlinear refractive index. Based on Fresnel-Kirchhoff diffraction integral, the far-field intensity distributions of ring patterns have been calculated. It is found that the experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical results. Also the optical limiting property of pepper oil is reported. The results obtained in this study prove that the pepper oil has applications in nonlinear optical devices.

A Study of the Spatial-Emission Characteristics of Quantum-Cascade Lasers for the 8-μm Spectral Range

Near- and far-fields of quantum-cascade lasers emitting in the spectral range near 8 μm have been studied. For all laser samples with a ridge width of 20 and 50 μm, lasing on the fundamental waveguide mode with a divergence of ~50° was observed for all laser samples with a ridge width of 20 and 50 μm along the “fast” axis. Along the “slow” axis, a multimode lasing and a competition between the fundamental and higher waveguide modes, which is manifested for lasers with a ridge width of 50 μm in an increase in the emission divergence from ~10° near the threshold to >50° when the lasing threshold is exceeded by a factor of 2–3. The divergence along the “slow” axis for lasers with ridge width of 22 μm remained invariable in the whole range of pumping currents and equaled ~50°. That there is a substantial contribution from the fundamental mode to the total emission intensity of quantum-cascade lasers, which is apparent from the far-field intensity distribution pattern, cannot be established exclusively on the basis of results obtained in near-field measurements.

Optical Element Surface Defect Size Recognition Based on Decision Regression Tree

Defect size recognition is significant to the evaluation of optical element surface quality. Currently, it’s mainly achieved by the conventional image process, such as threshold segmentation. However, as the defect size gradually approaches the diffraction limit of the imaging system, the defect gray distribution changes from bimodal to unimodal, which makes it difficult to be accurately recognized. In this paper, an electromagnetic simulation model of the microscopic scattering dark-field imaging (MSDI) system is built based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to research the defect imaging mechanism. The point spread function (PSF) of our MSDI system is measured to revise the far-field simulation light intensity distribution, and the mean value of the distance between three groups of feature points, whose intensity is 0.75, 0.5, and 0.25 of the light intensity distribution peak value, is taken as the feature parameter of the light intensity distribution. To obtain the defect size, the decision regression tree (DRT) is proposed to get the relationship between the feature parameter and the defect size. Besides, some scratches samples are made to verify the validity of the DRT. The results show the relative error of DRT is within 10%, which is better than the threshold segmentation.

Deformable mirror resolution-matching-based two-stage wavefront sensorless adaptive optics method.

In high-power laser facilities, the application of a traditional wavefront control method is limited under the influence of a continuous phase plate (CPP). In order to obtain a satisfactory far-field intensity distribution at the target of the beamline with the CPP, a novel deformable mirror (DM) resolution-matching-based two-stage wavefront sensorless adaptive optics method is proposed and demonstrated. The principles of the DM resolution-matching method and two-stage wavefront sensorless adaptive optics method are introduced, respectively. Based on the numerical model, the matching relationship between the actuator space of the DM and the spatial period of the CPP is investigated. By using the resolution-matched DM, the feasibility of the two-stage wavefront sensorless adaptive optics method is numerically and experimentally verified. Both the numerical and the experimental results show that the presented DM resolution-matching-based two-stage wavefront sensorless adaptive optics method could achieve the target focal spot control under the influence of the CPP, and the profile and the intensity uniformity of the corrected focal spot are optimized close to the designed ideal focal spot.

Label-Free Imaging of Single Nanoparticles Using Total Internal Reflection-Based Leakage Radiation Microscopy.

Label-free, fast, and single nanoparticle detection is demanded for the in situ monitoring of nano-pollutants in the environment, which have potential toxic effects on human health. We present the label-free imaging of single nanoparticles by using total internal reflection (TIR)-based leakage radiation microscopy. We illustrate the imaging of both single polystyrene (PS) and Au nanospheres with diameters as low as 100 and 30 nm, respectively. As both far-field imaging and simulated near-field electric field intensity distribution at the interface showed the same characteristics, i.e., the localized enhancement and interference of TIR evanescent waves, we confirmed the leakage radiation, transforming the near-field distribution to far-field for fast imaging. The localized enhancement of single PS and Au nanospheres were compared. We also illustrate the TIR-based leakage radiation imaging of single polystyrene nanospheres with different incident polarizations. The TIR-based leakage radiation microscopy method is a competitive alternative for the fast, in situ, label-free imaging of nano-pollutants.

Large-angle beaming from asymmetric nanoslit-corrugation structures

The beaming effect in single apertures surrounded by periodic corrugations and the manipulation of beaming directions from such structures has gained considerable attention since discovery. Different materials and structural profiles have been studied in this context but directional beaming at angles larger than 45° has not been achieved. We design and demonstrate nanoslits in a gold film flanked by corrugations, which give rise to beaming angles ranging from 45° to 60°. While the previous designs are based on achieving constructive interference at the aimed beaming angle, our approach complements such constructive interference with destructive interference at 0° and, as a result, enhances the directional beaming effect at angles larger than 45°. The structures are fabricated by electron beam lithography with two consecutive lift-off processes. The experimental far-field intensity distributions agree well with the designs.

An estimation of far-field intensity distribution for photonic crystal fibers based on empirical relations

In this paper, we have reported the far-field intensity distribution for a varied configuration of air holes in the cladding region of the solid-core single-mode photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). Recently, an analytical approach based on the normalized frequency (V parameter) and normalized attenuation constant (W parameter) has been developed for index-guided PCF. Parameters V and W are frequently used in the design of conventional optical fibers. Using the empirical relations for the V parameter as well as W parameter of PCF, the dependence of the far-field intensity distribution on two structural parameters—the air hole diameter and the air hole pitch is calculated and presented. The results displayed here can find their utilization in the design and development of a sensor system based on PCFs for potential applications involving structural health monitoring, medicine, environmental monitoring sensors, and in certain areas of biology and chemistry.

Исследование пространственных характеристик излучения квантовых каскадных лазеров для спектрального диапазона 8 μm

The near and far fields of quantum cascade lasers emitting in the spectral range near 8 µm have been studied. Lasing in the fundamental waveguide mode along the "fast" axis with a divergence of ~ 50º was observed in all samples of lasers with stripe widths of 22 and 50 µm in the entire range of pump currents. On the "slow" axis, multimode lasing and competition between the fundamental and higher waveguide modes were observed, which manifests itself for lasers with a 50 µm stripe in an increase of the radiation divergence from ~ 10º near the threshold to > 50º with a two-fold excess of the lasing threshold. The divergence along the slow axis for lasers with a stripe width of 22 µm remained unchanged over the entire range of pump currents and amounted to ~ 50º. The significant contribution of the fundamental mode to the total radiation intensity of quantum cascade lasers, being obvious from the far-field intensity distribution, cannot be established solely from the results of measurements of the near-field.

Simultaneous identification of the azimuthal and radial mode indices of Laguerre-Gaussian beams using a spiral phase grating

Transfer of information using optical vortex beams as signal carriers can extremely extend the capacity and spectral efficiency in optical communication systems. One of the key problems is to accurately measure the mode indices including radial mode p and topological charge l at the receiver side of an optical vortices transmission system. In this paper, we present a new scheme to determine the mode indices of optical vortices by using spiral phase gratings. Based on the Fresnel diffraction integral theory, the far-field diffraction intensity distributions of vortex beams through the gratings are numerically calculated. Simulation results show that the annular-shaped intensity profiles of incident vortex beams evolve to bright spot array diffraction patterns, which render the information of the mode indices. Specifically, the magnitude of topological charge l and radial index p can be easily determined by counting the number of the corresponding bright stripes. And the orientation of the diffraction optical fields reveals the sign of the topological charge. Experiments are implemented to demonstrate the feasibility and validity of the proposed detecting method by uploading such phase gratings on a reflective phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator. The experimental observations are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Evaluating the Potential of Laser Beam Quality Improvement by Adaptive Optics System

AO (adaptive optics) systems have been extensively used to improve the beam quality in high-energy lasers; however, few studies have focused on how much the beam quality could be improved. A novel evaluation criteria and factor is presented in this paper. The factor, defined as power in ring (PIR), is expressed by distinguishing the low- and high-spatial frequency components in the far-field laser intensity distribution. Beams with different PIR values are generated in our model, and then they are compensated by AO systems. Calculation result shows that the PIR factor could evaluate a laser beam’s improvement potential by an AO system quantitatively.

Boundary integral equation method for resonances in gradient index cavities designed by conformal transformation optics

In the case of two-dimensional gradient index cavities designed by the conformal transformation optics, we propose a boundary integral equation method for the calculation of resonant mode functions by employing a fictitious space which is reciprocally equivalent to the physical space. Using the Green’s function of the interior region of the uniform index cavity in the fictitious space, resonant mode functions and their far-field distributions in the physical space can be obtained. As a verification, resonant modes in limaçon-shaped transformation cavities were calculated and mode patterns and far-field intensity distributions were compared with those of the same modes obtained from the finite element method.

Out-of-plane orientation of luminescent excitons in two-dimensional indium selenide

Van der Waals materials offer a wide range of atomic layers with unique properties that can be easily combined to engineer novel electronic and photonic devices. A missing ingredient of the van der Waals platform is a two-dimensional crystal with naturally occurring out-of-plane luminescent dipole orientation. Here we measure the far-field photoluminescence intensity distribution of bulk InSe and two-dimensional InSe, WSe2 and MoSe2. We demonstrate, with the support of ab-initio calculations, that layered InSe flakes sustain luminescent excitons with an intrinsic out-of-plane orientation, in contrast with the in-plane orientation of dipoles we find in two-dimensional WSe2 and MoSe2 at room-temperature. These results, combined with the high tunability of the optical response and outstanding transport properties, position layered InSe as a promising semiconductor for novel optoelectronic devices, in particular for hybrid integrated photonic chips which exploit the out-of-plane dipole orientation.

Large Aberration Correction by Magnetic Fluid Deformable Mirror with Model-Based Wavefront Sensorless Control Algorithm.

Magnetic fluid is a stable colloidal suspension of nano-sized, single-domain ferri/ferromagnetic particles dispersed in a liquid carrier. The liquid can be magnetized by the ferromagnetic particles aligned with the external magnetic field, which can be used as a wavefront corrector to correct the large aberrations up to more than 100 µm in adaptive optics (AO) systems. Since the measuring range of the wavefront sensor is normally small, the application of the magnetic fluid deformable mirror (MFDM) is limited with the WFS based AO system. In this paper, based on the MFDM model and the relationship between the second moment (SM) of the aberration gradients and the far-field intensity distribution, a model-based wavefront sensorless (WFSless) control algorithm is proposed for the MFDM. The correction performance of MFDM using the model-based control algorithm is evaluated in a WFSless AO system setup with a prototype MFDM, where a laser beam with unknown aberrations is supposed to produce a focused spot on the CCD. Experimental results show that the MFDM can be used to effectively compensate for unknown aberrations in the imaging system with the proposed model-based control algorithm.

Ultranarrow-waveguide AlGaAs/GaAs/InGaAs lasers

We have designed, fabricated and studied ultranarrow-waveguide heterostructure lasers emitting in the spectral range 1000 – 1100 nm. The lasers have been characterised by current – voltage, light – current, far-field intensity distribution and internal optical loss measurements. The ultranarrow-waveguide lasers have been shown to have a threshold current density of ∼75 A cm−2, internal quantum efficiency near 100 % and internal optical loss near the lasing threshold under 1 cm−1, which corresponds to the level of standard heterostructures. We have demonstrated the possibility of obtaining up to 5 W of output power in continuous mode and up to 30 W in pulsed mode, with a beam convergence (FWHM) of 17.8°. The slope of the internal optical loss as a function of pump current for the ultranarrow-waveguide lasers can be markedly lower than that in lasers with a standard design, but internal quantum efficiency drops to 40 % with increasing pump current. The use of barrier layers in ultranarrow-waveguide lasers makes it possible to substantially reduce the drop in internal quantum efficiency.

Complementary transmissive ultra-thin meta-deflectors for broadband polarization-independent refractions in the microwave region

Polarization manipulation is a significant issue for artificial modulation of the electromagnetic (EM) wave, but general mechanisms all suffer the restriction of inherent symmetric properties between opposite handedness. Herein, a strategy to independently and arbitrarily manipulate the EM wave with orthogonal circular polarizations based on a metasurface is proposed, which effectually breaks through traditional symmetrical characteristics between orthogonal handedness. By synthesizing the propagation phase and geometric phase, the appropriate Jones matrix is calculated to obtain independent wavefront manipulation of EM waves with opposite circular polarizations. Two transmissive ultra-thin meta-deflectors are proposed to demonstrate the asymmetrical refraction of transmitted circularly polarized waves in the microwave region. Simulated transmitted phase front and measured far-field intensity distributions are in excellent agreement, indicating that the transmitted wave with different polarizations can be refracted into arbitrary and independent directions within a wide frequency band (relative bandwidth of 25%). The results presented in this paper provide more freedom for the manipulation of EM waves, and motivate the realizations of various polarization-independent properties for all frequency spectra.

Build the Structure of WFSless AO System Through Deep Reinforcement Learning

We report on an aberration correction algorithm for a wavefront sensorless adaptive optics (WFSless AO) system based on deep reinforcement learning. First, it is verified that the reinforcement learning theory can be applied in our system. In addition, the deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm is introduced to build the control structure. After that, deep learning is used to deal with the messy raw images of far-field intensity distribution. We emphatically present how to design a feature extraction with the convolutional neural network in the control structure. To demonstrate the performance of this structure, some comparisons are made with the stochastic parallel gradient descent algorithm and the WFSless AO based on general modes algorithm. The results indicate that the correction speed of our method improves about 9 times and 2.5 times, respectively, for the similar correction effect.

Automatic classification of true and false laser-induced damage in large aperture optics

An automatic classification method based on machine learning is proposed to distinguish between true and false laser-induced damage in large aperture optics. First, far-field light intensity distributions are calculated via numerical calculations based on both the finite-difference time-domain and the Fourier optical angle spectrum theory for Maxwell’s equations. The feature vectors are presented to describe the possible damage sites, which include true and false damage sites. Finally, a kernel-based extreme learning machine is used for automatic recognition of the true sites and false sites. The method studied in this paper achieves good recognition of false damage, which includes a variety of types, especially attachment-type false damage, which has rarely been studied before.

A high speed model-based approach for wavefront sensorless adaptive optics systems

To improve temporal-frequency property of wavefront sensorless adaptive optics (AO) systems, a fast general model-based aberration correction algorithm is presented. The fast general model-based approach is based on the approximately linear relation between the mean square of the aberration gradients and the second moment of far-field intensity distribution. The presented model-based method is capable of completing a mode aberration effective correction just applying one disturbing onto the deformable mirror(one correction by one disturbing), which is reconstructed by the singular value decomposing the correlation matrix of the Zernike functions’ gradients. Numerical simulations of AO corrections under the various random and dynamic aberrations are implemented. The simulation results indicate that the equivalent control bandwidth is 2–3 times than that of the previous method with one aberration correction after applying N times disturbing onto the deformable mirror (one correction by N disturbing).