Mach-Zehnder Research Articles

Frequency Octupling Radio over Fiber System with Multiple Remote Antenna Units

Bidirectional radio over fiber (RoF) transmission to multiple remote antenna units (RAUs) with frequency octupling is proposed in this paper. The proposed RoF system uses a dual-port Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM) and an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) to generate millimeter-wave (mm-wave) to four different RAUs. Bit Error Rate (BER) and received optical power are key parameters used to measure the performance of the system. From the simulation results, it is shown that the proposed system achieves an acceptable performance a fiber distance of 50 km with a BER of 10-12. Furthermore, the results indicate that the dispersion-induced power penalties for both uplink and downlink transmission of all RAUs are less than 1 dB. In summary, the proposed system simplifies the RoF system by reusing wavelengths and utilizing low RoF frequency through the frequency-octupling technique.

Simultaneous observation of multiple interferograms with Mach-Zehnder type electron interferometer on a 1.2-MV field-emission transmission electron microscope

Abstract We developed a Mach-Zehnder type electron interferometer (MZ-EI) that enables simultaneous observation of interferograms created at multiple output locations on a 1.2-MV field-emission transmission electron microscope. This MZ-EI is composed of two single-crystal thin films, a lens located between the single-crystal thin films and imaging lenses. By comparing interferograms created by electron waves travelling through different beam paths, we found that the relative phase difference was caused by phase modulation passing through the single crystals and by aberrations and defocus values of the lenses. We also confirmed that the relative phase difference can be controlled using the tilted illumination method.

Design and analysis of ultralow-power all-optical EX-OR and OR logic operations with chiral Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Design and analysis of ultralow-power all-optical EX-OR and OR logic operations with chiral Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Directional bending sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer formed by side-polished multimode fiber

This work proposes a fiber bending sensor based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) constructed using a side-polished multimode fiber (MMF) with bending direction recognition. The sensor is fabricated by directly fusing a section of side-polished MMF sandwiched between two no-core fibers (NCFs) to an input and output single-mode fibers (SMFs). As the applied curvature varies from 0 m−1 to 1.64 m−1, the transmission spectra of the sensor exhibit distinct and linear wavelength shift in opposite directions. The maximum sensitivity observed in 0° and 180° bending is 3.252 nm/m−1 and −1.146 nm/m−1, respectively. The maximum temperature sensitivity is 0.0621 nm/°C and this effect can be compensated by using the sensitivity matrix. The advantages of the proposed sensor include its ability to accurately quantify the direction and magnitude of bending, temperature crosstalk elimination, and cost-effectiveness. These features make the sensor highly desirable for a wide range of practical directional bending applications, such as medical wearable devices for human joint range of motion monitoring.

High sensitivity Mach-Zehnder interferometric fiber-optic humidity sensor based on multimode interference enhancement

Variations in humidity can significantly disrupt the proper functioning of precision instruments and meters across various industrial, medical, and scientific applications, thereby necessitating real-time humidity monitoring. Here, a high sensitivity fiber-optic relative humidity (RH) sensor based on Mach-Zender interferometer (MZI) is proposed and demonstrated. The humidity sensor consists of single-mode fiber (SMF), peanut structure (PS), and multi-mode fiber (MMF). A multi-mode interference (MMI) enhanced fiber-optic MZI was constructed using a SMF-PS-SMF-MMF-SMF-PS-SMF cascade structure to detect small changes in the refractive index (RI) and expansion force of gelatin film caused by humidity variation. PS, as a beam splitter and combiner of MZI, provides the possibility for simple, economical, and efficient manufacturing of the fiber-based part of humidity sensors. The addition of MMF will excite higher-order core and cladding modes, laying the foundation for achieving high-sensitivity fiber-optic humidity sensors. The fiber-optic RH sensor prototype demonstrate a high sensitivity of about 0.633 nm/% RH in the RH range of 50 % RH to 80 % RH, and a low temperature cross-sensitivity of 0.165 % RH/°C. This sensor has the advantages of safe and easy manufacturing process, low manufacturing cost, and high sensitivity, providing continuous high accuracy humidity measurement results for humidity sensing in different fields.

Photonic Neural Network Fabricated on Thin Film Lithium Niobate for High‐Fidelity and Power‐Efficient Matrix Computation

AbstractPhotonic neural networks (PNNs) have emerged as a promising platform to address the energy consumption issue that comes with the advancement of artificial intelligence technology, and thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) offers an attractive solution as a material platform mainly for its combined characteristics of low optical loss and large electro‐optic (EO) coefficients. Here, the first implementation of an EO tunable Mach‐Zehnder interferometer (MZI) mesh‐based TFLN PNN is presented. The device features ultra‐high fidelity, high computation speed, and exceptional power efficiency. The performance of the device is benchmarked with several deep learning missions including in situ training of Circle and Moons nonlinear datasets classification, Iris flower species recognition, and handwriting digits recognition. The work paves the way for sustainable up‐scaling of high‐speed, energy‐efficient PNNs.

Generation and autocorrelation traces investigation of Nyquist pulse sequences

We propose a novel approach for generating Nyquist pulse sequences using a dual parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) and a phase modulator (PM). The generated Nyquist pulse sequence achieves a repetition frequency of 10 GHz and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 4.22 ps. The time-domain waveforms of these sequences are retrieved using the phase and intensity from cross-correlation and spectrum only (PICASO) method. Further investigation into the autocorrelation traces reveals a pulse width conversion factor of approximately 0.75 between the Nyquist pulse sequences and their autocorrelation traces. Our work offers an alternative approach to generating and measuring Nyquist pulse sequences.

Design and implementation of a physical layer optical fiber security communication system based on a ZUC stream cipher

In this work, we have proposed a new physical layer encryption scheme to improve the security of optical fiber communication systems. The secrecy scheme is based on disturbance of the data cluster under the ZUC algorithm (named for Zu Chongzhi, a famous mathematician in ancient China), which is generated by optical XOR using a dual-drive Mach–Zehnder modulator (DD-MZM). A base scrambling pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) generated by the ZUC stream cipher is introduced, which results in a better scrambling effect and randomness in the key stream of the block encryption structure. A simulation setup conducted in an encrypted transmission of the 64×64 grayscale image over 80 km of optical fiber shows that the authorized user can successfully decrypt the received signal, while the eavesdroppers cannot derive useful information with a bit error rate (BER) at approximately 0.5. In the simulation, after setting the delay compensation to 3.125 ps, a correct signal with a Q-factor as high as 11.3642 and a BER as low as 3.14295−30 can be obtained.

Microwave Photonic Frequency Multiplier with Low Phase Noise Based on an Optoelectronic Oscillator

A microwave photonic frequency multiplier with low phase noise based on an optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In this scheme, a dual-parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) is employed to generate the third-harmonic frequency of the input radio frequency (RF) signal, while the oscillation frequency of the OEO is also three times the RF signal frequency. By adjusting the bias voltages of different arms in the DPMZM, a triple-frequency signal with a high side-mode suppression ratio of 64.8 dB can be obtained. The experimental results indicate that the output of the frequency-multiplier has a better single-sideband phase noise value, for instance, −126 dBc/Hz@10 kHz at 20.019 GHz. It has improvements of 34 dB and 43.5 dB compared with the input RF signal and the simulated electrical frequency tripler module, respectively.

On chip broadband and high extinction ratios Mach-Zehnder interferometer for DPSK signal demodulation

Differential phase shift keying (DPSK) signals are widely employed in optical communication systems due to the high sensitivity and simple self-delay interference demodulation scheme. In this paper, we demonstrate a broadband on-chip Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) for multiple channel DPSK signal demodulation. The chip is constructed using a single-mode high-index doped silica glass waveguide with fiber-to-fiber insert loss less than 3 dB and small second-order dispersion. The MZI interference fringe extinction ratio is over 25 dB in the range of C- and L-bands. The MZI is employed to demodulate four parallel DPSK signals simultaneously with similar performance, indicating that the broad bandwidth MZI is suitable for a receiver of massive parallel optical communications.

Broadband spectropolarimeter based on spatial heterodyne spectroscopy and channeled polarimetric technique

A spectropolarimeter based on spatial heterodyne spectroscopy and the channeled polarimetric technique (SSHSCP) is introduced. The SSHSCP uses a polarization grating for channel modulation, meaning that the Stokes parameter is no longer dependent on the wavenumber; this suppresses channel aliasing considerably and improves the polarization parameter reconstruction accuracy. The SSHSCP’s optical path structure is based on the Mach–Zehnder interferometer, ensuring efficient energy use. The spectral detection and polarization detection principles of the SSHSCP are derived, and a specific design example is presented. Simulations indicate that the SSHSCP can restore the target’s spectral and complete Stokes parameters with high accuracy for a broadband source and narrowband lines. The reconstructed Stokes parameter errors are of the order of 10−3 or less. The SSHSCP acquires spectral and polarization parameters in a single step and has no moving parts in a compact structure.

The impact of raindrops on phase precision of Mach–Zehnder interferometer employing the coherent states and the squeezed vacuum states

The impact of raindrops on phase precision of Mach–Zehnder interferometer employing the coherent states and the squeezed vacuum states

Heat Pulses in Electron Quantum Optics.

Electron quantum optics aims to realize ideas from the quantum theory of light with the role of photons being played by charge pulses in electronic conductors. Experimentally, the charge pulses are excited by time-dependent voltages; however, one could also generate heat pulses by heating and cooling an electrode. Here, we explore this intriguing idea by formulating a Floquet scattering theory of heat pulses in mesoscopic conductors. The adiabatic emission of heat pulses leads to a heat current that in linear response is given by the thermal conductance quantum. However, we also find a high-frequency component, which ensures that the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for heat currents, whose validity has been debated, is fulfilled. The heat pulses are uncharged, and we probe their electron-hole content by evaluating the partition noise in the outputs of a quantum point contact. We also employ a Hong-Ou-Mandel setup to examine if the pulses bunch or antibunch. Finally, to generate an electric current, we use a Mach-Zehnder interferometer that breaks the electron-hole symmetry and thereby enables a thermoelectric effect. Our Letter paves the way for systematic investigations of heat pulses in mesoscopic conductors, and it may stimulate future experiments.

Performance study of microwave photonic links by considering the effect of phase shifters and bias conditions on dual-drive dual parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator

Abstract This paper presents the performance analysis of different schemes for generating linearized photonic signal by varying phase shifter arrangements of a dual-drive dual parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator (DD-DPMZM). The RF signals at the electrodes of sub-modulators of DD-DPMZM are fed using different phase angles to generate optically modulated signals in the output. The proposed system consists of a DD-DPMZM and phase shifters. Spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) is evaluated for different configurations of sub modulators in upper and lower arm of DD-DPMZM. SFDR of 135.6 dB Hz4/5 is obtained for quadrature and optical carrier suppression modulation in upper and lower submodulators by suppressing third order intermodulation distortion completely. It is found to be high performance configuration for dual parallel Mach–Zehnder modulator based linear microwave photonic link.

Quantum Nonlinear Spectroscopy via Correlations of Weak Faraday‐Rotation Measurements

AbstractThe correlations of fluctuations are key to studying fundamental quantum physics and quantum many‐body dynamics. They are also useful information for understanding and combating decoherence in quantum technology. Nonlinear spectroscopy and noise spectroscopy are powerful tools to characterize fluctuations, but they can access only very few among the many types of higher‐order correlations. A systematic quantum sensing approach, called quantum nonlinear spectroscopy (QNS), is recently proposed for extracting arbitrary types and orders of time‐ordered correlations, using sequential weak measurement via a spin quantum sensor. However, the requirement of a central spin as the quantum sensor limits the versatility of the QNS since usually a central spin interacts only with a small number of particles in proximity and the measurement of single spins needs stringent conditions. Here, the aim is to employ the polarization (a pseudo‐spin) of a coherent light beam as a quantum sensor for QNS. After interacting with a target system (such as a transparent magnetic material), the small Faraday rotation of the linearly polarized light can be measured, which constitutes a weak measurement of the magnetization in the target system. Using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a designed phase shift, one can post‐select the effects of the light–material interaction to be either a quantum evolution or a quantum measurement of the material magnetization. This way, the correlated difference photon counts of a certain number of measurement shots, each with a designated interference phase, can be made proportional to a certain type and order of correlations of the magnetic fluctuations in the material. The analysis of the signal‐to‐noise ratios shows that the second‐order correlations are detectable in general under realistic conditions and higher‐order correlations are significant when the correlation lengths of the fluctuations are comparable to the laser spot size (such as in systems near the critical points). Since the photon sensor can interact simultaneously with many particles and interferometry is a standard technique, this protocol of QNS is advantageous for studying quantum many‐body systems.

Fiber optic strain sensor based on enhanced harmonic Vernier effect

In sensors utilizing the traditional harmonic Vernier effect, it is imperative to isolate the reference interferometer to mitigate the impact of external environmental fluctuations on the reference spectrum, thereby averting measurement inaccuracies. However, achieving such isolation between interferometers in compact fiber optic sensors poses significant challenges. We propose a fiber optic strain sensor based on the enhanced harmonic Vernier effect. In the enhanced harmonic Vernier effect, two interferometers are simultaneously involved in sensing. Hence, the isolation of interferometers is no longer a concern. Furthermore, the two interferometers exhibit responses with opposite signs, leading to a greater displacement of the envelope. Consequently, the sensitivity of the sensor is further enhanced without altering the harmonic order. Firstly, we conducted numerical simulations to analyze the enhanced harmonic Vernier effect. Secondly, we fabricated a Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI) and a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with strain sensitivity of opposite signs, generating a first-order harmonic. The experimental results indicate that the sensor’s sensitivity is 15.1 pm/μϵ, which is 1.41 and 2.80 times higher than the traditional harmonic Vernier effect using FPI and MZI as sensing interferometers, respectively. The proposed sensor and enhancement method hold promising potential for applications in high-sensitivity measurement fields.

High-performance thin-film lithium niobate optical 90° hybrid with a novel CMRR assessment method

Ultra-Compact 90° Hybrid DesignThe optical 90° hybrid uses a 4 × 4 MMI coupler with an ultra-compact footprint of ~9 μm × 107 μm, which is 3 times shorter than previous work. Novel CMRR Calculation MethodA new method to assess the CMRR using a single unequal Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), reducing fabrication complexity and measurement errors. Excellent PerformanceThe device features low excess loss (0.55 to 1.4 dB), low phase errors (< ±4.5°), and high CMRR (< −17.8 dBe) over a wide wavelength range (1530 to 1605 nm).

Design of a temperature sensor based on a valley photonic crystal Mach–Zehnder interferometer

With the development of photonics device integration technology, Mach–Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) are widely applied as sensors because they are extremely sensitive to environmental parameters. Conventional MZI sensors are generally large and unsuitable for high-density integration. MZIs based on photonic crystals (PCs) can significantly improve compactness and are suitable for integration. However, PC MZIs experience substantial optical loss due to scattering. Based on the spin-valley locking effect that can achieve defect-immune unidirectional transmission of topological edge states in valley photonic crystals (VPCs), we propose an MZI sensor based on a VPC structure and apply it in temperature sensing for what we believe is the first time. The interference peaks redshift with an increase in the temperature, which allows accurate sensing of the temperature shift with a high sensitivity of 0.06 nm/K in the temperature range of 100 K–750 K. The ultracompact device has a small footprint of 9.26×7.99µm2 and a high forward transmittance of 0.88. The design is suitable for the current complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication technique. Thus, it will find broad applications in integrated photonics, optical communication, and integrated temperature sensing.

Single-drive electro-optic frequency comb source on a photonic-wire-bonded thin-film lithium niobate platform.

Stable pulse and flat-top frequency comb generation are an indispensable component of many photonic applications, from ranging to communications. Lithium niobate on insulator is an excellent electro-optic (EO) platform, exhibiting high modulation efficiency and low optical loss, making it a fitting candidate for pulse generation through electro-optic modulation of continuous-wave (CW) light, a commonly utilized method for generating ultrashort pulses. Here, we demonstrate an on-chip electro-optic comb generation module on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) consisting of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) amplitude modulator (AM) and a cascaded phase modulator (PM) system driven by a single-electrode drive. We show that when operated in the correct regime, the lithium niobate chips can generate frequency combs with excellent spectral power flatness. In addition, we optically package one of the pulse generator chips via photonic wire bonding. The pulses generated by the photonic-wire-bonded device are compressed to 840 fs pulse duration using an optical fiber and show extremely stable operation.

Thermally reliable compact electro-optic modulators with a low half-wave voltage

Recent advancements in thin-film lithium niobate have led to the development of high-performance integrated electro-optic modulators, which are crucial for modern optical communication systems. These modulators offer tighter mode confinement, a smaller physical footprint, and reduced modulating voltages. This study presents a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) on a silicon nitride-loaded lithium niobate platform using a few-mode waveguide structure. By harnessing the exceptional thermo-optic and electro-optic effects of LiNbO3, we design and simulate this modulator employing multilayer structures with the BeamPROP solver. The modulator has a length of 3.94 mm, a Vπ value of 0.96 V, and a transition temperature (Tg) of 80 °C at 1.55 µm. This proposed modulator exhibits a crosstalk of approximately -42 dB, an extinction ratio of approximately 24 dB, and a maximum transmission of -28 dB for the first-order phase shift. These findings demonstrate the significant potential of this modulator for deployment in high-speed optical communication systems, where maintaining thermal stability and optimizing energy efficiency are paramount.