Wavelength Sweep Research Articles

Silicon Integrated Dual-Mode Interferometer with Differential Outputs.

The dual-mode interferometer (DMI) is an attractive alternative to Mach-Zehnder interferometers for sensor purposes, achieving sensitivities to refractive index changes close to state-of-the-art. Modern designs on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platforms offer thermally stable and compact devices with insertion losses of less than 1 dB and high extinction ratios. Compact arrays of multiple DMIs in parallel are easy to fabricate due to the simple structure of the DMI. In this work, the principle of operation of an integrated DMI with differential outputs is presented which allows the unambiguous phase shift detection with a single wavelength measurement, rather than using a wavelength sweep and evaluating the optical output power spectrum. Fluctuating optical input power or varying attenuation due to different analyte concentrations can be compensated by observing the sum of the optical powers at the differential outputs. DMIs with two differential single-mode outputs are fabricated in a 250 nm SOI platform, and corresponding measurements are shown to explain the principle of operation in detail. A comparison of DMIs with the conventional Mach-Zehnder interferometer using the same technology concludes this work.

Real-time fiber Bragg grating measurement system using temperature-controlled Fourier domain mode locking laser

We constructed a temperature-controlled Fourier domain mode locking (TC-FDML) laser capable of high-speed wavelength sweeping and developed a real-time fiber Bragg grating (FBG) measurement system. The TC-FDML laser can perform high-speed wavelength sweeping at a sweep frequency of 50.7 kHz with a scan range of ∼60 nm in the 1.55-μm band. This system uses a data acquisition system mounting an analog/digital converter and field programmable gate array that enables real-time FBG measurement at a sampling frequency of 250 MHz. Using bidirectional wavelength sweeping by the TC-FDML laser, the system has a measurement time resolution of 9.9 μs. We show that the developed system can measure high-speed vibrations of several kHz and perform simultaneous and continuous measurements of multiple FBGs for a period of one hour.

Non-fullerene organic solar cells with 7% efficiency and excellent air stability through morphological and interfacial engineering

We report on the fabrication of the poly{[4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl][3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophenediyl]} (PTB7) and poly{[N,N-9-bis(2-octyldodecyl)- naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,59-(2,29-bithiophene)}(P(NDI2OD-T2)) active layer combination employing air brush spray coating technique in 2-methyl anisole. Optical absorption characteristics of the blend layer were examined utilizing UV–visible spectra in the wavelength sweep varying from 300 to 900 nm. Atomic force microscopy was utilized to analyze the surface characteristics of the fabricated active layer. Under the radiance of simulated solar light with 100 mW cm−2 (AM 1.5G), the current density voltage (J-V) characteristics were determined by employing a solar simulator. Fullerene-free organic solar cells were build using a combination of P(NDI2OD-T2) acceptor and a polymer donor PTB7 with SnO2 acting as an interlayer, which showed power conversion efficiency (PCEs) of more than 7.0%, which is considered as the best PCEs been reported for the chosen donor and the acceptor. The device is extremely stable, holding 75% of its unique effectiveness subsequent to being put away in air for 72 days even without encapsulation. These outcomes demonstrate that the spray-coated film is a feasible contrasting option to the vacuum-deposited ITO film in terms of cost for mass production and for roll-to-roll based organic solar cells.

High-speed wavelength-swept source at 2.0 μm and its application in imaging through a scattering medium.

We report a high-speed wavelength-swept source operating at 2.0 μm through advanced time-stretch technology. It sweeps over 30 nm at a speed of 3.3×109 nm/s and a repetition rate of ∼19 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a megahertz-stable swept source has been implemented at such a long wavelength. A wide bandwidth is enabled by a simple mode-locked fiber laser that covers a wavelength range of ∼60 nm. The all-optical wavelength sweeping is realized by a chirped fiber Bragg grating (CFBG), which shows a superior temporal stability and power efficiency, compared with commonly used dispersive fibers, particularly in the 2.0 μm wavelength window. To showcase its specialties, here we employ it to perform high-speed spectrally-encoded microscopy (i.e., time-stretch imaging) through a scattering medium at a line-scan rate of up to ∼19 MHz. Better image quality is achieved, compared with a conventional imaging window at 1.0 μm. It is believed that the potential applications of this new high-speed swept source will benefit the transient diagnosis that requires deep penetration through a scattering medium.

Extended bandwidth wavelength swept laser source for high resolution optical frequency domain imaging.

Improving the axial resolution by providing wider bandwidth wavelength swept lasers remains an important issue for optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI). Here, we demonstrate a wide tuning range, all-fiber wavelength swept laser at a center wavelength of 1250 nm by combining two ring cavities that share a single Fabry-Perot tunable filter. The two cavities contain semiconductor optical amplifiers with central wavelengths of 1190 nm and 1292 nm, respectively. To avoid disturbing interference effects in the overlapping spectral region, we modulated the amplifiers in order to obtain consecutive wavelength sweeps in the two spectral regions. The two sweeps were fused together in post-processing to achieve a total scanning range of 223 nm, corresponding to 3.3 µm axial resolution in air. We confirm improved image quality and reduced speckle size in tomograms of swine esophagus ex vivo, and human skin and nailbed in vivo.

Study of liquid sealed no-core fiber interferometer for sensing applications

We report an experimental investigation on liquid sealed no-core (NCF) fiber based on modal interferometer and applied for temperature sensing applications. The sensor fabrication was very simple and inexpensive because that requires only a splice section of NCF in the middle of single mode fiber (SMF). After fabrication, the interferometer was packed into a liquid-sealed capillary tube and then the sensing measurements were carried out by detecting wavelength sweeping. An experimental demonstration shows that the fabricated interferometer exhibits a high linear response with sensing range and can be easily controlled by tuning the refractive index of the sealed liquid. The highest temperature sensitivity is found to be 201.17pm/°C.

Interrogation of FBGs and FBGs Arrays Using Standard Telecom DFB Diode

An efficient fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor integration system, which utilizes a small number of standard Telecom opto-electronics components, is presented in this paper. Wavelength-swept optical pulses were generated by driving a standard telecom DFB laser diode by high amplitude (>3 A) and short duration (300 ns) current pulses. A total laser diode's wavelength sweep in excess of 10 nm was achieved, which allows for simultaneous interrogation of several FBGs within similar wavelengths. The application of short duration wavelength-swept optical pulses also allows for time division multiplexing of small FBG arrays containing FBGs with overlapping characteristic wavelengths. When a short, wavelength-swept optical pulse is launched into the fiber containing single or multiple FBGs along its length, fractions of the launched pulse are back-reflected towards the detector. Since the launched pulse wavelength changes over the time, the reflections from the FBGs occur in the time moments that depend on the FBGs’ characteristic wavelengths. Measurement of the time delay among back-reflected optical pulses is then used to determine the FBGs characteristic wavelengths. The experimental system demonstrated FBG wavelength readout resolution, which exceeded 3 pm at 1 KHz sampling rate, maximum sampling rate of over 40 KHz, and capability to readout/demultiplex over 30 FBGs located down a single optical fiber.

Highly compact fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer: A new instrument design.

This paper presents the design, construction, and characterization of a new optical-fiber-based, low-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer with a simple cavity formed by two reflecting surfaces (the end of a cleaved optical fiber and a plane, reflecting counter-surface), for the continuous measurement of displacements of several nanometers to several tens of millimeters. No beam collimation or focusing optics are required, resulting in a displacement sensor that is extremely compact (optical fiber diameter 125 μm), is surprisingly tolerant of misalignment (more than 5°), and can be used over a very wide range of temperatures and environmental conditions, including ultra-high-vacuum. The displacement measurement is derived from interferometric phase measurements using an infrared laser source whose wavelength is modulated sinusoidally at a frequency f. The phase signal is in turn derived from changes in the amplitudes of demodulated signals, at both the modulation frequency, f, and its harmonic at 2f, coming from a photodetector that is monitoring light intensity reflected back from the cavity as the cavity length changes. Simple quadrature detection results in phase errors corresponding to displacement errors of up to 25 nm, but by using compensation algorithms discussed in this paper, these inherent non-linearities can be reduced to below 3 nm. In addition, wavelength sweep capability enables measurement of the absolute surface separation. This experimental design creates a unique set of displacement measuring capabilities not previously combined in a single interferometer.

Spatially and Spectrally Resolved Gain Characterization of Space-Division Multiplexing Amplifiers With Coherent Swept-Wavelength Reflectometry

We directly measure the spatially and spectrally resolved gain of erbium doped multicore and few mode fiber amplifiers using a coherent swept wavelength interferometer operated in the reflection mode. It greatly simplifies the characterization of multispatial mode amplifiers because it enables characterization of the mode-dependent gain with only a single mode-selective multiplexer at the input. The gains for both multicore fiber amplifier and three spatial modes (LP01 and ${\rm{LP}}_{{11}}$ ) amplifier are measured. Measurements for multicore fiber amplifier are conducted using two pump schemes, core pump and cladding pump. Also, the comparison with the cutback experiments shows the validity of this technique.

C-band swept wavelength erbium-doped fiber laser with a high-Q tunable interior-ridge silicon microring cavity.

We demonstrate swept-wavelength operation of an erbium-doped fiber laser using a tunable silicon microring cavity. The microring cavity is designed to have 35 nm free spectral range, a high Q of 1.5 × 105, and low insertion loss of <0.05 dB. The resonance wavelength of the cavity is tuned efficiently (8.1μW/GHz) and rapidly (τr,f~2.2μs) using an embedded Si heater. The laser achieves single-mode continuous-wave emission over the C-band (1530 nm-to-1560 nm). A mean swept-wavelength rate of 22,600 nm/s or 3106 THz/s is demonstrated within 1532 nm-to-1542 nm wavelength range. Its linewidth is measured to be 16 kHz using loss-compensated circulating delayed self-heterodyne detection.

Optimization of a dispersion-tuned wavelength-swept fiber laser for optical coherence tomography.

We optimized parameters of a dispersion-tuned wavelength-swept fiber laser by numerically analyzing dynamic characteristics. The optimized laser is experimentally demonstrated and applied to the swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) system. The dispersion-tuned wavelength-swept laser (DT-WSL) is a unique tunable fiber laser, whose lasing wavelength can be tuned rapidly without any mechanical tunable filters. Although the wavelength of a DT-WSL can be swept rapidly and widely, the broadening of the instantaneous spectral width at a high sweep rate has been a critical drawback for SS-OCT applications. Numerical simulations have shown that higher modulation frequencies for active mode-locking lead to narrower instantaneous spectral widths. However, a lower modulation frequency is needed to achieve a wider wavelength tuning range. Pulse modulation is employed to solve the trade-off between instantaneous spectral width and wavelength tuning range. In this paper, the characteristics of a sinusoidally modulated and a pulse-modulated DT-WSL are compared numerically and experimentally. The numerical simulation results show that a pulse-modulated laser can achieve spectral widths as narrow as that of the sinusoidally modulated laser with >5 GHz modulation frequency, even when the pulse modulation frequency is as low as 500 MHz. We also study the difference in the laser characteristics with different sweep directions and discover that a positive wavelength sweep leads to a narrower instantaneous spectral width. We also experimentally confirmed that pulse modulation can indeed achieve a narrower spectral width, as expected from our numerical simulation results. The pulse-modulated DT-WSL is then used in an SS-OCT system and successfully achieves a coherence length of 1.3 mm, whereas that of a sinusoidally modulated DT-WSL is limited to only 0.7 mm. Furthermore, we experimentally compare the performance difference in OCT imaging with different wavelength sweep directions, and the results proved that it is advantageous to apply a positive wavelength sweep, as predicted by our numerical simulation.

All Fiber Real-Time Laser Wavelength Measurement Method Based on Faraday Rotation Effect

An all fiber real-time laser wavelength measurement method based on Faraday rotation effect is proposed and demonstrated, for correcting the nonlinear tuning of wavelength sweep lasers. The wavelength measurement setup is mainly composed of a specially designed fiber magneto-optic device and a wavelength sensitive filter. When the linearly polarized lights with different wavelengths pass through the magneto-optic crystal, their polarization planes will be rotated at different angles. By taking use of the dispersion effect, the light wavelength can be measured by detecting the rotated angles. In our experiments, the wavelength resolution can reach 2.1 pm with a measurement range from 1520 to 1570 nm. Besides monitoring the wavelength tuning, it should be also useful in laser wavelength calibration and optical fiber sensing.

28 MHz swept source at 1.0 μm for ultrafast quantitative phase imaging.

Emerging high-throughput optical imaging modalities, in particular those providing phase information, necessitate a demanding speed regime (e.g. megahertz sweep rate) for those conventional swept sources; while an effective solution is yet to be demonstrated. We demonstrate a stable breathing laser as inertia-free swept source (BLISS) operating at a wavelength sweep rate of 28 MHz, particularly for the ultrafast interferometric imaging modality at 1.0 μm. Leveraging a tunable dispersion compensation element inside the laser cavity, the wavelength sweep range of BLISS can be tuned from ~10 nm to ~63 nm. It exhibits a good intensity stability, which is quantified by the ratio of standard deviation to the mean of the pulse intensity, i.e. 1.6%. Its excellent wavelength repeatability, <0.05% per sweep, enables the single-shot imaging at an ultrafast line-scan rate without averaging. To showcase its potential applications, it is applied to the ultrafast (28-MHz line-scan rate) interferometric time-stretch (iTS) microscope to provide quantitative morphological information on a biological specimen at a lateral resolution of 1.2 μm. This fiber-based inertia-free swept source is demonstrated to be robust and broadband, and can be applied to other established imaging modalities, such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), of which an axial resolution better than 12 μm can be achieved.

Laser optomechanics.

Cavity optomechanics explores the interaction between optical field and mechanical motion. So far, this interaction has relied on the detuning between a passive optical resonator and an external pump laser. Here, we report a new scheme with mutual coupling between a mechanical oscillator supporting the mirror of a laser and the optical field generated by the laser itself. The optically active cavity greatly enhances the light-matter energy transfer. In this work, we use an electrically-pumped vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with an ultra-light-weight (130 pg) high-contrast-grating (HCG) mirror, whose reflectivity spectrum is designed to facilitate strong optomechanical coupling, to demonstrate optomechanically-induced regenerative oscillation of the laser optomechanical cavity. We observe >550 nm self-oscillation amplitude of the micromechanical oscillator, two to three orders of magnitude larger than typical, and correspondingly a 23 nm laser wavelength sweep. In addition to its immediate applications as a high-speed wavelength-swept source, this scheme also offers a new approach for integrated on-chip sensors.

Beyond Interferometers Based on Silicon-Air Bragg Reflectors: Toward On-Chip Optical Microinstruments—A Review

In this paper, we review recent advances in optical microinstruments based on distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) focusing mainly on two application areas: spectrometry and profilometry. For spectrometry applications, we consider state-of-the-art architectures. Among these are novel architectures of high-Q Fabry-Perot resonators based on cylindrical surfaces. In addition, we consider a microelectromechanical Michelson interferometer based on a robust (silicon-air) beam splitting interface. Its measurement principle relies on recording the spatial interferogram using movable mirror followed by inverse Fast Fourier transform (iFFT) to deduce the spectral content of the tested sample. For profilometry applications instead, an elaborated Michelson interferometer based on planar DBR is deployed for profile measurements using the technique of wavelength sweep and FFT to extract the dimensional characteristics. In the last section, we revisit the applications of DBR structures in optofluidics wherein a curved FP cavity has been deployed for optical trapping and binding of microparticles. Besides, a Michelson-based optofluidic probe has been deployed for off-chip measurements of fluid refractive index and absorbance. Globally, DBR based microinstruments demonstrate a strong potential in the targeted application areas.

An experimental study of vibration based energy harvesting in dynamically tailored structures with embedded acoustic black holes

In this paper, we present an experimental investigation on the energy harvesting performance of dynamically tailored structures based on the concept of embedded acoustic black holes (ABHs). Embedded ABHs allow tailoring the wave propagation characteristics of the host structure creating structural areas with extreme levels of energy density. Experiments are conducted on a tapered plate-like aluminum structure with multiple embedded ABH features. The dynamic response of the structure is tested via laser vibrometry in order to confirm the vibration localization and the passive wavelength sweep characteristic of ABH embedded tapers. Vibrational energy is extracted from the host structure and converted into electrical energy by using ceramic piezoelectric discs bonded on the ABHs and shunted on an external electric circuit. The energy harvesting performance is investigated both under steady state and transient excitation. The experimental results confirm that the dynamic tailoring produces a drastic increase in the harvested energy independently from the nature of the excitation input.

Wavelength-Swept Cascaded Raman Fiber Laser around 1300 nm for OCT Imaging

We experimentally demonstrated a novel wavelength-swept laser using a cascaded Raman gain around 1310 nm. A 1064/1310 wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) coupler and coupled fiber Bragg gratings mirrors at 1064, 1117, 1175, 1240 nm are effectively used to increase the power efficiency in a laser ring cavity with highly non-linear fiber (HNLF) of 2 km. Linear wavelength sweeping is demonstrated with the 100 Hz triangular driving signal to fiber Fabry-Perot tunable filter (FFP-TF) around the 1310 nm region. The measured sweeping range and output power were 27 nm and 2.1 mW, respectively, which are suitable for optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

Spectrally encoded slit confocal microscopy using a wavelength-swept laser.

We present an implementation of spectrally encoded slit confocal microscopy. The method employs a rapid wavelength-swept laser as the light source and illuminates a specimen with a line focus that scans through the specimen as the wavelength sweeps. The reflected light from the specimen is imaged with a stationary line scan camera, in which the finite pixel height serves as a slit aperture. This scanner-free operation enables a simple and cost-effective implementation in a small form factor, while allowing for the three-dimensional imaging of biological samples.

Efficient trigger signal generation from wasted backward amplified stimulated emission at optical amplifiers for optical coherence tomography

This paper propose an optical structure to generate trigger signals for optical coherence tomography (OCT) using backward light which is usually disposed. The backward light is called backward amplified stimulated emission generated from semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) when using swept wavelength tunable laser (SWTL). A circulator is applied to block undesirable lights in the SWTL instead of an isolator in common SWTL. The circulator also diverts backward amplified spontaneous lights, which finally bring out trigger signals for a high speed digitizer. The spectra of the forward lights at SOA and the waveform of the backward lights were measured to check the procedure of the trigger formation in the experiment. The results showed that the trigger signals from the proposed SWTL with the circulator was quite usable in OCT.

Analysis of Dynamic Properties of Dispersion-Tuned Swept Lasers

Dispersion-tuned swept lasers (DTSLs) can sweep the lasing wavelength widely at high speed without need for any filter and have good potential for sensing applications, such as swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). Properties of DTSLs, tuning range, tuning speed, and spectral linewidth, etc., are determined by several parameters, amount of dispersion, cavity length, modulation frequency and depth, and nonlinearity. Two models have been suggested to analyze and design the DTSLs, which are both only valid for steady states without wavelength sweep. For interferometric sensing applications, coherence (∝ instantaneous linewidth) of the DTSL under fast sweep is of great importance. In this paper, we propose two models for analysis of dynamic properties of DTSLs, expanding the two steady-state models, and present the results of numerical calculations. We confirmed that the two dynamic-state models give similar results for the typical DTSLs used for the SS-OCT. We found that the sweep can be fast without spread of the instantaneous linewidth when the sweep is toward the longer wavelength with anomalous dispersion and high modulation frequency.