Wave Plate Research Articles

Single-beam low-frequency loss modulation technique for two-photon absorption measurement

We present a straightforward and reliable single-beam configuration designed for the assessment of two-photon absorption (2PA) through the utilization of the loss modulation technique. Mechanical rotation of a half-wave plate induces a sinusoidal modulation in the envelope of the probe pulse train. The elimination of spurious signals is achieved by determining the difference of the lock-in amplifier output at the focused and defocused positions of the sample. Our findings, based on measurements with dye solutions and crystalline silicon, demonstrate the feasibility of determining the 2PA coefficient, subject to preliminary calibration of the setup with reference samples. Remarkably, the acquisition of the 2PA signal in silicon at 1030 nm is accomplished with less than 200 pJ energy of the laser pulse, overcoming the challenge posed by concurrent linear absorption. Additionally, a signal of 3PA is revealed despite the presence of 2PA and linear absorption.

Integrated 800 Gb/s O-band WDM optical transceiver enabled by hybrid InP-polymer photonic integration

We propose and demonstrate a novel O-band wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical transceiver enabled by the hybrid photonic integration of indium phosphide (InP) components into a polymer-based photonic motherboard called PolyBoard. The optical engine hosts an eight-fold InP electro-absorption modulated laser (EML) array at the transmitter part exhibiting >35GHz electro-optical bandwidth and an eight-fold InP photodiode (PD) array at the receiver part with 50 GHz bandwidth, butt-end coupled to the PolyBoard motherboard, which accommodates passive arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) at the transmitter and receiver sides, responsible for performing the wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing functionalities, respectively. What we believe to be a novel thin-film-based O-band half-wave plate is placed at the receiver side AWG, ensuring the polarization insensitivity of the prototype. The optical engine’s design is discussed in the manuscript, demonstrating experimental results from its static and dynamic evaluation. Individual characterization of the transmitter and receiver sides of the optical engine is presented before evaluating the optical engine as a whole in a loopback configuration. The obtained results underscore the potential of the proposed hybrid photonic integrated transceiver for supporting 800 Gb/s capacity in intra-datacenter optical interconnects for transmission distances up to 2 km.

Tunable broadband polarization retarders.

We theoretically propose a type of tunable polarization retarder, which is composed of sequences of half-wave and quarter-wave polarization retarders, allowing operation at broad spectral bandwidth. The constituent retarders are composed of stacked standard half-wave retarders and quarter-wave retarders rotated at designated angles relative to their fast polarization axes. The proposed composite retarder (CR) can be tuned to an arbitrary value of the retardance by varying the middle retarder alone while maintaining its broadband spectral bandwidth intact.

Topological rainbow trapping of shear horizontal waves in a phononic crystal plate with tapered surface

Topological interface states have localized field enhancement characteristics. Integrating them with the concept of rainbow trapping undoubtedly be a more effective method for elastic energy localization and collection. In this paper, the tunable interface state of shear horizontal (SH) waves is realized in a one-dimensional (1D) phononic crystal (PC) plate by modifying the structural parameters of unit cells with tapered surfaces, where the interface state emerges in the overlapping band gaps of two types of unit cells with different Zak phases. Furthermore, we assembled seven types of unit cells with gradient variations, achieving topological rainbow trapping. Meanwhile, the robustness of the rainbow state has been demonstrated, and more separated frequencies are obtained by changing the order of these unit cells. The results of the study demonstrate that the highly localized, compact, and broadband tunable topological rainbow system we designed holds promise for applications in areas such as elastic energy harvesting, filtering, and multi-frequency signal processing.

Experimental validation of zero-group-velocity feature guided waves in a welded joint utilizing the pitch-catch measurement technique with air-coupled ultrasonic transducers

Zero-Group-Velocity (ZGV) Lamb waves in elastic plates had been conducted extensive theoretical and experimental researches in the field of ultrasonic nondestructive testing. The ZGV modes in complex structures had been studied theoretically, but less attention had been paid to their experimental investigation. This paper reports the experimental observation of Zero-Group-Velocity Feature Guided Waves (ZGV-FGWs) in a welded joint using the pitch-catch measurement technique with air-coupled ultrasonic transducers. Firstly, for the elastic plate, it is verified that the received time-domain signal using the pitch-catch measurement method with air-coupled ultrasonic transducers is indeed ZGV Lamb waves. Subsequently, we applied the same pitch-catch measurement method with air-coupled ultrasonic transducers to receive time-domain signals at different excitation frequencies in the welded joint. It is observed that the received time-domain signals in the welded joint oscillate for extended periods of time. By performing short-time Fourier transforms on the received time-domain signals, we analyze the frequency content of the received time-domain signals at different excitation carrier frequencies. By analyzing the spectral amplitude variations of these signals at different excitation carrier frequencies, it can be demonstrated that the spectral amplitude corresponding to the resonance frequency is the largest. These findings collectively affirm that the received time-domain signals in the welded joint exhibit ZGV characteristics, identified as ZGV-FGWs. Consequently, from an experimental perspective, the presence of ZGV-FGWs in the welded joint is verified. Moreover, the experimentally determined resonance frequency of ZGV-FGWs concurs with the results obtained through simulation. This study confirms the feasibility of using the pitch-catch measurement method with air-coupled ultrasonic transducers to excite ZGV-FGWs in a welded joint and provides a reference for future experimental investigations of ZGV-FGWs in complex structures.

Manipulation of Chiral Nonlinear Optical Effect by Light-Matter Strong Coupling.

Light-matter strong coupling (LMSC) is an intriguing state in which light and matter are hybridized inside a cavity. It is increasingly recognized as an excellent way to control material properties without any chemical modification. Here, we show that the LMSC is a powerful state for manipulating chiral nonlinear optical (NLO) effects through the investigation of second harmonic generation (SHG) circular dichroism. At the upper polariton band in LMSC, in addition to the enhancement of SHG by more than 1 order of magnitude, the responsivity to the handedness of circularly polarized light was largely modified, where sign inversion and increase of the dissymmetry factor were achieved. Quarter waveplate rotation analysis revealed that the LMSC clearly influenced the coefficients associated with chirality in the NLO process and also contributed to the enhancement of nonlinear magnetic dipole interactions. This study demonstrated that LMSC serves as a great platform for controlling chiral and magneto-optics.

Motion segmentation with event camera: [formula omitted]-patches optical flow estimation and Pairwise Markov Random Fields

This paper proposes the N-patches optical flow estimation-based motion compensation for motion segmentation using event camera. The requirement for prior knowledge of the scenario to cluster events into different motion types is addressed by the N-patches optical flow estimation. The framework of motion segmentation combines motion compensation and Pairwise Markov Random Fields, which not only realize the alignment of events in space but also enhance the spatial correlation between events. The proposed approach aims to maximize the contrast of the images of warped events. It does so by minimizing a specially designed energy function that jointly estimates motion parameters and discrete label items. The problem of selecting the optimal value for N∗ when executing N-patches optical flow estimation is discussed in Section 4.2 of the experiments. Finally, the proposed approach is evaluated in several scenes involving high-speed motion, low-light conditions, occlusions, and multiple moving objects. The experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves better segmentation performance than the event-based motion segmentation by motion compensation.

P‐133: Quantum Rods based Truly Random Number Generator (QR‐TRNG)

The novel technology is proposed as a quantum rod‐based truly random number generator. The objective is to construct a device array by stacking together 5 layers: 1) backlight‐unit; 2) thin‐film transistor liquid crystal display; 3) quarter waveplate; 4) & 5) quantum rod films, red and green, respectively, aligned uniformly in‐plane yet orthogonally to each other. QR's anisotropic absorption nature plays a key role in generating 4 different pixel outputs: 0 ‐ pixel is off; 1 ‐ excited pixel is predominantly green; 2 ‐ yellowish; 3 ‐ red. Further, TRNG is enabled by rotating excitation polarization‐direction.

69‐2: A Novel Ultra Large Size OLED Display Base on Small‐size OLEDs

In this paper, we present the novel ultra large size OLED display with extremely narrow bezel, parallel driving of OLED, two‐time optical compensation. Using these technologies, we have designed the OLED with many units of small size OLED display, and the uniformity of brightness is more than 95%. Finally, we have successfully developed up to 256‐inch 8K OLED display.

The Dispersion Calculator - a free software for calculating dispersion curves of guided waves

The nondestructive inspection of components by means of guided waves is an emerging technology in fields like aerospace or pipeline construction and maintenance. The guided waves' capability of propagating many meters in a structure is utilized for swift inspection tasks as well as structural health monitoring. The German Aerospace Center uses Lamb waves for the quality assurance of large-scale aerospace vehicle components made from carbon composites. However, the use of guided waves in NDT requires knowledge of the dispersion curves. DISPERSE is the most renown software for the calculation of dispersion curves. This paper presents the open source Dispersion Calculator (DC). The MATLAB® -based DC is an interactive and fully validated software for the computation of dispersion curves and mode shapes of guided waves in isotropic plates and multilayered anisotropic composites. Damping caused by viscoelasticity and fluid-loading can be considered. DC features the capability of calculating laminates consisting of several hundreds of layers so that even the largest specimens, like rocket booster pressure vessels, can be calculated. This is made possible through the implementation of the stiffness matrix method. DC is also able to distinguish the different mode families, like symmetric, antisymmetric, and nonsymmetric Lamb, shear horizontal, and Scholte waves, depending on the symmetry and coupling properties of a given layup. Lastly, DC features a highly efficient and robust dispersion curve tracing algorithm. DC is available at GitHub, and it has gained many users world-wide since its initial release in 2018.

Simulation and experiment of complex residual stress detection of metal plate based on critical refracted longitudinal wave (LCR) method

This study is based on the principles of acoustoelasticity, analyzing the variation in sound wave time-of-flight(TOF) under different conditions using the critical refracted longitudinal(LCR) wave method. A simulation model was developed using the COMSOL finite element simulation software to mimic the propagation of LCR wave in a stress-free plate. The model was then subjected to uniaxial loading, and the change in wave TOF was observed by varying the angle between the stress direction and the sound wave propagation direction under constant load. The results were compared with theoretical calculations, showing a high degree of agreement, validating the accuracy of the designed model. Subsequently, during the tensile testing, the influence of different uniaxial loads and angle variations on the TOF of LCR wave was observed. Upon comparing the experiment data with theoretical calculations, a high degree of consistency in the trend of variation is observed, this demonstrates that the detection platform established in this study is feasible for the assessment of residual stresses in practice.

Dynamic Mueller matrix polarimetry using generalized measurements

Mueller matrices provide a complete description of a medium’s response to excitation by polarized light, and their characterization is important across a broad range of applications from ellipsometry in material science to polarimetry in biochemistry, medicine and astronomy. Here we introduce single-shot Mueller matrix polarimetry based on generalized measurements performed with a Poincaré beam. We determine the Mueller matrix of a homogeneous medium with unknown optical activity by detecting its optical response to a Poincaré beam, which across its profile contains all polarization states, and analyze the resulting polarization pattern in terms of four generalized measurements, which are implemented as a path-displaced Sagnac interferometer. We illustrate the working of our Mueller matrix polarimetry on the example of tilted and rotated wave plates and find excellent agreement with predictions as well as alternative Stokes measurements. After initial calibration, the alignment of the device stays stable for up to 8 hours, promising suitability for the dynamic characterization of Mueller matrices that change in time. Unlike traditional rotating waveplate polarimetry, our method allows the acquisition of a sample’s dynamic Mueller matrix. We expect that our feasibility study could be developed into a practical and versatile tool for the real-time analysis of optical activity changes, with applications in biomedical and biochemical research and industrial monitoring.

Ribbed elastic metasurface with lateral scalability for flexural wave manipulation

With the goal of engineering applications, the scalability and structural portability of elastic metasurfaces have become significant and attractive. However, most existing elastic metasurfaces cannot be arbitrarily scalable, which will inevitably limit their applications. Here, a novel conceptual design of ribbed elastic metasurfaces (REMs) is proposed for anomalous wavefront manipulation of flexural waves in thin plates. Ribbed subunits, as functional subunits of REMs, are characterized by simple constructions. The phase shift mechanism for the flexural waves across the ribbed subunits is revealed by analyzing the lowest dispersion bands. The analytical model for ribbed subunits is also established based on the equivalent orthotropic plate theory and transfer matrix method (TMM) to accurately predict the phase shift and amplitude of the transmitted waves. In addition, lateral scalability can be observed when the ratio of rib width to subunit width is constant, owing to the constant equivalent bending stiffness. By considering the lateral scalability of subunits, the continuous adjustment of the refraction angle can be perfectly achieved. The deflecting and focusing functionalities of the designed REMs are numerically and experimentally demonstrated. Both simulated and experimental results are consistent with theoretical results. Since ribbed plates are typical load-bearing structures in engineering, our design has broad application prospects, including but not limited to vibration control, energy harvesting, and structural health monitoring.

Numerical simulation of wave-number effects on the performance of traveling wave pump-turbine in turbine mode

Pumped storage represents an economically viable, highly efficient, and extensive energy storage solution, receiving substantial research attention worldwide. This study utilized the energy dissipation of fish swimming in the water, and the traveling wave plate was arranged in a vertical rectangular flow channel to obtain energy through reverse thinking. Numerical simulation was employed to investigate the performance characteristics of the traveling wave turbine under varying wave number across high and low water head. The results reveal that the efficiency at low water head starts to increase and then decreases with the increase of wave number. There is an optimal wave number N = 4 to maximize turbine efficiency, and the maximum efficiency under low water head condition is 89.35 %. The efficiency of the high head condition shows a continuous upward trend, with a maximum value of 92.27 % in the range of wave number studied. With the increase of wave number, the instantaneous mass flow coefficient and power coefficient become more stable. The advantage of increasing the wave number is that more traveling wave plates can participate in energy capture, which is conducive to reducing the force required by each traveling wave plate and making the pressure distribution in each working cavity more regular.

Magnetic sensitivity enhancement via polarimetric excitation and detection of an ensemble of NV centers

The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy center (NV) presents remarkable spin-dependent optical properties that make it an interesting tool for magnetic field sensing. In this paper we exploit the polarization properties of the NV center absorption and emission processes to improve the magnetic sensitivity of an ensemble of NV centers. By simply equipping the experimental set-up of a half-wave plate in the excitation path and a polarizer in the detection path we demonstrate an improvement larger than a factor of two on the NV center magnetic sensitivity.

Metasurface-based optical system for miniaturization of atomic magnetometers

Recent research has focused on miniaturizing atomic devices like magnetometers and gyroscopes for quantum precision measurements, leading to energy savings and broader application. This paper presents the design and validation of metasurface-based optical elements for atomic magnetometers’ optical paths. These include highly efficient half-wave plates, polarizers, circular polarization generators, polarization-preserving reflectors, and polarizing beam splitters. These components, compatible with semiconductor manufacturing, offer a promising solution for creating ultra-thin, compact atomic devices.

Giant circular dichroism in all-dielectric planar chiral Meta-GMR

In this paper, we introduce a simplified approach involving a single-layer dielectric meta-surface on top of planar waveguide that can achieve a high circular dichroism (CD) value of 0.95 under normal incidence. Within this intrinsic chiral structure, we harness the distinctive characteristics of guided mode resonance (GMR) [1] to induce out-of-plane electric/magnetic field vectors during lateral light propagation, thereby enhancing its optical chirality. Notably, the enhanced CD value becomes prominent at a half-wave plate thickness. This meta-GMR design enables giant CD in both of reflection and transmission, offering promising applications in biosensing, especially for chiral molecules.

Deployment of POLARBEAR-2b

POLARBEAR-2b (PB-2b) is the second receiver in the Simons Array, a cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment. The Simons Array uses dichroic polarization sensitive lenslet-coupled sinuous antennas and transition-edge sensor (TES) bolometers made of superconducting films. These bolometers are read out with frequency multiplexing electronics. PB-2b contains ∼\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\sim$$\\end{document} 7500 detectors in two bands at 90 and 150 GHz with arcminute resolution. The polarization of these detectors is modulated by a cryogenic continuously rotating half-wave plate. PB-2b was installed on its telescope in 2022 in the Atacama Desert at an altitude of 5.2 km. This paper will detail initial readout commissioning, test of a new loopgain monitoring method, and focusing the optics. Work is ongoing to commission the remaining ambient temperature readout electronics, measure detector time constants, and observe with the cryogenic half-wave plate spinning

Lamb waves in stratified plates: appearance of “forbidden” phase velocities

Lamb waves in stratified plates: appearance of “forbidden” phase velocities

Multichannel focused higher-order Poincaré sphere beam generation based on a dielectric geometric metasurface

Focused vector beams (VBs) are important topic in the areas of light field manipulation. Geometric metasurfaces provide a convenient platform to facilitate the generation of focused VBs. In this study, we propose a dielectric geometric metasurface to generate multichannel focused higher-order Poincaré sphere (HOP) beams. With identical meta-atoms of half-wave plate, the metasurface comprises two sub-metasurfaces, and each of them includes two sets of rings related to Fresnel zones. For meta-atoms on each set of rings, the hyperbolic geometric phase profile is configured so that the mirror-symmetrical position-flip of the off-axis focal point is enabled under the chirality switch of the illuminating circular polarization. With the design of helical geometric phase profiles for the two sets of rings, a sub-metasurface generate two HOP beams at the symmetrical two focal points. The performance of the two sub-metasurfaces enables the metasurface with four sets of rings to generate the array of four HOP beams. The proposed method was validated by theoretical analyses, numerical simulation and experimental conduction. This research would be significant in miniaturizing and integrating optical systems involving applications of VB generations and applications.