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I propose that there exists in natural and artificial environments a class of resonant oscillations that can be excited directly by a steady, zero-frequency force such as that of wind, water, electric field. A member of this class comprises two normally independent oscillating modes of a system, for example, a building or bridge, which, separately, cannot be driven by a zero-frequency force. Agreeing on terms of collaboration, the two modes engage in a joint oscillation powered by the steady zero-frequency force in which they drive each other, one directly and the other parametrically. I observed a bimodal vibration belonging to this class in a home shower where the two modes are the pendulum excursion and the torsional twisting of a freely suspended showerhead which break into a joint oscillation above a threshold value of the water flow rate. I advance a theoretical model which predicts and explains the main features of the observations. The model constitutes an extension to two modes of a proposal and demonstration in 1883 by Lord Rayleigh and Michael Faraday for the excitation of a single resonant mode by modulating a system parameter at twice the resonance frequency. The proposal is credited with the launching of parametric physics. The Experiments section of this report consists of three linked video clips photographed in the home shower which support the basic theoretical assumptions. The ubiquity of zero-frequency forces, such as that of wind, and their direct conversion to alternating on-resonance system vibrations endows the class with an amplified destructive potential with implications for structural stability.

We have recently introduced a new semiconductor laser design which is based on an extreme, 99%, reduction of the laser mode absorption losses. In previous reports, we showed that this was achieved by a laser mode design which confines the great majority of the modal energy (> 99%) in a low-loss Silicon guiding layer rather than in highly-doped, thus lossy, III-V p[Formula: see text] and n[Formula: see text] layers, which is the case with traditional III-V lasers. The resulting reduced electron-field interaction was shown to lead to a commensurate reduction of the spontaneous emission rate by the excited conduction band electrons into the laser mode and thus to a reduction of the frequency noise spectral density of the laser field often characterized by the Schawlow-Townes linewidth. In this paper, we demonstrate theoretically and present experimental evidence of yet another major beneficial consequence of the new laser design: a near total elimination of the contribution of amplitude-phase coupling (the Henry [Formula: see text] parameter) to the frequency noise at "high" frequencies. This is due to an order of magnitude lowering of the relaxation resonance frequency of the laser. Here, we show that the practical elimination of this coupling enables yet another order of magnitude reduction of the frequency noise at high frequencies, resulting in a quantum-limited frequency noise spectral density of 130 Hz[Formula: see text]/Hz (linewidth of 0.4 kHz) for frequencies beyond the relaxation resonance frequency 680 MHz. This development is of key importance in the development of semiconductor lasers with higher coherence, particularly in the context of integrated photonics with a small laser footprint without requiring any sort of external cavity., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

We present a comprehensive relativistic quantum-mechanical theory for interaction of a free electron with a bound electron in a model, where the free electron is represented as a finite-size quantum electron wave packet (QEW) and the bound electron is modeled by a quantum two-level system (TLS). The analysis reveals the wave-particle duality nature of the QEW, delineating the point-particle-like and wavelike interaction regimes and manifesting the physical reality of the wave function dimensions when interacting with matter. This QEW size dependence may be used for interrogation and coherent control of superposition states in a TLS and for enhancement of cathodoluminescence and electron energy-loss spectroscopy in electron microscopy.

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a solution to the problem of coherence degradation and collapse caused by the back reflection of laser power into the laser resonator. The problem is most onerous in semiconductor lasers (SCLs), which are normally coupled to optical fibers, and results in the fact that practically every commercial SCL has appended to it a Faraday-effect isolator that blocks most of the reflected optical power preventing it from entering the laser resonator. The isolator assembly is many times greater in volume and cost than the SCL itself. This problem has resisted a practical and economic solution despite decades of effort and remains the main obstacle to the emergence of a CMOS-compatible photonic integrated circuit technology. A simple solution to the problem is thus of major economic and technological importance. We propose a strategy aimed at weaning semiconductor lasers from their dependence on external isolators. Lasers with large internal Q-factors can tolerate large reflections, limited only by the achievable Q values, without coherence collapse. A laser design is demonstrated on the heterogeneous Si/III-V platform that can withstand 25 dB higher reflected power compared to commercial DFB lasers. Larger values of internal Qs, achievable by employing resonator material of lower losses and improved optical design, should further increase the isolation margin and thus obviate the need for isolators altogether.

We experimentally demonstrate the use of a high-coherence hybrid silicon (Si)/III-V semiconductor laser as the light source for a transmitter generating 20 Gbaud 16- and 64- quadrature amplitude modulated (QAM) data signals over an 80 km single-mode fiber (SMF) link. The hybrid Si/III-V laser has a measured Schawlow-Townes linewidth of ${\sim}{10}\;{\rm kHz}$∼10kHz, which is achieved by storing modal optical energy in low-loss Si, rather than the relatively lossy III-V materials. We measure a received bit error rate (BER) of ${4.1} \times {{10}^{ - 3}}$4.1×10 -3 when transmitting the 64-QAM data over an 80 km SMF using the hybrid Si/III-V laser. Furthermore, we measure a BER of $ {\lt} {1} \times {{10}^{ - 4}}$<1×10 -4 with the Viterbi-Viterbi digital carrier phase recovery method when transmitting the 16-QAM data over an 80 km SMF using the hybrid Si/III-V laser. This performance is achieved at power penalties lower than those obtained with an exemplary distributed feedback laser and slightly higher than those with an exemplary narrow-linewidth external cavity laser.

Here we present a new paradigm of free-electron-bound-electron resonant interaction. This concept is based on a recent demonstration of the optical frequency modulation of the free-electron quantum electron wave function (QEW) by an ultrafast laser beam. We assert that pulses of such QEWs correlated in their modulation phase, interact resonantly with two-level systems, inducing resonant quantum transitions when the transition energy ΔE=ℏω&#95;{21} matches a harmonic of the modulation frequency ω&#95;{21}=nω&#95;{b}. Employing this scheme for resonant cathodoluminescence and resonant EELS combines the atomic level spatial resolution of electron microscopy with the high spectral resolution of lasers.

Determination of laser frequency with high resolution under continuous and abrupt tuning conditions is important for sensing, spectroscopy, and communications. We show that a single microresonator provides rapid and broadband measurement of optical frequencies with a relative frequency precision comparable to that of conventional dual-frequency comb systems. Dual-locked counterpropagating solitons having slightly different repetition rates were used to implement a vernier spectrometer, which enabled characterization of laser tuning rates as high as 10 terahertz per second, broadly step-tuned lasers, multiline laser spectra, and molecular absorption lines. Besides providing a considerable technical simplification through the dual-locked solitons and enhanced capability for measurement of arbitrarily tuned sources, our results reveal possibilities for chip-scale spectrometers that exceed the performance of tabletop grating and interferometer-based devices., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.)

Few laser systems allow access to the light-emitter interaction as versatile and direct as that afforded by semiconductor lasers. Such a level of access can be exploited for the control of the coherence and dynamic properties of the laser. Here, we demonstrate, theoretically and experimentally, the reduction of the quantum phase noise of a semiconductor laser through the direct control of the spontaneous emission into the laser mode, exercised via the precise and deterministic manipulation of the optical mode's spatial field distribution. Central to the approach is the recognition of the intimate interplay between spontaneous emission and optical loss. A method of leveraging and "walking" this fine balance to its limit is described. As a result, some two orders of magnitude reduction in quantum noise over the state of the art in semiconductor lasers, corresponding to a minimum linewidth of [Formula: see text], is demonstrated. Further implications, including an additional order-of-magnitude enhancement in effective coherence by way of control of the relaxation oscillation resonance frequency and enhancement of the intrinsic immunity to optical feedback, highlight the potential of the proposed concept for next-generation, integrated coherent systems., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)

In a high power fiber amplifier, a frequency-chirped seed interrupts the coherent interaction between the laser and Stokes waves, raising the threshold for stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Moving the external mirror of a vertical cavity surface-emitting diode laser 0.2 μm in 10 μs can yield a frequency chirp of 5×10 17   Hz/s at a nearly constant output power. Opto-electronic feedback loops can linearize the chirp, and stabilize the output power. The linear variation of phase with time allows multiple amplifiers to be coherently combined using a frequency shifter to compensate for static and dynamic path length differences. The seed bandwidth, as seen by the counter-propagating SBS, also increases linearly with fiber length, resulting in a nearly-length-independent SBS threshold. Experimental results at the 1.6 kW level with a 19 m delivery fiber are presented. A numerical simulation is also presented.

We propose an on-chip integrated differential optical microring refractive index sensing platform which leverages laminar flow conditions. Close spacing between a sensing and a reference resonator, and sharing the same microfluidic channel allows the two resonators to experience similar environmental disturbances, such as temperature fluctuations and fluidic-induced transients, achieving reliable and sensitive sensing performance. We obtain a noise floor of 80.0 MHz (0.3 pm) and a bulk refractive index sensitivity of 17.0 THz per refractive index unit (RIU) (64.2 nm/RIU), achieving a limit of detection of 1.4×10(-5) RIU in a 30 min and an 8°C window.

The semiconductor laser (SCL) is the principal light source powering the worldwide optical fiber network. The ever-increasing demand for data is causing the network to migrate to phase-coherent modulation formats, which place strict requirements on the temporal coherence of the light source that no longer can be met by current SCLs. This failure can be traced directly to the canonical laser design, in which photons are both generated and stored in the same, optically lossy, III-V material. This leads to an excessive and large amount of noisy spontaneous emission commingling with the laser mode, thereby degrading its coherence. High losses also decrease the amount of stored optical energy in the laser cavity, magnifying the effect of each individual spontaneous emission event on the phase of the laser field. Here, we propose a new design paradigm for the SCL. The keys to this paradigm are the deliberate removal of stored optical energy from the lossy III-V material by concentrating it in a passive, low-loss material and the incorporation of a very high-Q resonator as an integral (i.e., not externally coupled) part of the laser cavity. We demonstrate an SCL with a spectral linewidth of 18 kHz in the telecom band around 1.55 μm, achieved using a single-mode silicon resonator with Q of 10(6).

We propose, analyze and demonstrate the optoelectronic phase-locking of optical waves whose frequencies are chirped continuously and rapidly with time. The optical waves are derived from a common optoelectronic swept-frequency laser based on a semiconductor laser in a negative feedback loop, with a precisely linear frequency chirp of 400 GHz in 2 ms. In contrast to monochromatic waves, a differential delay between two linearly chirped optical waves results in a mutual frequency difference, and an acoustooptic frequency shifter is therefore used to phase-lock the two waves. We demonstrate and characterize homodyne and heterodyne optical phase-locked loops with rapidly chirped waves, and show the ability to precisely control the phase of the chirped optical waveform using a digital electronic oscillator. A loop bandwidth of ~ 60 kHz, and a residual phase error variance of < 0.01 rad(2) between the chirped waves is obtained. Further, we demonstrate the simultaneous phase-locking of two optical paths to a common master waveform, and the ability to electronically control the resultant two-element optical phased array. The results of this work enable coherent power combining of high-power fiber amplifiers-where a rapidly chirping seed laser reduces stimulated Brillouin scattering-and electronic beam steering of chirped optical waves.

We present a design of "ideal" optical delay lines (i.e., constant amplitude and constant group delay over the desired bandwidth). They are based on reflection from coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs). The inter-resonator coupling coefficients are tailored and decrease monotonically with the distance from the input to realize all-pass Bessel filters. The tailored coupling coefficients result in a frequency-dependent propagating distance which compensates for the group velocity dispersion of CROWs. We present a simple formalism for deriving the time-domain coupling coefficients and convert these coefficients to field coupling coefficients of ring resonators. The reflecting CROWs possess a delay-bandwidth product of 0.5 per resonator, larger than that of any kind of transmitting CROW. In the presence of uniform gain, the gain enhanced by slow light propagation and the constant group delay result in efficient and dispersion-free amplifiers.

We present a systematic design of coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs) based on high-Q tapered grating-defect resonators. The formalism is based on coupled-mode theory where forward and backward waveguide modes are coupled by the grating. Although applied to strong gratings (periodic air holes in single-mode silicon-on-insulator waveguides), coupled-mode theory is shown to be valid, since the spatial Fourier transform of the resonant mode is engineered to minimize the coupling to radiation modes and thus the propagation loss. We demonstrate the numerical characterization of strong gratings, the design of high-Q tapered grating-defect resonators (Q>2 × 10⁶, modal volume = 0.38·(λ/n)³), and the control of inter-resonator coupling for CROWs. Furthermore, we design Butterworth and Bessel filters by tailoring the numbers of holes between adjacent defects. We show with numerical simulation that Butterworth CROWs are more tolerant against fabrication disorder than CROWs with uniform coupling coefficient.

We present a filter design formalism for the synthesis of coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW) filters. This formalism leads to expressions and a methodology for deriving the coupling coefficients of CROWs for the desired filter responses and is based on coupled-mode theory as well as the recursive properties of the coupling matrix. The coupling coefficients are universal and can be applied to various types of resonators. We describe a method for the conversion of the coupling coefficients to the parameters based on ring resonators and grating defect resonators. The designs of Butterworth and Bessel CROW filters are demonstrated as examples.

We propose and demonstrate a novel approach to increase the effective bandwidth of a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) ranging system. This is achieved by algorithmically stitching together the swept spectra of separate laser sources. The result is an improvement in the range resolution proportional to the increase in the swept-frequency range. An analysis of this system as well as the outline of the stitching algorithm are presented. Using three distinct swept-frequency optical waveforms, we experimentally demonstrate a threefold improvement in the range resolution of a three-sweep approach over the conventional FMCW method.

The bandwidth and performance of optical phase-lock loops (OPLLs) using single-section semiconductor lasers (SCLs) are severely limited by the nonuniform frequency modulation response of the lasers. It is demonstrated that this restriction is eliminated by the sideband locking of a single-section distributed-feedback SCL to a master laser in a heterodyne OPLL, thus enabling a delay-limited loop bandwidth. The lineshape of the phase-locked SCL output is characterized using a delayed self-heterodyne measurement.

We derive an exact equation for the transverse component of the electric field propagating along a given longitudinal z direction in the presence of an isotropic refractive-index distribution n(x,y).

We demonstrate the generation of wideband frequency sweeps using a semiconductor laser in an optoelectronic feedback loop. The rate and shape of the optical frequency sweep is locked to and determined by the frequency of a reference electronic signal, leading to an agile, high coherence swept-frequency source for laser ranging and 3-D imaging applications. Using a reference signal of constant frequency, a transform-limited linear sweep of 100 GHz in 1 ms is achieved, and real-time ranging with a spatial resolution of 1.5 mm is demonstrated. Further, arbitrary frequency sweeps can be achieved by tuning the frequency of the input electronic signal. Broadband quadratic and exponential optical frequency sweeps are demonstrated using this technique.

We propose and describe a new class of optical modes consisting of superposition of three waveguide modes which can be supported by a few-mode waveguide spatially modulated by two co-spatial gratings. These supermodes bear a close, but not exact, formal analogy to the three-level quantum states involved in EIT and its attendant slow light propagation characteristics. Of particular interest is the supermode which we call the dark mode in which, in analogy with the dark state of EIT, one of the three uncoupled waveguide modes is not excited. This mode has unique dispersion characteristics that translate into a slow light propagation which possesses high bandwidth-delay product and can form the basis for a new generation of optical resonators and lasers.

As Part III of this series, this paper focuses on an above-threshold modal analysis which includes gain saturation effects in the surface-emitting chirped circular grating lasers. We derive an exact energy relation which states that, in steady state, the net power generated in the gain medium is equal to the sum of peripheral leakage power and vertical emission power. This relation is particularly useful in checking the accuracy of numerical mode solving. Numerical simulations demonstrate the dependence of required pump level on the vertical emission power and compare the laser threshold and energy conversion efficiency under uniform, Gaussian, and annular pump profiles. A larger overlap between the pump profile and modal intensity distribution leads to a lower threshold and a higher energy conversion efficiency. Finally the dependence of required pump level on device sizes offers us new design guidelines of these lasers for single-mode, high-efficiency, high-power applications.

Hybrid Si/III-V, Fabry-Perot evanescent lasers are demonstrated, utilizing InGaAsP as the III-V gain material for the first time to our knowledge. The lasing threshold current of 300-mum-long devices was as low as 24 mA, with a maximal single facet output power of 4.2 mW at 15 degrees C. Longer devices achieved a maximal single facet output power as high as 12.7 mW, a single facet slope efficiency of 8.4%, and a lasing threshold current density of 1 kA/cm2. Continuous wave laser operation was obtained up to 45 degrees C. The threshold current density, output power, and efficiency obtained improve upon those of previously reported devices having a similar geometry. Facet images indicate that the output light is largely confined to the Si waveguide.

By analyzing the propagating behavior of the supermodes in a coupled-waveguide system, we have derived a universal criterion for designing adiabatic mode transformers. The criterion relates epsilon, the fraction of power scattered into the unwanted mode, to waveguide design parameters and gives the shortest possible length of an adiabatic mode transformer, which is approximately 2/piepsilon1/2 times the distance of maximal power transfer between the waveguides. The results from numerical calculations based on a transfer-matrix formalism support this theory very well.

This is a continuation of our previous work [Opt. Express 16, 9155 (2008)]. In this paper we investigate the effect of nonuniform pumping on the modal properties of surface-emitting chirped circular grating lasers. By numerically solving the coupled-mode equations and matching the boundaries we compare and discuss the threshold pump levels and frequency detuning factors for three pumping profiles: uniform, Gaussian, and annular. Depending on the overlap of the pumping and modal profiles, Gaussian pumping results in the lowest threshold pump levels except for the fundamental mode of ring Bragg resonator laser, and annular pumping provides larger threshold discrimination between the fundamental and first-order modes of circular DFB and ring Bragg resonator lasers, which is favorable for single-mode operation in these lasers. We also study the far-field patterns of the fundamental modes of circular DFB, disk-, and ring- Bragg resonator lasers. Circular DFB and ring Bragg resonator lasers have the first-order dominating peak, while disk Bragg resonator laser exhibits the zeroth-order dominating peak.

The secure distribution of a secret key is the weakest point of shared-key encryption protocols. While quantum key distribution schemes could theoretically provide unconditional security, their practical implementation remains technologically challenging. Here we provide an extended analysis and present an experimental support of a concept for a classical key generation system, based on establishing laser oscillation between two parties, which is realized using standard fiber-optic components. In our Ultra-long Fiber Laser (UFL) system, each user places a randomly chosen, spectrally selective mirror at his/her end of a fiber laser, with the two-mirror choice representing a key bit. We demonstrate the ability of each user to extract the mirror choice of the other using a simple analysis of the UFL signal, while an adversary can only reconstruct a small fraction of the key. The simplicity of this system renders it a promising alternative for practical key distribution in the optical domain.

We have developed a theory that unifies the analysis of the modal properties of surface-emitting chirped circular grating lasers. This theory is based on solving the resonance conditions which involve two types of reflectivities of chirped circular gratings. This approach is shown to be in agreement with previous derivations which use the characteristic equations. Utilizing this unified analysis, we obtain the modal properties of circular DFB, disk-, and ring- Bragg resonator lasers. We also compare the threshold gain, single mode range, quality factor, emission efficiency, and modal area of these types of circular grating lasers. It is demonstrated that, under similar conditions, disk Bragg resonator lasers have the highest quality factor, the highest emission efficiency, and the smallest modal area, indicating their suitability in low-threshold, high-efficiency, ultracompact laser design, while ring Bragg resonator lasers have a large single mode range, high emission efficiency, and large modal area, indicating their suitability for high-efficiency, large-area, high-power applications.

We report the first room temperature CW operation of two dimensional single-mode edge-emitting photonic crystal Bragg lasers. Single-mode lasing with single-lobed, diffraction limited far-fields is obtained for 100microm wide and 550microm long on-chip devices. We also demonstrate the tuning of the lasing wavelength by changing the transverse lattice constant of the photonic crystal. This enables a fine wavelength tuning sensitivity (change of the lasing wavelength/change of the lattice constant) of 0.072. This dependence proves that the lasing mode is selected by the photonic crystal lattice.

The modal properties, including the resonant vertical radiation, of a type of laser structures based on the annular Bragg resonance (ABR) are studied in detail. The modal threshold gains and the resonance frequencies of such lasers are obtained from the derived governing characteristic equation. Two kinds of ABR lasers, one with a pi/2 phase shift in the outer grating and the other without, are analyzed. It is numerically demonstrated that, it's possible to get a large-area, high-efficiency, single defect mode lasing in ABR lasers if we choose the kind without a pi/2 phase shift in the outer grating and also a device size smaller than a critical value.

We investigate the modal losses and field distributions of different order transverse modes supported by the photonic crystal Bragg structure using a transfer matrix method. We find that only the fundamental transverse mode has a single-lobed near field and far field and there exists a trade-off between ensuring lasing in the fundamental transverse mode and reducing the threshold. Employing these design principles, we experimentally demonstrate a large-area, edge-emitting, and single-mode semiconductor photonic crystal Bragg laser with a single-lobed, diffraction-limited far field under continuous wave condition.

We describe a hybrid laser structure which consists of an amplifying III-V waveguide proximity-coupled to a passive Si waveguide. By operating near the synchronism point (where the phase velocities of the individual waveguides are equal), we can cause the optical power to be confined to any of the two waveguides. This is accomplished by control of waveguides' geometry. In the portion of the supermode resonator where amplification takes place, the mode is confined nearly completely to III-V guide thus realizing a near maximal gain. Near the output facet, the mode power is confined to the Si waveguide thus optimizing the output coupling. This is to be contrasted with approaches which depend on evanescent field penetration into the III-V medium to obtain gain.

We analyze side-coupled standing-wave cavity structures consisting of Fabry-Perot and photonic crystal resonators coupled to two waveguides. We show that optical bright and dark states, analogous to those observed in coherent light-matter interactions, can exist in these systems. These structures may be useful for variable, switchable delay lines.

We demonstrate electrically pumped large-area edge-emitting InGaAsP/InP two-dimensional photonic crystal lasers with angled facets at room temperature. The laser uses a weak index perturbation surface photonic crystal structure to control optical modes in the wafer plane. Measurements of the laser spectra show that the modal selection is due to satisfying the Bragg resonance conditions in both the longitudinal and the transverse directions. The lasing wavelength is tuned lithographically by changing photonic crystal lattice constants. We demonstrate a fine lasing wavelength tuning sensitivity (change of lasing wavelength over change of lattice constant) of 0.08 through the transverse lattice constant tuning.

Planar broad-area single-mode lasers, with modal widths of the order of tens of microns, are technologically important for high-power applications and improved coupling efficiency into optical fibers. They may also find new areas of applications in on-chip integration with devices that are of similar size scales, such as for spectroscopy in microfluidic chambers or optical signal processing with micro-electromechanical systems. An outstanding challenge is that broad-area lasers often require external means of control, such as injection-locking or a frequency/spatial filter to obtain single-mode operation. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate effective index-guided, large-area, edge-emitting photonic crystal lasers driven by pulsed electrical current injection at the optical telecommunication wavelength of 1550 nm. By suitable design of the photonic crystal lattice, our lasers operate in a single mode with a 1/e(2) modal width of 25 microm and a length of 600 microm.

Using heterodyne Optical Phase-Locked Loops (OPLLs), two 1W high power 1550 nm master-oscillator-power-amplifier (MOPA) semiconductor lasers operating as current controlled oscillators are phase-locked to a 1 mW reference laser. The signals of the two MOPAs are then coherently combined and their mutual coherence is studied. In each OPLL, the acquisition range is increased to +/-1.1GHz with the help of an aided- acquisition circuit. Control of the phase of a single slave MOPA is demonstrated using a RF phase shifter. The differential phase error between two MOPAs locked to the common reference laser is typically 22 degrees.

We have experimentally demonstrated current-injection optical phase-lock loops (OPLLs) based on commercial single-section semiconductor distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers. Using two parallel OPLLs, we have obtained 87% efficient coherent power combining of the two DFB lasers. The rms differential phase error between the two lasers is about 30 degrees .

We propose and analyze a new concept for secure key distribution based on establishing laser oscillations between the sender and receiver. Compared to quantum mechanics based systems, our scheme allows for significantly higher key-establishing rates and longer ranges. By properly designing the laser structure, it is possible to increase the difficulty of eavesdropping almost arbitrarily, thus making our scheme an intriguing alternative and a complementary technology to quantum key-distribution systems.

We formulated an analytical model and analyzed the modification of spontaneous emission in Bragg onion resonators. We consider both the case of a single light emitter and a uniformly distributed ensemble of light emitters within the resonator. We obtain an expression for the average radiation rate of the light emitters ensemble and discuss the modification of the average radiation rate as a function of cavity parameters such as the core radius, the number of Bragg cladding layers, the index contrast of the Bragg cladding, and the refractive index of surrounding medium. We also consider the possibility of non-exponential decay of the light emitter ensemble due to the strong dependence of spontaneous emission on the location and polarization of individual light emitter. We conclude that Bragg onion resonators can both enhance and inhibit spontaneous emission by several orders of magnitude. This property can have significant impact in the field of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED).

We demonstrate electrically pumped InGaAsP two-dimensional Bragg grating (2DBG) lasers with two line defects. The 2DBG structure uses a weak 2D index perturbation surface grating to control the optical modes in the plane of the wafer. Measurements of the 2DBG lasers show that modal control in both the longitudinal and transverse directions is due to the gratings and defects. The 2DBG lasers are promising candidates for single-mode, high power, and high efficiency large-area lasers.

Recent generalizations of the standard nonlinear Schroedinger equation (NLSE), aimed at describing nonparaxial propagation in Kerr media are examined. An analysis of their limitations, based on available exact results for transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) (1+1)-D spatial solitons, is presented. Numerical stability analysis reveals that nonparaxial TM soltions are unstable to perturbations and tend to catastrophically collapse while TE solitons are stable even in the extreme nonparaxial limit.

The transmission spectra of a Fabry-Perot etalon coupled to a microtoroid resonator are studied theoretically and experimentally. The resonance line shapes depend strongly on the resonance wavelength detuning and coupling strength between the two resonators. A wide variety of line shapes, ranging from a single to triple peaks, symmetric to asymmetric Fano-like peaks, and notches were predicted and observed experimentally. The capability to modify the spectral line shapes by tuning the coupling between or losses of two resonators may find applications in optical filtering, switching, sensing, and dispersion engineering.

We measured the transmission and group delay of microring coupled-resonator optical waveguides (CROWs). The CROWs consisted of 12 weakly coupled, microring resonators fabricated in optical polymers (PMMA on Cytop). The intrinsic quality factor of the resonators was 18,000 and the interresonator coupling was 1%, resulting in a delay of 110-140 ps and a slowing factor of 23-29 over a 17 GHz bandwidth.

We study the effect of rotation on the propagation of electromagnetic waves in slow-light waveguide structures consisting of coupled microring resonators. We show that such configurations exhibit a new type of Sagnac effect which can be used for the realization of highly compact integrated rotation sensors and gyroscopes.

We fabricate and measure a microfluidic variable optical attenuator, which consists of an optical waveguide integrated with a microfluidic channel. An opening is introduced in the upper cladding of the waveguide in order to facilitate the alignment and bonding of the microfluidic channel. By using fluids with different refractive indices, the optical output power is gradually attenuated. We obtain a maximum attenuation of 28 dB when the fluid refractive index changes from 1.557 to 1.584.

We study comprehensively using numerical simulations a new class of resonators, based on a circular photonic crystal reflector. The dependence of the resonator characteristics on the reflector design and parameters is studied in detail. The numerical results are compared to analytic results based on coupled mode theory. High quality factors and small modal volumes are found for a wide variety of design parameters.

A methodology for treating the semiconductor laser as a current-controlled oscillator in an optical phase-lock loop is presented. The formalism is applied to phase demodulation of optical beams, reduction of phase noise by self-homodyning, and phase locking of a semiconductor laser array.

An InGaAsP-InP optical switch geometry based on electrical control of waveguide-resonator coupling is demonstrated. Thermooptic tuning of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer integrated with a racetrack resonator is shown to result in switching with ON-OFF contrast up to 18.5 dB. The optical characteristics of this unique design enable a substantial reduction of the switching power, to a value of 26 mW in comparison with 40 mW for a conventional Mach-Zehnder interferometer switch. Modulation response measurements reveal a 3 dB bandwidth of 400 kHz and a rise time of 1.8 micros, comparing favorably with current state-of-the-art thermooptic switches.

We show that the nonlinear equation that describes nonparaxial Kerr propagation, together with the already reported bright-soliton solutions, admits of (1 + 1)D dark-soliton solutions. Unlike their paraxial counterparts, dark solitons can be excited only if their asymptotic normalized intensity u2infinity is below 3/7; their width becomes constant when u2infinity approaches this value.

Spatial Kerr solitons, typically associated with the standard paraxial nonlinear Schro dinger equation, are shown to exist to all nonparaxial orders as exact solutions of Maxwell's equations in the presence of the vectorial Kerr effect. More precisely, we prove the existence of azimuthally polarized, spatial, dark soliton solutions of Maxwell's equations, while exact linearly polarized (2 + 1)D solitons do not exist. Our ab initio approach predicts the existence of dark solitons up to an upper value of the maximum field amplitude, corresponding to a minimum soliton width of about one-fourth of the wavelength.

In this paper we present an efficient method for designing discrete, nearly-uniform Bragg gratings in generic planar waveguides. Various schemes have already been proposed to design continuous Bragg gratings in optical fibers, but a general scheme for creating their discrete counterpart is still lacking. Taking a continuous Bragg grating as our starting point, we show that the same grating functionalities can also be realized in any planar waveguide by discretizing it into a series of air holes. The relationship between the two gratings is established in terms of grating strength and local grating period.