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Laser cavity-solitons can appear in systems comprised of a nonlinear microcavity nested within an amplifying fiber loop. These states are robust and self-emergent and constitute an attractive class of solitons that are highly suitable for microcomb generation. Here, we present a detailed study of the free-running stability properties of the carrier frequency and repetition rate of single solitons, which are the most suitable states for developing robust ultrafast and high repetition rate comb sources. We achieve free-running fractional stability on both optical carrier and repetition rate (i.e., 48.9 GHz) frequencies on the order of 1 0 − 9 for a 1 s gate time. The repetition rate results compare well with the performance of state-of-the-art (externally driven) microcomb sources, and the carrier frequency stability is in the range of performance typical of modern free-running fiber lasers. Finally, we show that these quantities can be controlled by modulating the laser pump current and the cavity length, providing a path for active locking and long-term stabilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous techniques are used to explain the microstructural, surface morphology and the optical properties of barium strontium titanate ([Ba.sub.0.5][Sr.sub.0.5Ti[O.sub.3] or BST) films deposited by the pulsed laser deposition technique. The films explained are found to be extremely helpful, as they can be widely used for several low loss waveguide, as well as different advanced optical integrated systems.

The accurate determination of the photothermal response of nanomaterials represents an essential aspect in many fields, such as nanomedicine. Specifically, photothermal cancer therapies rely on the precise knowledge of the light-to-heat transfer properties of plasmonic nanoparticles to achieve the desired temperature-induced effects in biological tissues. In this work, we present a novel method for the quantification of the photothermal effect exhibited by nanoparticles in aqueous dispersions. By combining the spatial and temporal thermal dynamics acquired at terahertz frequencies, the photothermal conversion efficiency associated with the geometry of the plasmonic nanoparticles can be retrieved in a noncontact and noninvasive manner. The proposed technique can be extended to the characterization of all those nanomaterials which feature a temperature-dependent variation of the refractive index in the terahertz regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of surface chemistry in plasma etching of multicomponent oxides was investigated through measurements of the ion energy dependence of the etch yield. Using pulsed-laser-deposited CaxBa(1-x)Nb2O6 (CBN) and SrTiO3 thin films as examples, it was found that the etching energy threshold shifts toward values larger or smaller than the sputtering threshold depending on whether or not ion-assisted chemical etching is the dominant etching pathway and whether surface chemistry is enhancing or inhibiting desorption of the film atoms. In the case of CBN films etched in an inductively coupled Cl2 plasma, it is found that the chlorine uptake is inhibiting the etching reaction, with the desorption of nonvolatile NbCl2 and BaCl2 compounds being the rate-limiting step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barium strontium titanate (Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 or BST) films were grown on SiO2/Si substrate by means of a reactive pulsed laser deposition technique. The microstructural and surface morphology of BST films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Films deposited at 400 °C were found to be amorphous and present wide cracks. The crystallization of the films was induced by annealing at 600 °C. The BST films deposited at 550 °C present a cubic perovskite structure with a dense and smooth surface. The optical constants (n and k as a function of wavelength) of the films were obtained using variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry in the UV-vis-NIR regions. Microfabricated BST/SiO2/Si ridged waveguides were patterned using UV photolithography and high-density plasma etching. The propagation and loss characteristics at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.55 μm were investigated using top-view scattering and Fabry-Pérot resonance methods. For specific ridge widths, we obtained single-mode propagation with relatively low losses (∼1 dB/cm), thereby demonstrating the strong potential of BST films for guided-wave components for advanced optical integrated systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel class of CMOS-compatible devices aimed to perform the solid-state-biased coherent detection of ultrashort terahertz pulses, i.e., featuring a gap-free bandwidth at least two decades-wide. Such a structure relies on a 1-µm-wide slit aperture located between two parallel aluminum pads, embedded in a 1-µm-thick layer of silicon nitride, and deposited on a quartz substrate. We show that this device can detect ultra-broadband terahertz pulses by employing unprecedented low optical probe energies of only a few tens of nanojoules. This is due to the more than one order of magnitude higher nonlinear coefficient of silicon nitride with respect to silica, the nonlinear material employed in the previous generations. In addition, due to the reduced distance between the aluminum pads, very high static electric fields can be generated within the slit by applying extremely low external bias voltages (in the order of few tens of volts), which strongly enhance the dynamic range of the detected THz waveforms. These results pave the way to the integration of solid-state ultra-broadband detection in compact and miniaturized terahertz systems fed by high repetition-rate laser oscillators and low-noise, low-voltage generators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on terahertz (THz) generation via optical rectification in a room temperature gallium arsenide (GaAs) crystal pumped at a wavelength of 1.8 lm using a modified tilted-pulse-front scheme, leading to a 0.05% energy conversion efficiency. The spectral content of the measured THz pulses, ranging from 0.1 to 3 THz, confirmed a good broadband phase matching between the pump and the THz pulses over several millimeters (>20mm) in a semi-insulating h110i cut bulk GaAs crystal. Our findings also suggest that the pump-to-THz conversion efficiency can be further increased by using a pump source with a narrower bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the excitation of sharp Fano-like resonances in lattices of metamolecules composed of two differing types of metaatoms. The proposed structures exhibit modes originating from the individual metaatoms as well as a very sharp mode from the collective excitation of the metamolecule lattice as a whole. Next-generation thin film sensors (e.g., for bio/chemical hazard detectors) could especially benefit from such artificial materials. Having multiple modes at different spectral positions enables the characterization of dispersive materials, while the high Q-factors of the eigenmodes lead to a very high sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the nonlinear wave-mixing in gases between intense, short optical pulses and long-wavelength fields (mid infrared and terahertz). We show numerically that the beating between the sum- and difference-frequency generation components can be isolated in the spectrogram of the interaction, and can be used to sample the electric field oscillations of the long-wavelength pulses. This, in turn, could be employed as a possible characterization method that provides information on the real electric field amplitude. Our numerical model is supported by spectrally resolved measurements of the four-wave mixing signals obtained from the interaction of intense, single-cycle terahertz fields (λ > 15 μm) and optical pulses (λ ≃ 800 nm, 50 fs duration) in air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an analytical model describing the full electromagnetic propagation in a THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system, from the THz pulses via Optical Rectification to the detection via Electro Optic-Sampling. While several investigations deal singularly with the many elements that constitute a THz-TDS, in our work we pay particular attention to the modelling of the time-frequency behaviour of all the stages which compose the experimental set-up. Therefore, our model considers the following main aspects: (i) pump beam focusing into the generation crystal; (ii) phase-matching inside both the generation and detection crystals; (iii) chromatic dispersion and absorption inside the crystals; (iv) Fabry-Perot effect; (v) diffraction outside, i.e. along the propagation, (vi) focalization and overlapping between THz and probe beams, (vii) electro-optic sampling. In order to validate our model, we report on the comparison between the simulations and the experimental data obtained from the same set-up, showing their good agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]