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In this work, we investigate the possibility of employing graphene field effect transistors, specifically designed for microwave applications, as infrared detectors for telecom applications. Our devices have been fabricated on a sapphire substrate employing CVD-grown transferred graphene. The roles of both the gate dielectric and the DC bias conditions have been evaluated in order to maximize the infrared generated signal through an experimental investigation of the signal-to-noise ratio dependence on the transistor operating point.

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.

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique is a well-known optical method that can be used to measure the refractive index of organic nano-layers adsorbed on a thin metal film. Although there are many configurations for measuring biomolecular interactions, SPR-based techniques play a central role in many current biosensing experiments, since they are the most suited for sensitive and quantitative kinetic measurements. Here we give some results from the analysis and numerical elaboration of SPR data from integrated optics experiments in a particular borosilicate glass, chosen for its composition offering the rather low refractive index of 1.4701 at 633 nm wavelength. These data regard the flow over the sensing region (metal window) of different solutions with refractive indexes in the range of interest (1.3÷1.5) for the detection of contaminants in aqueous solutions. After a discussion of the principles of SPR, of the metal window design optimization by means of optical interaction numerical modeling, and of waveguide fabrication techniques, we give a description of system setup and experimental results. Optimum gold film window thickness and width in this guided-wave configuration has been for the first time derived and implemented on an integrated optic prototype device. Its characterization is given by means of the real time waveguide output intensity measurements, which correspond to the interaction between the sensing gold thin film window and the flowing analyte. The SPR curve was subsequently inferred. Finally, a modified version of the device is reported, with channel waveguides arranged in a Y-junction optical circuit, so that laser source stability requirements are lowered by a factor of 85 dB, making possible the use of low cost sources in practical applications.

We report on surface hexagonally poled lithium niobate for two-dimensional non-linear interactions in optical waveguide structures. A method for surface inversion of ferroelectric domains has been applied for the fabrication of a hexagonal two-dimensional periodic domain structure with a period of 7.6 wm on an annealed proton exchanged lithium niobate waveguide. This periodic pattern is suitable for quasi-phase-matched second harmonic generation at the fundamental wavelength of 1.06 wm by means of the first order (G10) reciprocal lattice vector.

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.

Frequency conversion by means of Kerr nonlinearity is one of the most common and exploited nonlinear optical processes in the UV, visible, IR, and mid-IR spectral regions. Here we show that wave mixing of an optical field and a terahertz wave can be achieved in diamond, resulting in the frequency conversion of the terahertz radiation either by sum- or difference-frequency generation. In the latter case, we show that this process is phase matched and most efficient in a counterpropagating geometry.

We observe second harmonic generation via random quasi-phase-matching in a 2.0 micron periodically poled, 1-cm-long, z-cut lithium tantalate. Away from resonance, the harmonic output profiles exhibit a characteristic pattern stemming from a stochastic domain distribution and a quadratic growth with the fundamental excitation, as well as a broadband spectral response. The results are in good agreement with a simple model and numerical simulations in the undepleted regime, assuming an anisotropic spread of the random nonlinear component. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

We demonstrate efficient first-order quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation in a surface periodically poled Ti:indiffused lithium niobate waveguide; 6 mW of continuous-wave blue radiation (wavelength = 412.6 nm) was produced showing the potential of surface domain inversion for efficient nonlinear waveguide interactions.

We carried out second-harmonic generation in quasi-phase-matched ? -phase lithium niobate channel waveguides realized by proton exchange and surface periodic poling. Owing to a limited ferroelectric domain depth, we could observe the interplay between second-harmonic generation and self-phase modulation due to cascading and cubic effects, resulting in a nonlinear resonance shift. Data reduction allowed us to evaluate both the quadratic nonlinearity in the near infrared as well as the depth of the uninverted domains. © 2007 Optical

A report is presented on broadband second-harmonic generation in the range between 930 and 970 nm using random quasi-phase matching in a planar waveguide fabricated by soft proton exchange in congruent lithium tantalate. Bulk and waveguide measurements are compared, outlining the averaging role of guided-wave modes and their interactions with respect to spectral acceptance and near-field profile.

We report on recent technological improvements concerning nonlinear patterning of lithium niobate and lithium tantalate in the micrometer and submicrometer scales using surface periodic poling for ferroelectric domain inversion. The fabricated samples were employed for frequency doubling via quasiphase-matching both in bulk and guided wave geometries, including forward and backward configurations and wavelength conversion in bands C and L. We also investigated short-period quasiperiodic samples with randomly distributed mark-to-space ratios.

We implement a simple and powerful approach to characterize the domain distribution in the bulk of quadratic ferroelectric crystals via far-field second-harmonic spectroscopy. The approach is demonstrated in a lithium tantalate sample with periodic electric field poling and random mark-to-space ratio.

We present our investigation on the THz space-time emission characteristic induced by the non-paraxial generation regime in highly localized THz generation via optical rectification on sub-wavelength areas.

Highly localized THz emission via optical rectification in thin nonlinear crystals is a promising method for subwavelength microscopy. We present here the peculiar THz spatio-temporal characteristics induced by the non-paraxial generation regime.

A highly localized THz source is a promising candidate for sub-wavelength microscopy, due to its superior radiation power throughput with respect to others near-field techniques. Here, we report on the spatial and the spectral near-field properties of our highly localized THz source.

We report on backward second-harmonic-generation in bulk periodically poled congruent lithium niobate with a 3.2 microns period. A tunable continuous-wave Ti:sapphire laser allowed us exciting two resonant quasi-phase-matching orders in the backward configuration. The resonances were also resolved by temperature tuning and interpolated with standard theory to extract relevant information on the sample.

We introduce and test a simple approach for the characterization of domain distribution in bulk quadratic ferroelectric crystals, such as periodically poled Lithium Tantalate with random mark-to space ratio.

We report on stable optical waveguides fabricated by soft-proton exchange in periodically-poled congruent lithium tantalate in the a-phase. The channel waveguides are characterized in the telecom wavelength range in terms of both linear properties and frequency doubling. The measurements yield a nonlinear coefficient of about 9.5pm/V, demonstrating that the nonlinear optical properties of lithium tantalate are left nearly unaltered by the process. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

We demonstrated broadband second-harmonic generation via random Quasi-Phase-Matching in periodically poled Lithium Tantalate.

We report the characterization of single-mode optical waveguides at telecom wavelength, realized in congruent lithium-tantalate. We demonstrate that waveguides realized by proton-exchange show a nonlinear coefficient matching that expected in a bulk crystal.

A frequency shifting device is fabricated and tested in a ferroelectric waveguide in a low-photorefractivity crystal. Periodic poling for quasi-phase-matching and channels for operation in the near-infrared C-band were obtained in congruent lithium tantalate, demonstrating for the first time both wave confinement and two-stage parametric conversion in such waveguides.

We introduce and test a simple approach for the characterization of domain distribution in bulk quadratic ferroelectric crystals, specifically periodically poled Lithium Tantalate with random mark-to space ratio.

Second harmonic generation is investigated in lithium niobate channels realized by proton exchange and quasi-phase-matched by surface periodic-poling. The reduction in conversion efficiency at high powers is interpreted in terms of multi-photon absorption via two-color terms, yielding an estimate of the dominating three-photon process., Comment: 2 pages, 6 figures

alpha, beta(1), and kappa(2) phases are investigated for planar waveguide fabrication by proton exchange in congruent lithium tantalate. The effective indices of planar waveguide eigenmodes were monitored over time, revealing that the exchange process induces aging instabilities in all phases except alpha.

First experiments of proton exchange channel waveguides compatible with electric field surface periodic poling of congruent lithium niobate crystals are addressed. Picosecond nonlinear copropagating QPM-SHG measurements have been carried out on such structures.

In this work, laser action in RPE Nd3+:LiNbO3 is modelled by using the overlapping integrals method. Different pumping schemes, TE or TM, have been considered in order to reproduce the experimental measurements. Calculated results indicate that the slope efficiency remains basically independent on the pumping scheme while the threshold pump power increases for TE pumping.

First experiments with the novel electric field Surface Periodic Poling technique have been carried out on Lithium Tantalate. Optimal poling parameters gave 50:50 mark-to-space ratio in the micron scale with good uniformity and high repeatability.

We report on recent results by surface periodic poling on lithium niobate and lithium tantalate. Such approach allows periodic inversion of the second order susceptibility with nanoscale features using insulating masks. We achieved a world-best 200 nm feature size, as well as good compatibility with alpha-phase proton exchanged channel waveguides in lithium niobate. Preliminary results of surface periodic poling in lithium tantalate also show similar characteristics. Surface poling is best suited for integrated optics devices in technologically-demanding configurations such as backward second harmonic generation and counter propagating optical parametric amplification

We describe a technique for surface domain engineering in congruent lithium niobate single crystals. The method is based on conventional electric-field poling, but involves an intentional overpoling step that inverts all the material apart from a thin surface region directly below the patterned photoresist. The surface poled structures show good domain uniformity, and the technique has so far been applied to produce domain periods as small as 1 \mu m. The technique is fully compatible with nonlinear optical integrated devices based on waveguide structures.

GeO2-SiO2 multilayer glass samples are thermally poled. The interface between the layers strongly affects the thickness of the second order nonlinearity as well as its overlap with the core of the waveguide.

We present a general analysis of the influence of nonlinear optical absorption on terahertz generation via optical difference frequency generation, when reaching for the quantum conversion efficiency limit. By casting the equations governing the process in a suitably normalized form, including either two-photon- or three-photon-absorption terms, we have been able to plot universal charts for phase matched optical-to-terahertz conversion for different values of the nonlinear absorption coefficients. We apply our analysis to some experiments reported to date, in order to understand to what extent multiphoton absorption could have played a role and also to predict the maximum achievable conversion efficiency at higher peak pump intensities., 16 pages, 2 figures. Some correction and some explanation added

We fabricated α-phase pro ton-exchanged (PE) lithium niobate (LN) channel waveguides quasi phase-matched (QPM) via surface periodic poling (SPP) and carried out the first experimental demonstration of second harmonic generation (SHG) in such devices.[1] Experiments were performed by employing an optical parametric amplifier/oscillator producing 25 ps pulses in the range 1.1-1.6 μm with a line-width less than 2cm−1 and a repetition rate of 10Hz. SHG measurements were performed either at a fixed wavelength by varying the fundamental frequency (FF) input power or by scanning the FF wavelength, ratioing the second harmonic (SH) output to the FF input to obtain the conversion efficiency. By repeating the SHG scan versus peak power, we observed that the wavelength for maximum conversion (the FF resonance for SHG) shifted with excitation, as visible in Fig. 1a. Otherwise stated, when performing a power scan at a fixed FF wavelength, the conversion efficiency first increased with power (as expected) and then decreased. By adjusting the wavelength, conversely, we observed a linear dependence in maximum conversion to SH (see Fig. 1c), as well as in peak SHG wavelength (see Fig. 1b).

We demonstrate a parametric interaction based on four wave mixing that can arrest the collapse and stabilize solitary propagation in a pure Kerr material by controlling the wavelength of the interacting beams.

We investigate four-wave mixing between terahertz and optical pulses in diamond. We observe the occurrence of sum and difference frequency generation, with the latter being phase-matched for terahertz pulses counter-propagating to the optical field.

We demonstrated solid-state broadband coherent Terahertz characterization based on the Terahertz Field Induced Second Harmonic effect in Silica. The THz detector consists of an asymmetric micro-slit array which can be operated at 200V applied bias.

Thermal poling of holey fibres is demonstrated for the first time. Non-phase matched second harmonic generation with a ~10^-8/W conversion efficiency was observed and we studied the evolution of the electro-optic coefficient with poling time.

The nonlinear interaction of terahertz (THz) pulses with optical fields in Kerr, gaseous media is a key ingredient for broadband THz detection schemes [1]. Terahertz field-induced second harmonic generation in solid-state media has also been considered for THz detection and as a tool e.g. for liquid dynamics investigations [2,3], while four-wave mixing has been addressed as a possible mechanism for THz generation [4,5]. © 2013 IEEE.

We experimentally observed and explained bulk second harmonic generation via random quasi-phase-matching, derived from a periodically poled lithium tantalate sample with a randomly patterned mark-to-space-ratio.