Search Results
Waveguide-Integrated Broadband Spectrometer Based on Tailored Disorder
2020, Hartmann, Wladick, Varytis, Paris, Gehring, Helge, Walter, Nicolai, Beutel, Fabian, Busch, Kurt, Pernice, Wolfram
Compact, on-chip spectrometers exploiting tailored disorder for broadband light scattering enable high-resolution signal analysis while maintaining a small device footprint. Due to multiple scattering events of light in the disordered medium, the effective path length of the device is significantly enhanced. Here, on-chip spectrometers are realized for visible and near-infrared wavelengths by combining an efficient broadband fiber-to-chip coupling approach with a scattering area in a broadband transparent silicon nitride waveguiding structure. Air holes etched into a structured silicon nitride slab terminated with multiple waveguides enable multipath light scattering in a diffusive regime. Spectral-to-spatial mapping is performed by determining the transmission matrix at the waveguide outputs, which is then used to reconstruct the probe signals. Direct comparison with theoretical analyses shows that such devices can be used for high-resolution spectroscopy from the visible up to the telecom wavelength regime. © 2020 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Gain and lasing from CdSe/CdS nanoplatelet stripe waveguides
2022, Belitsch, Martin, Dirin, Dmitry N., Kovalenko, Maksym V., Pichler, Kevin, Rotter, Stefan, Ghalgaoui, Ahmed, Ditlbacher, Harald, Hohenau, Andreas, Krenn, Joachim R.
Colloidal semiconducting nanocrystals are efficient, stable and spectrally tunable emitters, but achievable optical gain is often limited by fast nonradiative processes. These processes are strongly suppressed in slab-shaped nanocrystals (nanoplatelets), due to relaxed exciton Coulomb interaction. Here, we show that CdSe/CdS nanoplatelets can be engineered into (sub)microscopic stripe waveguides that achieve lasing without further components for feedback, i.e., just relying on the stripe end reflection. We find a remarkably high gain factor for the CdSe/CdS nanoplatelets of 1630 cm−1. In addition, by comparison with numerical simulations we assign a distinct emission peak broadening above laser threshold to emission pulse shortening. Our results illustrate the feasibility of geometrically simple monolithic microscale nanoplatelet lasers as an attractive option for a variety of photonic applications.
Sub-cycle valleytronics: control of valley polarization using few-cycle linearly polarized pulses
2021, Jiménez-Galán, Álvaro, Silva, Rui E. F., Smirnova, Olga, Ivanov, Misha
So far, it has been assumed that selective excitation of a desired valley in the Brillouin zone of a hexagonal two-dimensional material has to rely on using circularly polarized fields. We theoretically demonstrate a way to control the valley excitation in hexagonal 2D materials on a few-femtosecond timescale using a few-cycle, linearly polarized pulse with controlled carrier–envelope phase. The valley polarization is mapped onto the strength of the perpendicular harmonic signal of a weak, linearly polarized pulse, which allows to read this information all-optically without destroying the valley state and without relying on the Berry curvature, making our approach potentially applicable to inversion-symmetric materials. We show applicability of this method to hexagonal boron nitride and MoS2.
Rotational quantum beat lasing without inversion
2020, Richter, Maria, Lytova, Marianna, Morales, Felipe, Haessler, Stefan, Smirnova, Olga, Spanner, Michael, Ivanov, Misha
In standard lasers, light amplification requires population inversion between an upper and a lower state to break the reciprocity between absorption and stimulated emission. However, in a medium prepared in a specific superposition state, quantum interference may fully suppress absorption while leaving stimulated emission intact, opening the possibility of lasing without inversion. Here we show that lasing without inversion arises naturally during propagation of intense femtosecond laser pulses in air. It is triggered by the combination of molecular ionization and molecular alignment, both unavoidable in intense light fields. The effect could enable inversionless amplification of broadband radiation in many molecular gases, opening unusual opportunities for remote sensing. © 2020 Optical Society of America
Tailored Disorder in Photonics: Learning from Nature
2021, Rothammer, Maximilian, Zollfrank, Cordt, Busch, Kurt, Freymann, Georg von
Disorder and photonics have long been seen as natural adversaries and designers of optical systems have often driven systems to perfection by minimizing deviations from the ideal design. Especially in the field of photonic crystals and metamaterials but also for optical circuits, disorder has been avoided as a nuisance for many years. However, starting from the very robust structural colors found in nature, scientists learn to analyze and tailor disorder to achieve functionalities beyond what is possible with perfectly ordered or ideal systems alone. This review article covers theoretical and materials aspects of tailored disorder as well as experimental results. Furthermore selected examples are highlighted in greater detail, for which the intentional use of disorder adds additional functionality or provides novel functionality impossible without disorder. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Optical Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
35 W continuous-wave Ho:YAG single-crystal fiber laser
2020, Zhao, Yongguang, Wang, Li, Chen, Weidong, Wang, Jianlei, Song, Qingsong, Xu, Xiaodong, Liu, Ying, Shen, Deyuan, Xu, Jun, Mateos, Xavier, Loiko, Pavel, Wang, Zhengping, Xu, Xinguang, Griebner, Uwe, Petrov, Valentin
We report on a high-power Ho:YAG single-crystal fiber (SCF) laser inband pumped by a high-brightness Tm-fiber laser at 1908 nm. The Ho:YAG SCF grown by the micro-pulling-down technique exhibits a propagation loss of at. A continuous-wave output power of 35.2 W is achieved with a slope efficiency of 42.7%, which is to the best of our knowledge the highest power ever reported from an SCF-based laser in the 2 spectral range. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Cambridge University Press in association with Chinese Laser Press.
Attosecond investigation of extreme-ultraviolet multi-photon multi-electron ionization
2022, Kretschmar, M., Hadjipittas, A., Major, B., Tümmler, J., Will, I., Nagy, T., Vrakking, M. J. J., Emmanouilidou, A., Schütte, B.
Multi-electron dynamics in atoms and molecules very often occur on sub- to few-femtosecond time scales. The available intensities of extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) attosecond pulses have previously allowed the time-resolved investigation of two-photon, two-electron interactions. Here we study double and triple ionization of argon atoms involving the absorption of up to five XUV photons using a pair of intense attosecond pulse trains (APTs). By varying the time delay between the two APTs with attosecond precision and the spatial overlap with nanometer precision, we obtain information on complex nonlinear multi-photon ionization pathways. Our experimental and numerical results show that Ar2+ is predominantly formed by a sequential two-photon process, whereas the delay dependence of the Ar3+ ion yield exhibits clear signatures of the involvement of a simultaneous two-photon absorption process. Our experiment suggests that it is possible to investigate multi-electron dynamics using attosecond pulses for both pumping and probing the dynamics.
The patterning toolbox FIB-o-mat: Exploiting the full potential of focused helium ions for nanofabrication
2021, Deinhart, Victor, Kern, Lisa-Marie, Kirchhof, Jan N., Juergensen, Sabrina, Sturm, Joris, Krauss, Enno, Feichtner, Thorsten, Kovalchuk, Sviatoslav, Schneider, Michael, Engel, Dieter, Pfau, Bastian, Hecht, Bert, Bolotin, Kirill I., Reich, Stephanie, Höflich, Katja
Focused beams of helium ions are a powerful tool for high-fidelity machining with spatial precision below 5 nm. Achieving such a high patterning precision over large areas and for different materials in a reproducible manner, however, is not trivial. Here, we introduce the Python toolbox FIB-o-mat for automated pattern creation and optimization, providing full flexibility to accomplish demanding patterning tasks. FIB-o-mat offers high-level pattern creation, enabling high-fidelity large-area patterning and systematic variations in geometry and raster settings. It also offers low-level beam path creation, providing full control over the beam movement and including sophisticated optimization tools. Three applications showcasing the potential of He ion beam nanofabrication for two-dimensional material systems and devices using FIB-o-mat are presented.
Valley control by linearly polarized laser pulses: example of WSe2
2022, Sharma, S., Elliott, P., Shallcross, S.
Electrons at the band edges of materials are endowed with a valley index, a quantum number locating the band edge within the Brillouin zone. An important question is then how this index may be controlled by laser pulses, with current understanding that it couples exclusively via circularly polarized light. Employing both tight-binding and state-of-the-art time dependent density function theory, we show that on femtosecond time scales valley coupling is a much more general effect. We find that two time separated linearly polarized pulses allow almost complete control over valley excitation, with the pulse time difference and polarization vectors emerging as key parameters for valley control. Our findings highlight the possibility of controlling coherent electronic excitation by successive femtosecond laser pulses, and offer a route towards valleytronics in two-dimensional materials.
Electron dynamics in laser-driven atoms near the continuum threshold
2021, Liu, Mingqing, Xu, Songpo, Hu, Shilin, Becker, Wilhelm, Quan, Wei, Liu, Xiaojun, Chen, Jing
Strong-field ionization and Rydberg-state excitation (RSE) near the continuum threshold exhibit two phenomena that have attracted a lot of recent attention: the low-energy structure (LES) just above and frustrated tunneling ionization just below the threshold. The former becomes apparent for longer laser wavelengths, while the latter has been especially investigated in the near infrared; both have been treated as separate phenomena so far. Here we present a unified perspective based on electron trajectories, which emphasizes the very important role of the electron-ion Coulomb interaction as expected in this energy region. Namely, those trajectories that generate the LES can also be recaptured into a Rydberg state. The coherent superposition of the contributions of such trajectories with different travel times (each generating one of the various LES peaks) causes an oscillation in the intensity dependence of the RSE yield, which is especially noticeable for longer wavelengths. The theory is illustrated by RSE experiments at 1800 nm, which agree very well with the theory with respect to position and period of the oscillation. The wavelength scaling of the RSE oscillation is also discussed. Our work establishes a solid relationship between processes below and above the threshold and sheds new light on atomic dynamics driven by intense laser fields in this critical energy region.