We measure the spatial extent of individual localized photonic states in a slow-light photonic crystal waveguide. The size of the states is measured by perturbing each state individually through a local electromagnetic interaction with a near-field probe. We find localized states which are not observed in transmission and show that these states are shorter than the waveguide. We also directly obtain near-field measurements of the participation ratio, from which the size of the states can be derived, in quantitative agreement with the size measured with the perturbation method.
We have measured time-resolved the photon storage time and the quality factor of an ultrafast photonic cavity using an autocorrelator. The cavity consists of a $λ$-thick GaAs layer sandwiched between GaAs/AlAs distributed Bragg reflectors and resonates at 985 nm wavelength. The inverse relative linewidth measured with white light reflectivity is 830, while the quality factor obtained from the time resolved measurements is 1500. The photon storage time in the cavity is 0.78 ps. We show that the difference between the quality factor and the inverse relative linewidth results from inhomogeneous b…
The Aharonov-Anandan phase is a description of the geometric nature in non-adiabatic cyclic evolutions of quantum states. Here we report on a measurement of the Aharonov-Anandan phase in photonics. We consider a time-independent quantum driven harmonic oscillator that is initially prepared at the vacuum state. We utilize evanescently coupled waveguides to realize this physical model and achieve a measurement of the Aharonov-Anandan phase via integrated interferometry.
Light localization due to random imperfections in periodic media is paramount in photonics research. The group index is known to be a key parameter for localization near photonic band edges, since small group velocities reinforce light interaction with imperfections. Here, we show that the size of the smallest localized mode that is formed at the band edge of a one-dimensional periodic medium is driven instead by the effective photon mass, i.e. the flatness of the dispersion curve. Our theoretical prediction is supported by numerical simulations, which reveal that photonic-crystal waveguides c…
Motivated by the recent theoretical and experimental progress in implementing topological orders with photons, we analyze photonic systems with different topologies and present a scheme to probe their topological features. Specifically, we propose a scheme to modify the boundary phases to manipulate edge state dynamics. Such a scheme allows one to measure the winding number of the edge states. Furthermore, we discuss the effect of loss and disorder on the validity of our approach.
It is shown, for the first time, that the zitterbewegung of photon can appear near the Dirac point in two-dimensional photonic crystal. The superiority of such a phenomenon for photons is that it can be found in different scaling structures with wide frequency regions. It can be observed by measuring the time dependence of the transmission coefficient through photonic crystal slabs. Thus, it is particularly suited for experimentally observing this effect. We have observed such a phenomenon by exact numerical simulations, confirming a long-standing theoretical prediction.
We prove Anderson localization in a disordered photonic crystal waveguide by measuring the ensemble-averaged localization length which is controlled by the dispersion of the photonic crystal waveguide. In such structures, the localization length shows a 10-fold variation between the fast- and the slow-light regime and, in the latter case, it becomes shorter than the sample length thus giving rise to strongly confined modes. The dispersive behavior of the localization length demonstrates the close relation between Anderson localization and the photon density of states in disordered photonic cry…
Designing integrated photonics, especially to leverage Kerr-nonlinear optics, requires accurate and precise knowledge of refractive index across the visible to infrared spectral ranges. Tantala (Ta_2O_5) is an emerging material platform for integrated photonics and nanophotonics that offers broadband ultralow loss, moderately high nonlinearity, and advantages for scalable and heterogeneous integration. We present refractive-index measurements on a thin film of tantala, and we explore the efficacy of this data for group-velocity dispersion (GVD) engineering with waveguide and ring-resonator dev…
We report optical transmission measurements on suspended silicon photonic-crystal waveguides, where one side of the photonic lattice is shifted by half a period along the waveguide axis. The combination of this glide symmetry and slow light leads to a strongly enhanced chiral light-matter interaction but the interplay between slow light and backscattering has not been investigated experimentally in such waveguides. We build photonic-crystal resonators consisting of glide-symmetric waveguides terminated by reflectors and use transmission measurements as well as evanescent coupling to map out th…
Ultra-compact, densely integrated optical components manufactured on a CMOS-foundry platform are highly desirable for optical information processing and electronic-photonic co-integration. However, the large spatial extent of evanescent waves arising from nanoscale confinement, ubiquitous in silicon photonic devices, causes significant cross-talk and scattering loss. Here, we demonstrate that anisotropic all-dielectric metamaterials open a new degree of freedom in total internal reflection to shorten the decay length of evanescent waves. We experimentally show the reduction of cross-talk by gr…
We propose a method of measuring topological invariants of a photonic crystal through phase spectroscopy. We show how the Chern numbers can be deduced from the winding numbers of the reflection coefficient phase. An explicit proof of existence of edge states in system with nonzero reflection phase winding number is given. The method is illustrated for one- and two-dimensional photonic crystals of nontrivial topology.
We introduce a new coupled mode theory to model nonlinear Schrödinger equations for contra- propagating Bloch modes that include disorder-induced multiple scattering effects on nonlinear soliton propagation in photonic crystal waveguides. We also derive sub unit-cell coupling coefficients and use these to introduce a generalized length scale associated with each coupling effect. In particular, we define a multiple-scattering length scale that quantifies the spatial extent of a disorder- induced cavity mode. Our numerical simulations of nonlinear pulse propagation are in excellent qualitative a…
Quantum correlation and its measurement are essential in exploring fundamental quantum physics problems and developing quantum enhanced technologies. Quantum correlation may be generated and manipulated in different spaces, which demands different measurement approaches corresponding to position, time, frequency and polarization of quantum particles. In addition, after early proof-of-principle demonstrations, it is of great demand to measure quantum correlation in a Hilbert space large enough for real quantum applications. When the number of modes goes up to several hundreds, it becomes econom…
To a significant extent, the rich physical properties of photonic crystals are determined by the underlying geometry, in which the composed symmetry operators and their combinations contribute to the unique topological invariant to characterize the topological phases. Particularly, the inter- and intra-coupling modulation in the two-dimensional (2D) Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model yields the topological phase transition, and exhibit first-order edge localized states and second-order corner localized corner states. In this work, we use the geometric anisotropy into the 2D square lattice composed of …
Achieving robust transport has attracted much attention in both electronic and photonic systems. Time-reversal invariant photonic crystal can be employed to realize backscattering-immune chiral state, but the chiral bandgap is topologically trivial. Here, we designed and fabricated a metacrystal comprising non-resonant meta-atoms sandwiched between two metallic plates and the system exhibits topological phase transition as established by group classification. The nontrivial bandgap was confirmed by experimentally measured transmission spectra, calculated nonzero spin Chern number and Z2 index.…
Characterization and analysis of spin-orbit coupled (SOC) states, as a measurement problem, play a vital role in research on the modern optics and photonics based on structured light. Here, we demonstrate determination of photonic SOC states via spatial-Stokes measurement, in which two spatial complex probability amplitudes of spin-dependent spatial modes within SOC states and their relative (intramode) phase can be measured directly. Compared with the standard quantum-state tomography, by avoiding wavefront-flattening operations, the apparatus can completely record photons' realistic SOC stru…
While measuring the orbital angular momentum state of bright light beams can be performed using imaging techniques, a full characterization at the single-photon level is challenging. For applications to quantum optics and quantum information science, such characterization is an essential capability. Here, we present a setup to perform the quantum state tomography of photonic qubits encoded in this degree of freedom. The method is based on a projective technique using spatial mode projection via fork holograms and single-mode fibers inserted into an interferometer. The alignment and calibration…
We predict the coexistence of both TE- and TM-polarized localized electromagnetic waves that can propagate \emph{in the same frequency range} along a graphene layer inserted in a photonic crystal. In addition, we studied the excitation of these modes by an external wave and have shown that the resonance peaks of the sample transmissivity should be observed due to the excitation of the localized waves, independently of the polarization of the exciting wave. The simplicity of the derived dispersion relations for the localized modes and the possibility to excite waves of both polarizations provid…
Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum are key resources in modern photonics. In many applications, the ability of measuring the complex spectrum of structured light beams in terms of these fundamental modes is crucial. Here we propose and experimentally validate a simple method that achieves this goal by digital analysis of the interference pattern formed by the light beam and a reference field. Our approach allows one to characterize the beam radial distribution also, hence retrieving the entire information contained in the optical field. Setup simplicity and reduced number of measure…
Machine learning techniques can reveal hidden structure in large data amounts and can potentially extent or even replace analytical scientific methods. In nanophotonics, modes can increase the light yield from emitters located inside the nanostructure or near the surface. Optimizing such systems enforces to systematically analyze large amounts of three-dimensional field distribution data. We present a method based on finite element simulations and machine learning for the identification of modes with large field energies and specific spatial properties. By clustering we reduce the field distri…
The demonstration of an optical fiber based probe for efficiently exciting the waveguide modes of high-index contrast planar photonic crystal (PC) slabs is presented. Utilizing the dispersion of the PC, fiber taper waveguides formed from standard silica single-mode optical fibers are used to evanescently couple light into the guided modes of a patterned silicon membrane. A coupling efficiency of approximately 95% is obtained between the fiber taper and a PC waveguide mode suitably designed for integration with a previously studied ultra-small mode volume high-Q PC resonant cavity [1]. The micr…
Integration of superconducting nanowire single photon detectors and quantum sources with photonic waveguides is crucial for realizing advanced quantum integrated circuits. However, scalability is hindered by stringent requirements on high performance detectors. Here we overcome the yield limitation by controlled coupling of photonic channels to pre-selected detectors based on measuring critical current, timing resolution, and detection efficiency. As a proof of concept of our approach, we demonstrate a hybrid on-chip full-transceiver consisting of a deterministically integrated detector couple…
The exponential growth of photonic quantum technologies is driving the demand of tools for measuring the quality of their information carriers. One of the most prominent is Stimulated Emission Tomography (SET), which uses classical coherent fields to measure the Joint Spectral Amplitude (JSA) of photon pairs with high speed and resolution. While the modulus of the JSA can be directly addressed from a single intensity measurement, the retrieval of the Joint Spectral Phase (JSP) is far more challenging and received minor attentions. However, a wide class of spontaneous sources of technological r…
Discussions about quantum interference, indistinguishability and superpostion between quantum states goes back to the beginning of quantum mechanics, but the theoretical problem concerning quantitative measures for quantum coherence was only recently solved by Baumgratz et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113 140401 (2014)]. Since then many works have explored one of the possible coherence measures, the l1 norm, which has not yet been experimentally obtained for spatial photonic states in high dimensions. In this article we study states prepared with photons crossing multiple slits and implement the theo…
Atomic-level imperfections play an increasingly critical role in nanophotonic device performance. However, it remains challenging to accurately characterize the sidewall roughness with sub-nanometer resolution and directly correlate this roughness with device performance. We have developed a method that allows us to measure the sidewall roughness of waveguides made of any material (including dielectrics) using the high resolution of atomic force microscopy. We illustrate this method by measuring state-of-the-art photonic devices made of silicon nitride. We compare the roughness of devices fabr…
We demonstrate the emergence of an entire flat band embedded in dispersive bands at the exceptional point of a PT symmetric photonic lattice. For this to occur, the gain and loss parameter effectively alters the size of the partial flat band windows and band gap of the photonic lattice simultaneously. The mode associated with the entire flat band is robust against changes in the system size and survives even at the edge of the lattice. Our proposal offers a route for controllable localization of light in non-Hermitian systems and a technique for measuring non-Hermiticity via localization.
Synthetic dimensions, which simulate spatial coordinates using non-spatial degrees of freedom, are drawing interest in topological science and other fields for modelling higher-dimensional phenomena on simple structures. We present the first realization of a synthetic frequency dimension on a silicon ring resonator photonic device fabricated using a CMOS process. We confirm that its coupled modes correspond to a 1D tight-binding model through acquisition of up to 280 GHz bandwidth optical frequency comb-like spectra, and by measuring the first synthetic band structures on an integrated device.…
