The central theme of this article is the analysis of the usefulness of introducing four-wave mixing or modulation of Kerr nonlinearity in a nonuniform grating structure with gain and loss. To do so, we propose an inhomogeneous system in which the nonlinearity of the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric grating is modulated. It is proven that the proposed scheme can be fruitful only if the nonlinearity and its associated modulation terms are assumed to be self-defocusing ones. In order to cut down the intensity required for the steering, the sign of chirping is taken to be negative and the wavelength of operating light is considered to be higher than the Bragg wavelength. Alongside these settings, launching the light from the rear end of the device dramatically reduces the critical intensity to a value of 0.015 (approximately) which must be the lowest switching intensity ever reported in the context of nonlinear $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric gratings. The ramp-like stable states in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime prevail even in the company of modulation in the nonlinearity index for both of the light incident directions.
An all optical soliton diode (AOSD) is proposed based on a sandwich nonlinear Bragg-grating structure: a linearly chirped Bragg-grating linked to a uniform Bragg-grating and again to a chirped Bragg-grating. The nonreciprocity is achieved by introducing two spatially asymmetric chirped Bragg-gratings with optical nonlinearity. High transmission ratio up to 150 is obtained when launching a picosecond Gaussian pulse into the setting. We find that such pulses in a form of solitons propagate at a rather small velocity ($<0.03c$) when pulse wavelength is selected in the vicinity of photonic bandgap…
In this letter we present a new technique for pulse shaping. The desired pulse is shaped by two apodized chirped fiber Bragg gratings which dispersions are adjusted to be cancelled. This technique exploits the well-known property of linearly-chirped gratings, in which the apodization (amplitude) grating profile maps its spectral response. This technique presents inherent advantages of chirped fiber Bragg gratings and direct design in frequency domain.
We introduce a new optical component - a rotated chirped volume Bragg grating (r-CBG) - that spatially resolves the spectrum of a normally incident light beam in a compact footprint and without the need for subsequent free-space propagation or collimation. Unlike conventional chirped Bragg volume gratings in which both the length and width of the device must be increased to increase the bandwidth, by rotating the Bragg structure we sever the link between the length and width of an r-CBG, leading to a significantly reduced device footprint for the same bandwidth. We fabricate and characterize s…
It is widely accepted that Bragg reflection from linearly chirped Bragg gratings (LCBGs) can compensate for a chromatic dispersion by reflecting different wavelengths at different location along the axis of the gratings for ultra-short pulses. In this paper, we studied the possibility of making use of such a dispersion-compensating property to construct a white light cavity (WLC). A pair of LCBGs is suggested as the reflectors of the cavity. The analytical and numerical analysis shows that the reflection by a LCBG does not solely occur at the position where Bragg condition is reached. The accu…
A compact, strictly all-fiber, picosecond pulse source based on ytterbium (Yb) doped fiber is described. Stable solitary mode-locking is obtained in a fiber-oscillator utilizing a carefully designed chirped fiber-Bragg-grating (C-FBG) for both dispersion control and spectral filtering. Self-starting is assured through the use of a fiber-coupled semiconductor-saturable-absorber-mirror (SESAM). The oscillator's 50MHz 3.8ps pulse-train output at 1064nm wavelength is amplified to 1.2W average power by an Yb doped fiber-amplifier, yielding 6.45ps parabolic pulses. Numerical simulations of the fiber…
We report on the impact of realistic gain and loss models on the bistable operation of nonlinear parity-time Bragg gratings. In our model we include both dispersive and saturable gain and show that levels of gain/loss saturation can have significant impact on the bistable operation of a nonlinear PT Bragg grating based on GaAs material. The hysteresis of the nonlinear PT Bragg grating is analyzed for different levels of gain and loss and different saturation levels. We show that high saturation levels can improve the nonlinear operation by reducing the intensity at which the bistability occurs…
A blazed chirped Bragg grating in a planar silica waveguide device was used to create an integrated diffractive element for a spectrometer. The grating diffracts light from a waveguide and creates a wavelength dependent focus in a manner similar to a bulk diffraction grating spectrometer. An external imaging system is used to analyse the light, later device iterations plan to integrate detectors to make a fully integrated spectrometer. Devices were fabricated with grating period chirp rates in excess of 100nm/mm, achieving a focal length of 5.5mm. Correction of coma aberrations resulted in a d…
We address soliton formation at the edge of chirped optical lattices imprinted in Kerr-type nonlinear media. We find families of power thresholdless surface waves that do not exist at other types of lattice interfaces. Such solitons form due to combined action of internal reflection at the interface, distributed Bragg-type reflection, and focusing nonlinearity. Remarkably, we discover that surfaces of chirped lattices are soliton attractors: Below an energy threshold, solitons launched well within the lattice self-bend toward the interface, and then stick to it.
A fiber-integrated spectrometer for single-photon pulses outside the telecommunications wavelength range based upon frequency-to-time mapping, implemented by chromatic group delay dispersion (GDD), and precise temporally-resolved single-photon counting, is presented. A chirped fiber Bragg grating provides low-loss GDD, mapping the frequency distribution of an input pulse onto the temporal envelope of the output pulse. Time-resolved detection with fast single-photon-counting modules enables monitoring of a wavelength range from 825 nm to 835 nm with nearly uniform efficiency at 55 pm resolution…
We propose a composite multilayer structure consist of graphene Tamm plasmon and Bragg reflector with defect layer to realize the low threshold and tunable optical bistability (OB) at the terahertz frequencies. This low-threshold OB originates from the couple of the Tamm plasmon (TP) and the defect mode (DM). We discuss the influence of graphene and the DM on the hysteretic response of the TM-polarized reflected light. It is found that the switch-up and switch-down threshold required to observe the optical bistable behavior are lowered markedly due to the excitation of the TP and DM. Besides, …
Strong retardation of ultrashort optical pulses, including their deceleration and stoppage in the form of Bragg solitons in a cascaded Bragg-grating (BG) structure, is proposed. The manipulations of the pulses are carried out, using nonlinear effects, in a chirped BG segment which is linked, via a defect, to a uniform grating. The storage of the ultrashort pulses is shown to be very robust with respect to variations of the input field intensity, suggesting the feasibility of storing ultrafast optical pulses in such a structure. Physical estimates are produced for the BGs written in silicon.
The phase, amplitude, speed, and polarization, in addition to many other properties of light, can be modulated by photonic Bragg structures. In conjunction with nonlinearity and quantum effects, a variety of ensuing micro- or nano-photonic applications can be realized. This paper reviews various optical phenomena in several exemplary 1D Bragg gratings. Important examples are resonantly absorbing photonic structures, chirped Bragg grating, and cholesteric liquid crystals; their unique operation capabilities and key issues are considered in detail. These Bragg structures are expected to be used …
We numerically propose a scheme for realizing an all-optical femtosecond soliton diode based on a tailored heterojunction Bragg grating, which is designed by two spatially asymmetric chirped cholesteric liquid crystals. Our simulations demonstrate that with the consideration of optical nonlinearity, not only the femtosecond diode effect with nonreciprocal transmission ratio up to 120 can be achieved, but also the optical pulse evolving into soliton which maintains its shape during propagation through the sample is observed. Further, the influence of pulse width and the carrier wavelength to th…
A photonic analogue of Klein tunneling (KT), i.e. of the exotic property of relativistic electrons to pass a large repulsive and sharp potential step, is proposed for pulse propagation in a nonuniform fiber Bragg grating with an embedded chirped region. KT can be simply observed as the opening of a transmission window inside the grating stop band, provided that the impressed chirp is realized over a length of the order of the analogue of the Compton wavelength.
Scenarios for controllable creation, trapping and holding of single and multiple solitons in a specially designed nonlinear Bragg grating (BG) are proposed. The setting includes a chirped BG segment, which is linked via a local defect to a uniform BG with a built-in array of defects. A parabolic relation between the trapping position of the incident soliton and its power is obtained. Simultaneous trapping of two and three solitons at different locations is demonstrated too.
Chirped fiber Bragg gratings in Yb-doped fiber lasers allow tuning the net cavity dispersion, thus enabling access to pulse dynamics beyond the typical all-normal-dispersion dissipative soliton regime. This Letter demonstrates an ultrafast dispersion-managed all-polarization-maintaining fiber oscillator mode-locked with a nonlinear optical loop mirror. Using a chirped fiber Bragg grating inside the oscillator, it can work at net cavity dispersion in the range from -0.098 ps$^2$ up to +0.067 ps$^2$ and above at the wavelength of 1 $\mathrmμ$m. Depending on the configuration, the system can deli…
We explore the consequences of incorporating parity and time reversal ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetries on the dynamics of nonreciprocal light propagation exhibited by a class of nonuniform periodic structures known as chirped $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The interplay among various grating parameters such as chirping, detuning, nonlinearities, and gain/loss gives rise to unique bi- and multi-stable states in the unbroken as well as broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regimes. The role of chirping on the steering dynamics of the hysteresis curve is influenced by the type of nonl…
The unique spectral behavior exhibited by a class of non-uniform Bragg periodic structures, namely chirped and apodized fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) influenced by parity and time reversal ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry, is presented. The interplay between the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and nonuniformities brings exceptional functionalities in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase such as wavelength selective amplification and single-mode lasing for a wide range of variations in gain-loss. We observe that the device is no more passive and it undergoes a series of transitions from asymmetric reflecti…
Adiabatic following has been an widely-employed technique for achieving near-complete population transfer in a `two-level' quantum mechanical system. The theoretical basis, however, could be generalized to a broad class of systems exhibiting SU(2) symmetry. In the present work, we present an analogy of population transfer dynamics of two level atomic system with that of light propagation in a classical `one-dimensional' photonic crystal, commonly known as distributed-Bragg-reflector (DBR). This formalism facilitates in adapting the idea of adiabatic following, more precisely the rapid adiabati…
We report results of the investigation of gap solitons (GSs) in the generic model of a periodically modulated Bragg grating (BG), which includes periodic modulation of the BG chirp or local refractive index, and periodic variation of the local reflectivity. We demonstrate that, while the previously studied reflectivity modulation strongly destabilizes all solitons, the periodic chirp modulation, which is a novel feature, stabilizes a new family of double-peak fundamental BGs in the side bandgap at negative frequencies (gap No. -1), and keeps solitons stable in the central bandgap (No. 0). The …
We have demonstrated that chirped Bragg gratings can compensate for a chromatic dispersion by reflecting different wavelengths at different location along the axis of the gratings. In this paper, we make use of such a dispersion-compensating property to create a white light cavity (WLC) effect that cancels the round trip phase shift due to propagation as the optical frequency is tuned. A pair of LCBGs is used to make the cavity. To fulfill WLC condition, the dispersion profile of the LCBGs is tailored by adjusting parameters such as chirping rate, modulation depth and the length of the grating…
We present a new method for building sequences of solvable profiles of the electromagnetic (EM) admittance in lossless isotropic materials with 1D graded permittivity and permeability (in particular profiles of the optical refractive-index). These solvable profiles lead to analytical closed-form expressions of the EM fields, for both TE and TM modes. The Property-and-Field Darboux Transformations method, initially developed for heat diffusion modelling, is here transposed to the Maxwell equations in the optical-depth space. Several examples are provided, all stemming from a constant seed-poten…
We report the role of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry in switching characteristics of a highly nonlinear fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with cubic-quintic-septic nonlinearities. We demonstrate that the device shows novel bi-(multi-) stable states in the broken regime as a direct consequence of the shift in the photonic band gap influenced by both $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and higher-order nonlinearities. We also numerically depict that such FBGs provide a productive test bed where the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric regime can be exploited to set up all-optical applications such as binary switches, multi-lev…
Silicon nitride nanophotonics for low-redundancy 3D convolution
Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology（华中科技大学光学与电子信息学院，武汉光电国家研究中心）；Optics Valley Laboratory（光谷实验室）；Hubei Jiufengshan Laboratory（湖北九峰山实验室）
