Integrated-optical wavelength sensor with self-compensation of thermally induced phase shifts by use of a LiNbO3 unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer

We demonstrate an integrated-optical unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer in lithium niobate for detecting wavelength shifts of light sources, such as laser diodes and superluminescentdiodes at lambda = 844 nm. The output signal can be used to stabilize the light source. Because of the temperature dependence of the effective refractive index and the thermal expansion of the substrate, the device acts also as a temperature sensor. The temperature sensitivity of the interferometer was compensated for by the combination of proton exchanged- and annealed proton exchanged-channel waveguides by approximately two orders of magnitude. The thermo-optic coefficients of the extraordinary effective refractive index in integrated optical channel waveguides in LiNbO8 have been measured with high accuracy over a temperature range from 10 degrees C to 40 degrees C.     

Lithium tetraborate transducers

Lithium tetraborate is a tetragonal material of considerable promise for frequency control and signal processing applications. It exhibits piezoelectric coupling values that fall between those of lithium niobate and quartz, but possesses orientations for which the temperature coefficient of frequency and delay time is zero for bulk and surface acoustic waves. The properties of two doubly rotated bulk wave resonator orientations having first- and second-order temperature coefficients equal to zero are discussed. These are suitable for shear and compressional wave transducers in applications where very low temperature sensitivity is required simultaneously with moderately strong piezocoupling coefficients.     

Electromechanical coupling to Lamb and shear-horizontal modes in piezoelectric plates

Recent theoretical studies and experiments have been shown that interdigital transducers can couple strongly to plate modes in piezoelectric materials and in piezoelectric-on-nonpiezoelectric composite membranes. The calculated velocity dispersion and electromechanical coupling factors for plate modes in representative piezoelectric materials are described. The frequency dependence of velocity and electromechanical coupling factors are given, under different metallization conditions, for generalized stiffened-Lamb, pure stiffened-Lamb, and stiffened-shear (shear-horizontal) modes, for various plate orientations in lithium niobate, lithium tantalate, quartz, bismuth germanium oxide, and zinc oxide. For lithium niobate, electromechanical-coupling values as high as 15% are found under narrowband bandpass conditions, and 5% under wideband low-pass conditions. For lithium tantalate, bismuth germanium oxide, coupling values of 0.5, 2, and 4% are obtained. For quartz with its weaker piezoelectricity, the coupling is still made smaller.     

Measurement of nonlinear refractive index coefficient using emission spectrum of filament induced by gigawatt-femtosecond pulse in BK7 glass

A beam of 33 fs laser pulse with peak power of 15-40 GW was employed to explore a convenient method to determine the nonlinear refractive index coefficient of an optical glass. It is rare to investigate nonlinearities of optical glass with such an extreme ultrashort and powerful laser pulse. According to our method, only a single beam and a few experimental apparatuses are necessary to measure the nonlinear refractive index coefficient. The results from our method are in reasonable agreement with the others, which demonstrates that this new method works well, and the nonlinear refractive index coefficient is independent of measuring technology. Meanwhile, according to our results and those obtained by others in different laser power ranges, it seems that the nonlinear refractive index coefficient has a weak dependence on the laser peak power.     

Deterministic beam fanning in Fe-doped stoichiometric lithium niobate crystals

We investigated the beam-fanning effect in Fe-doped stoichiometric lithium niobate (Fe:SLN) crystals that were grown by the top-seeded solution growth method. Deterministic beam fanning (DBF) was measured in Z-cut Fe:SLN crystal for incident light propagating along the c+ and c- axes. The dependence of beam-fanning factors on incident power density was also studied. The experimental results of DBF in the Z-cut Fe:SLN crystal were in good agreement with a theoretical simulation based on a two-wave mixing model. The results compared with those for Fe-doped congruent lithium niobate crystals indicate that the beam-fanning process in Fe:SLN is deterministic because of its much-reduced intrinsic density of defects.     

Temperature coefficients of SAW delay and velocity for Y-cut and rotated LiNbO(3)

Measurements that indicate that the surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) temperature coefficients of delay and velocity over approximately room temperature to +100 degrees C for the popular cuts of lithium niobate are presented. These values of delay coefficient are close to the value previously given for Y-cut LiNbO(3) but are significantly different from values given for the rotated cuts.     

Photoacoustic measurement of methane concentrations with a compact pulsed optical parametric oscillator

A pulsed periodically poled lithium niobate optical parametric oscillator operating in a cavity with a grazing-incidence grating configuration was used for sensitive and precise measurement of trace quantities of methane in nitrogen by photoacoustic spectroscopy with a novel differential photoacoustic detector. A sensitivity of 1.2 parts in 10(9) by volume of methane was obtained in direct calibration measurements (not extrapolated). With this apparatus, in situ measurement of the methane concentration in ambient air under atmospheric conditions was demonstrated.     

Dark spot downstream from nonlinear hot image

The dark spot effect downstream from the nonlinear hot image is accounted for in this paper. The conditions for the formation of dark spot are carefully discussed. The explanation is based on analytical analysis, and the results are verified by numerical simulations. The dependence of the location of the dark spot on the nonlinear phase delay seems to suggest a probable method for measuring the nonlinear refractive coefficient of materials.     

Hybridization of acoustic waves in piezoelectric plates

The conditions for hybridization of the zero-order and high-order acoustic waves propagating in a piezoelectric crystal plate have been studied. The dependence of the phase velocity of the hybrid waves on the parameter hf (h is the plate thickness and f is the wave frequency) is established for the potassium niobate and lithium niobate plates possessing various crystallographic orientations and conductivities. It is found that hybridization takes place when the conductivity of a thin surface layer exceeds a certain critical value, which can vary within broad limits depending on the plate material and orientation. The degree of dispersive repulsion of the coupled modes grows with increasing electromechanical coupling coefficient.     

近化学计量比铌酸锂晶体的研究进展

介绍了近化学计量比铌酸锂晶体的主要生长方法及其特点,总结了近化学计量比铌酸锂晶体的主要性能,通过与同成分铌酸锂晶体的比较,指出了近化学计量比铌酸锂晶体的主要应用优势,明确了该类晶体今后的研究重点.     

Direct quasi-phase-matched fourth-harmonic generation

We have theoretically demonstrated direct fourth-harmonic generation (FHG) based on a quasi-phase-matching (QPM) configuration in periodically poled lithium niobate. The wavelength dependence of period of FHG QPM gratings is calculated. Bandwidths of fundamental wavelength, temperature, and incident angle are also studied. We find a very wide bandwidth, as large as 115 nm, of fundamental wavelength near the wavelength of 3797 nm with the QPM period of 9.73 microm. The numerical calculation shows that the conversion efficiency for QPM FHG and cascading QPM by two-step second-harmonic generation is almost identical.     

Multi-parameters measurement based on cascaded Bragg gratings in magnetic fluid-infiltrated photonic crystal fibre

Simultaneous measurement of multi-parameters is demonstrated quantitatively using two fibre Bragg gratings inscribed on a high birefringence photonic crystal fibre (PCF) and common PCF, respectively. The birefringence coefficient and the Bragg wavelengths corresponding to the fast-axis mode and slow-axis can be magnetic-controlled by filling magnetic fluid (MF) into several cladding air-holes. Based on the dependence of the MF refractive index on temperature and magnetic field, the sensitivity of the spectral response of the device to longitudinal strain, magnetic field and temperature are characterized, and the results of its application as a multi-parameter sensor are also presented.     

Phase filtering in nonlinear-imaging technique with a phase object

Using the nonlinear-imaging technique with a phase object (NIT-PO), we have studied third-order nonlinearities of various samples. In this work, we develop, for pure nonlinear refractive materials, an approximate method to calculate the nonlinear refractive coefficient analytically. By decomposing the object field passing through the phase object into two top-hat beams of different phases and beam radius, we acquire the approximate phase contrast, from which we extract the nonlinear refractive coefficient. This approximation is valid when the on-axis nonlinear phase shift by the sample is less than π. In addition, this approximation serves to estimate the sensitivity and monotonic interval for nonlinearity measurements more easily and thus helps us to maximize both the sensitivity and monotonic interval of measurements. We test this method with CS(2), a well-characterized third-order nonlinear refractive material using 21 ps laser pulses at 532 nm. We expect this method can be applied to high-order nonlinear refraction cases.     

Relationship between photorefractive activity and Raman scattering in lithium niobate crystals

We performed Raman scattering experiments in pure, Mg-doped and Fe-doped single crystals of lithium niobate. The measurements were carried out in 90° geometry at several laser beam intensities, and in several polarization arrangements. The possible occurrence of light-induced polarization-anisotropic scattering, and its effects on Raman spectra, were checked by simultaneously measuring the time dependence of the laser beam intensity transmitted by the sample with unchanged polarization, and the time dependence of the intensity of Raman lines from vibrational modes of known symmetry. The results give no indication of any effect of photorefractive activity on Raman observations in our pure and Mg-doped samples. On the contrary, in Fe-doped lithium niobate the build-up of light-induced o–e scattering strongly affected the relative intensities of Raman lines in specific experimental arrangements. We discuss the possible application of these effects to the characterization of lithium-niobate-based materials with strong photovoltaic and photorefractive activity.     

One-dimensional spatial dark soliton-induced channel waveguides in lithium niobate crystal

The anisotropic dependence of the formation of one-dimensional (1-D) spatial dark solitons on the orientation of intensity gradients in lithium niobate crystal is numerically specified. Based on this, we propose an approach to fabricate channel waveguides by employing 1-D spatial dark solitons. By exposure of two 1-D dark solitons with different orientations, channel waveguides can be created. The structures of the channel waveguides can be tuned by adjustment of the widths of the solitons and/or the angles between the two exposures. A square channel waveguide is experimentally demonstrated in an iron-doped lithium niobate crystal by exposure of two orthogonal 1-D dark solitons in sequence.     

Physical adsorption on ferroelectric surfaces: photoinduced and thermal effects

Selective deposition of charged polystyrene (PS) microspheres from an aqueous solution on domain-patterned lithium niobate is investigated. The selectivity of PS microsphere deposition can be varied by controlling the deposition temperature. Selective decoration of the positive domains (positive polarization surface charges) is achieved at room temperature and is attributed to the electrostatic interaction of the charged nanoparticles and the polarization surface charges of the ferroelectric. In contrast, at elevated temperatures, the particles decorate the negative domains. This process is explained by considering the pyroelectric properties of lithium niobate.     

Shear-horizontal acoustic waves in piezoelectric plates bordered with conductive liquid

The influence of a conductive liquid on the characteristics of shear-horizontal acoustic waves of zeroth order (SH0 mode) propagating in thin piezoelectric plates of lithium tantalate, lithium niobate, and potassium niobate was investigated. Experimental results obtained for SH0 mode devices fabricated on lithium niobate plates are found to be in good agreement with theory. The data presented in this paper is useful for a proper design of various acoustic wave sensors operating in contact with conductive liquids.     

铌酸钾锂晶体的生长技术

铌酸钾锂被认为是目前综合性能指数最高的非线性光学晶体,在半导体二极管蓝激光倍频方面有广阔的应用前景。本文综述了用于蓝光倍频的铌酸钾锂晶体生长研究进展,比较了不同生长方法的优缺点,报道了我们在该晶体坩埚下降法生长研究方面的最新成果。     

Pulse shaping by the electro-optic effect in chirped periodically poled lithium niobate

We propose an ultrafast pulse shaping method by modulating the pulse phase and amplitude by the electro-optic effect and Bragg diffraction in the aperiodically optical superlattice. Linear-chirped periodically poled lithium niobate is used. The input pulse can be shaped, for example, by compressing it through the extraordinary refractive index change of the crystal by applying and changing the external electric field.     

Highly efficient terahertz pulse generation by optical rectification in stoichiometric and cryo-cooled congruent lithium niobate

We report, and review in detail, experiments resulting in a record 3.7% optical-to-terahertz (THz) conversion efficiency by optical rectification (OR) in cryogenically cooled congruent lithium niobate (cLN) using a near-optimal 680 fs pump pulse at 1030 nm. In addition, we report a record conversion efficiency of 1.7% at room temperature using stoichiometric lithium niobate (sLN) which results in 21.8 μJ of THz energy from a 1.2 mJ optical pulse. Electro-optical sampling measurements reveal the THz pulses to be single-cycle and centered at 0.45?THz. The experimentally measured efficiency, THz waveform, and THz spectrum are in good agreement with theoretical calculations. Finally, spatial beam profile measurements are also provided. To our knowledge, these results represent an order of magnitude improvement in efficiency of THz generation by OR in lithium niobate over previous results.