Material slow light and structural slow light: similarities and differences for nonlinear optics [Invited]

Boyd, Robert W.

doi:10.1364/josab.28.000a38

Cited by 138 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Ref. [23] and references therein, we think it could be relevant to discuss the properties and potential of the absorption structuring techniques shown here. Due to the cavity-linewidth narrowing, the 6 mm long cavity can have a longitudinal mode spacing of ≈ 220 kHz, which in vacuum would correspond to that of a ≈ 700 m long cavity!…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Spectral Engineering of Slow Light, Cavity Line Narrowing, and Pulse Compression

Sabooni

Rippe

et al. 2013

Phys. Rev. Lett.

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More than four orders of magnitude cavity-linewidth narrowing in a rare-earth-ion-doped crystal cavity, emanating from strong intra-cavity dispersion caused by off-resonant interaction with dopant ions is demonstrated. The dispersion profiles are engineered using optical pumping techniques creating significant semi-permanent but reprogrammable changes of the rare earth absorption profiles. Several cavity modes are shown within the spectral transmission window. Several possible applications of this phenomenon are discussed.PACS numbers: 42.50. Ct, 42.50.Pq, 42.79.Gn, 78.47.nd Cavity linewidth narrowing has been suggested to have great potential in many different areas such as laser stabilization [1, 2], high-resolution spectroscopy [2], enhanced light matter interaction and compressed optical energy [3]. We show more than four orders of magnitude cavity linewidth narrowing, which, to the best of our knowledge, is more than two orders of magnitude larger than demonstrated with other techniques. Previously 10 to 20 times linewidth narrowing has been shown using either EIT [4][5][6], and recently two orders of magnitude was shown using coherent population oscillation (CPO) in combination with a cavity dispersive effect [7]. We also demonstrate several cavity modes within the slow light transmission window, something which we are not aware of having been demonstrated using EIT or CPO. The present results are obtained using spectral hole-burning in rare-earth-ion doped crystals [8-10] and we discuss the properties and potential of slow light structures created with this method in these materials.In this paper, a cavity formed by depositing mirrors directly onto a praseodymium doped Y 2 SiO 5 crystal and (near) persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) is employed to create a very strong dispersion. A sharp dispersion slope reduces the photon group velocity, and therefore increases the effective photon lifetime in the cavity compared to a non-dispersive cavity (some times referred to as cold cavity [11]).Generally the mode spacing in a Fabry-Pérot cavity, ∆ν, is given by [11] 2L (1) where c is the speed of light in vacuum, ν is the light frequency, n is the real part of the index of refraction (for the phase velocity), v g (ν) is the group velocity and n g (ν) is the index of refraction for the group velocity. For the present work it is useful to briefly analyse the mode spacing relation. The resonance condition for a Fabry-Pérot cavity of length L may be expressed as m(λ/2) = L, where m is an integer and the wavelength λ = c/(nν). ThusDifferentiating Eq. 2 givesDividing the left (right) hand side of Eq. 3 with the left (right) hand side of Eq. 2 yieldswhere n = n(ν) is a function of frequency. Normally when the frequency is changed δν/ν δn/n, but in the case of significant slow light effects n ν(dn/dν) and the second term on the right hand side in Eq. 4 is much larger than the first. Thus the cavity mode spacing is basically completely determined by the dispersion while the impact of the relative change in the freque...

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confidence: 93%

Spectral Engineering of Slow Light, Cavity Line Narrowing, and Pulse Compression

Sabooni

Rippe

et al. 2013

Phys. Rev. Lett.

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“…Moreover, adding a slot layer provides more design freedom to tailor chromatic dispersion, as reported in standard slot waveguides [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] and strip/ slot hybrid waveguides [59][60][61][62][63]. A high refractive index is also beneficial to build a slow light element with reduced group velocity of light, which can effectively increase optical length for nonlinear interactions and reduce power requirement [64][65][66].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear Group IV photonics based on silicon and germanium: from near-infrared to mid-infrared

et al. 2014

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Group IV photonics hold great potential for nonlinear applications in the near-and mid-infrared (IR) wavelength ranges, exhibiting strong nonlinearities in bulk materials, high index contrast, CMOS compatibility, and cost-effectiveness. In this paper, we review our recent numerical work on various types of silicon and germanium waveguides for octave-spanning ultrafast nonlinear applications. We discuss the material properties of silicon, silicon nitride, silicon nano-crystals, silica, germanium, and chalcogenide glasses including arsenic sulfide and arsenic selenide to use them for waveguide core, cladding and slot layer. The waveguides are analyzed and improved for four spectrum ranges from visible, near-IR to mid-IR, with material dispersion given by Sellmeier equations and wavelength-dependent nonlinear Kerr index taken into account. Broadband dispersion engineering is emphasized as a critical approach to achieving on-chip octavespanning nonlinear functions. These include octave-wide supercontinuum generation, ultrashort pulse compression to sub-cycle level, and mode-locked Kerr frequency comb generation based on few-cycle cavity solitons, which are potentially useful for next-generation optical communications, signal processing, imaging and sensing applications.

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“…We note that the slow-light enhancement described here is derived from the structure. In contrast, material slow light from atomic resonances does not exhibit this enhancement [10]. In PhCWGs we write the effective nonlinear Kerr parameter as γ eff = γ ( n g n o ) 2 = ω c n 2 A eff ( n g n o ) 2 , with the bulk Kerr coefficient n 2 , modal area A eff , and linear refractive index n o .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giant anomalous self-steepening in photonic crystal waveguides

Husko

Colman

2015

Phys. Rev. A

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Self-steepening of optical pulses arises due the dispersive contribution of the χ (3) (ω) Kerr nonlinearity. In typical structures this response is on the order of a few femtoseconds with a fixed frequency response. In contrast, the effective χ (3) Kerr nonlinearity in photonic crystal waveguides (PhCWGs) is largely determined by the geometrical parameters of the structure and is consequently tunable over a wide range. Here we show self-steepening based on group-velocity (group-index) modulation for the first time, giving rise to a new physical mechanism for generating this effect. Further, we demonstrate that periodic media such as PhCWGS can exhibit self-steepening coefficients two orders of magnitude larger than typical systems. At these magnitudes the self-steepening strongly affects the nonlinear pulse dynamics even for picosecond pulses. Due to interaction with additional higher-order nonlinearities in the semiconductor materials under consideration, we employ a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation numerical model to describe the impact of self-steepening on the temporal and spectral properties of the optical pulses in practical systems, including new figures of merit. These results provide a theoretical description for recent experimental results presented in [Scientific Reports 3, 1100) and Phys. Rev. A 87, 041802 (2013]. More generally, these observations apply to all periodic media due to the rapid group-velocity variation characteristic of these structures.

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Material slow light and structural slow light: similarities and differences for nonlinear optics [Invited]

Cited by 138 publications

References 44 publications

Spectral Engineering of Slow Light, Cavity Line Narrowing, and Pulse Compression

Spectral Engineering of Slow Light, Cavity Line Narrowing, and Pulse Compression

Nonlinear Group IV photonics based on silicon and germanium: from near-infrared to mid-infrared

Giant anomalous self-steepening in photonic crystal waveguides

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