Design of Thermo-Optic Variable Optical Attenuator Based on Quartz Substrate

In this paper, we designed a thermo-optic variable optical attenuator (VOA) based on quartz substrate, which consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and a thin film heater above the phase-modulation arm. The transmission properties of the waveguide and attenuation characteristics of the device have been simulated by beam propagation method (BPM), and the simulated results illustrated that the designed VOA had good performance.

Genome-wide adenine N6-methylation map reveals epigenomic regulation of lipid accumulation in Nannochloropsis

Epigenetic marks on histones and DNA,such as DNA methylation at N6-adenine(6mA),play crucial roles in gene expression and genome maintenance,but their deposition and function in microalgae remain largely uncharacterized.Here,we report a genome-wide 6mA map for the model industrial oleaginous microalga Nannochloropsis oceanica produced by single-molecule real-time sequencing.Found in 0.1%of adenines,6mA sites are mostly enriched at the AGGYV motif,more abundant in transposons and 30 untranslated re-gions,and associated with active transcription.Moreover,6mA gradually increases in abundance along the direction of gene transcription and shows special positional enrichment near splicing donor and transcrip-tion termination sites.Highly expressed genes tend to show greater 6mA abundance in the gene body than do poorly expressed genes,indicating a positive interaction between 6mA and general transcription fac-tors.Furthermore,knockout of the putative 6mA methylase NO08G00280 by genome editing leads to changes in methylation patterns that are correlated with changes in the expression of molybdenum cofactor,sulfate transporter,glycosyl transferase,and lipase genes that underlie reductions in biomass and oil productivity.By contrast,knockout of the candidate demethylase NO06G02500 results in increased 6mA levels and reduced growth.Unraveling the epigenomic players and their roles in biomass productivity and lipid metabolism lays a foundation for epigenetic engineering of industrial microalgae.

4 × 20 GHz silica-based AWG hybrid integrated receiver optical sub-assemblies

Both the 4 × 20 GHz coarse wavelength division multiplexing and LAN-WDM receiver optical sub-assemblies（ROSAs） were developed. The ROSA package was hybrid integrated with a planar lightwave circuit arrayed waveguide grating（AWG） with 2% refractive index difference and a four-channel top-illuminated positive-intrinsicnegative photodetector（PD） array. The output waveguides of the AWG were designed in a multimode structure to provide flat-top optical spectra, and their end facet was angle-polished to form a total internal reflection interface to realize vertical coupling with a PD array. The maximum responsivity of ROSA was about 0.4 A/W, and its 3 dB bandwidth of frequency response was up to 20 GHz for each transmission lane. The hybrid integrated ROSA would be a cost-effective and easy-assembling solution for 100 Gb E data center interconnections.

25 × 50 Gbps wavelength division multiplexing silicon photonics receiver chip based on a silicon nanowire-arrayed waveguide grating

A high-performance monolithic integrated wavelength division multiplexing silicon(Si) photonics receiver chip is fabricated on a silicon-on-insulator platform. The receiver chip has a 25-channel Si nanowire-arrayed waveguide grating, and each channel is integrated with a high-speed waveguide Ge-on-Si photodetector. The central wavelength, optical insertion loss, and cross talk of the array waveguide grating are 1550.6 nm, 5–8 dB, and-12 –-15 dB, respectively. The photodetectors show low dark current density of 16.9 mA∕cm^2 at-1 V and a high responsivity of 0.82 A/W at 1550 nm. High bandwidths of 23 and 29 GHz are achieved at 0 and-1 V, respectively. Each channel can operate at 50 Gbps with low input optical power even under zero bias,which realizes an aggregate data rate of 1.25 Tbps.

Interference at the single-photon level based on silica photonics robust against channel disturbance

Quantum key distribution(QKD) provides a solution for communication of unconditional security. However,the quantum channel disturbance in the field severely increases the quantum bit-error rate, degrading the performance of a QKD system. Here we present a setup comprising silica planar light wave circuits(PLCs), which is robust against the channel polarization disturbance. Our PLCs are based on the asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometer(AMZI), integrated with a tunable power splitter and thermo-optic phase modulators. The polarization characteristics of the AMZI PLC are investigated by a novel pulse self-interfering method to determine the operation temperature of implementing polarization insensitivity. Over a 20 km fiber channel with 30 Hz polarization scrambling, our time-bin phase-encoding QKD setup is characterized with an interference fringe visibility of 98.72%. The extinction ratio for the phase states is kept between 18 and 21 d B for 6 h without active phase correction.