Modified Holographic Exposure to Fabricate Varied Bragg Grating in an Identical Chip

A new fabricating method is demonstrated to realize two different Bragg gratings in an identical chip using traditional holographic exposure. Polyimide is used to protect one Bragg grating during the first period. The technical process of this method is as simple as that of standard holographic exposure.

Dynamic shaping of vectorial optical fields based on two-dimensional blazed holographic grating

We propose a vectorial optical field generation system based on two-dimensional blazed grating to high-efficiently generate structured optical fields with prescribed amplitude,phase,and polarization.In this system,an optimized blazed grating hologram is written on a spatial light modulator(SLM)and can diffract the majority of the incident light into the first-order diffractions of the x and y directions,which then serve as base vectors for synthesizing desired vector beams.Compared with the conventional cosine grating used in the previous work,the proposed two-dimensional,blazed grating has a much higher efficiency.Both computer simulation and optical experiment validate that a conversion efficiency up to 5 times that of the former work is achieved.Our method can facilitate applications of the optical field manipulation.

Study on holographic grating diffraction for Laguerre–Gaussian beam generation

Laguerre-Gaussian beams, as a special model with spiral phase structure, have been intensively investigated. Holographic grating method is a convenient method of generating Laguerre-Gaussian beams and measuring their orbital angular momenta. But due to some inevitable adverse factors such as lateral displacement, angular deflection and elliptical incident profile of incident beam, the practical effectiveness should be reevaluated. This paper is devoted to the study on the influences of the abovementioned three adverse factors on the holographic grating method. The characteristics of the mode decomposition of diffractive order and the relative powers of the orbital angular momentum eigen-states are also given.

Diffraction of an ultrashort pulsed beam with arbitrary polarization state from a volume holographic grating in LiNbO3 crystals

Based on a modified coupled wave theory of Kogelnik, we have studied the diffraction of an ultrashort pulsed beam with an arbitrary polarization state from a volume holographic grating in photorefractive LiNbO3 crystals. The results indicate that the diffracted intensity distributions in the spectral and temporal domains and the diffraction efficiency of the grating are both changed by the polarization state and spectral bandwidth of the input pulsed beam. A method is given of choosing the grating parameters and input conditions to obtain a large variation range of the spectral bandwidth of the diffracted pulsed beam with an appropriate diffraction efficiency. Our study presents a possibility of using a volume holographic grating recorded in anisotropic materials to shape a broadband ultrashort pulsed beam by modulating its polarization state.

PHOTOINDUCED HOLOGRAPHIC PHASE GRATINGS BURIED IN AZOBENZENE SIDE-CHAIN POLYMER FILMS WITH A CHIRAL GROUP

An optically active polymer (PM1) containing azobenzene moieties with a chiral group (s-2-methyl-butyl) wassynthesized by homopolymerization of monomer, 4-[2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyloxy-4'-(s-2-methyl-1-butyl oxycarbonyl)azobenzene, using the free radical polymerization method. The polymer dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF) could be easilyprocessed into high optical quality films. The optical anisotropy of the polymer films was investigated by polarizing opticalmicroscopy (POM). The experimental results showed that irradiation with a circularly polarized beam could align theorientation of the molecules in the polymer films. Moreover, the holographic phase gratings of photo-induced polymer filmswere detected by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and POM. In comparison with polymer containing no chiral group, it wasfound from the preliminary measurement of the photo-induced holographic phase gratings that PM1 containing a chiralgroup could form holographic phase gratings buried in the films.

Study on the adaptability of augmented reality smartglasses for astigmatism based on holographic waveguide grating

Background Augmen ted reality(AR)smartglasses are considered as the next generation of smart devices to replace mobile phones,and are widely concerned.But at present,AR smartglasses are usually designed according to the human normal eyes.In order to experience AR smartglasses perfectly,abnormal eye users must first wear diopters.Methods For people with astigmatism to use AR smartglasses without wearing a diopter lens,a cylindrical lens waveguide grating is designed in this study based on the principle of holographic waveguide grating.First,a cylindrical lens waveguide substrate is constructed for external light deflection to satisfy the users'normal viewing of the real world.Further,a variable period grating structure is established based on the cylindrical lens waveguide substrate to normally emit the light from the virtual world in the optical machine to the human eyes.Finally,the structural parameters of grating are optimized to improve the diffraction efficiency.Results The results show that the structure of cylindrical lens waveguide grating allows people with astigmatism to wear AR smartglasses directly.The total light utilization rate reaches 90%with excellent imaging uniformity.The brightness difference is less than 0.92%and the vertical field of view is 10°.Conclusions This research serves as a guide for AR product designs for people with long/short sightedness and promotes the development of such products.

Analysis of Optical Properties of Off-Axis Reflective Volume Holographic Grating

The coupled wave theory for volume holographic grating with curved interference fringes has been proposed based on the Kogelnik’s coupled wave theory with the plane interference fringes. The formula about the magnitude and directional angle of grating vector in arbitrary position of volume holographic grating with curved grating has been deduced. We found that the wavelength selectivity and angular selectivity may be different in different position of volume holographic curved stripe grating which depend on the angle between the propagation vector of reference beam and signal beam. The larger the angle, the greater the angle and wavelength selectivity, whereas the weaker.

Spectral selective fluorescence molecular imaging with volume holographic imaging system

A compact volume holographic imaging(VHI)method that can detect fluorescence objects located in diffusive medium in spectral selective imaging manner is presented.The enlargement of lateralfield of view of the VHI system is realized by using broadband illumination and demagnification optics.Each target spectrum of°uorescence emitting from a di®usive medium is probed by tuning the inclination angle of the transmission volume holographic grating(VHG).With the use of the single transmission VHG,fluorescence images with different spectrum are obtained sequentially and precise three-dimensional(3D)information of deep fluorescent objects located in a diffusive medium can be reconstructed from these images.The results of phantom experiments demonstrate that two fluorescent objects with a sub-millimeter distance can be resolved by spectral selective imaging.

LO-RAY-LIGH@ Diffraction Gratings in UV-VIS Spectroscopy

It has been more than half a century since the release of the first Shimadzu UV-VIS （UV-visible） spectrophotometer QB-50 in 1952, and during this time more than 160,000 UV-VIS spectrometers have been produced and installed in a wide variety of different applications. A lot of technical innovations have been implemented to improve the performance and significantly reduce the stray light levels. The latest innovation during development of sophisticated spectrophotometers is based on a new holographic exposure method and optimized etching process which has made it possible to produce both high-efficient and exceptionally low stray light gratings. These LO-RAY-LIGH~ gratings have guaranteed values of stray light at the intermediate position between zero-order and first-order lights. The values are measured by Shimadzu＇s laser stray-light-measuring system. The latest development in the series of UV-VIS spectrophotometers is the UV-2700 which is a true double beam double monochromator system in a compact design for high-precision spectral analysis of a wide range of samples including organic and inorganic compounds, biological samples, optical materials and photovoltaics. The high performance optical system is designed with ＂LO-RAY-LIGH＂ diffraction gratings, featuring highest efficiency and exceptionally low stray light. The spectrophotometer operates in the wavelength range from 185 nm to 900 nm and allows highly sophisticated applications such as direct measurement of high density samples up to 8 absorbance units without dilution.

Theoretical study on lifetime of thermal-fixed volume holographic phase grating in photorefractive crystals

We review the dark decay of the electronic holographic phase grating before thermal fixing, and deduce the general analytic expression of the lifetime of thermal-fixed ionic holograms in the photorefractive crystal, by means of analogizing. Because the ions are optically inactive, the lifetime of thermal-fixed ionic holograms is only closely relate to the ionic decay rate which is determined by the conductivity of ionic species at a given temperature. We theoretically analyze and numerically simulate the influences on the lifetime of ionic grating from the crucial factors in the experiment and application. The results reveal that low temperature, low ion-concentration, and large grating spacing are advantages for extending the life of the thermal-fixed volume holographic phase grating in photorefractive crystal.

Reducing the stray light of holographic gratings by shifting the substrate a short distance in the direction parallel or perpendicular to the exposure interference fringes

This research proposes a simple and practical method to make low-stray-light gratings, where the substrate shifts about a 1 mm distance in the direction parallel or perpendicular to the exposure interference fringes. When the substrate shifts, a reference grating next to the substrate is used to adjust in real time the phase of the exposure interference fringes relative to the substrate. Shifting eliminates the exposure defects and therefore decreases the stray light of gratings. Several gratings are successfully made by using this method, which have straighter grooves,smoother surfaces, and lower stray light than gratings made in conventional interference lithography.

Massive individual orbital angular momentum channels for multiplexing enabled by Dammann gratings

Data transmission rates in optical communication systems are approaching the limits of conventional multiplexing methods.Orbital angular momentum(OAM)in optical vortex beams offers a new degree of freedom and the potential to increase the capacity of free-space optical communication systems,with OAM beams acting as information carriers for OAM division multiplexing(OAM-DM).We demonstrate independent collinear OAM channel generation,transmission and simultaneous detection using Dammann optical vortex gratings(DOVGs).We achieve 80/160 Tbit s^(-1) capacity with uniform power distributions along all channels,with 1600 individually modulated quadrature phase-shift keying(QPSK)/16-QAM data channels multiplexed by 10 OAM states,80 wavelengths and two polarizations.DOVG-enabled OAM multiplexing technology removes the bottleneck of massive OAM state parallel detection and offers an opportunity to raise optical communication systems capacity to Pbit s^(-1) level.

Investigation on the phase shifts of extinction and phase gratings in polymethyl methacrylate

The phase shifts of the extinction and refractive index gratings to the illumination pattern are revealed in doped polymethyl methacrylate （PMMA）. The dynamic process of these shifts is studied via two-wave coupling at 351 nm. It is shown that these shifts are from the strain and the shrinkage inside the sample and accompanied with the photo-repolymerization process during the building process of the holographic grating. Such shifts will cause obvious energy exchange between the two recording beams and enough attention should be paid to the nonlocal property of the holographic gratings of the material in the application.

Waveguide-based augmented reality displays:perspectives and challenges

Augmented reality(AR)displays,as the next generation platform for spatial computing and digital twins,enable users to view digital images superimposed on real-world environment,fostering a deeper level of human-digital interactions.However,as a critical element in an AR system,optical combiners face unprecedented challenges to match the exceptional performance requirements of human vision system while keeping the headset ultracompact and lightweight.After decades of extensive device and material research efforts,and heavy investment in manufacturing technologies,several promising waveguide combiners have been developed.In this review paper,we focus on the perspectives and challenges of optical waveguide combiners for AR displays.We will begin by introducing the basic device structures and operation principles of different AR architectures,and then delve into different waveguide combiners,including geometric and diffractive waveguide combiners.Some commonly used in-couplers and out-couplers,such as prisms,mirrors,surface relief gratings,volume holographic gratings,polarization volume gratings,and metasurface-based couplers,will be discussed,and their properties analyzed in detail.Additionally,we will explore recent advances in waveguide combiner design and modeling,such as exit pupil expansion,wide field of view,geometric architectures of waveguide couplers,full-color propagation,and brightness and color uniformity optimization.Finally,we will discuss the bottlenecks and future development trends in waveguide combiner technologies.The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of waveguide combiner technologies,analyze their pros and cons,and then present the future challenges of AR displays.

Coherence preservation during light-surface plasmon polaritons-light transformation

We constructed a four-layer system composed of a prism,a silver film,an air layer and a lithium niobate crystal.Initially we used two coherent light beams to excite surface plasmons.The surface plasmons were then decoupled into light in the photorefractive crystal where a holographic grating was recorded.The two beams remained coherent through light to surface plasmons to light transformation.Studying the characteristics of the holographic grating we found out that the thickness of the grating was to the order of hundreds of microns.The thick holographic grating suggests that the holographic recording in the photorefractive materials was induced by the leaky waves rather than by surface plasmon polaritons directly.