Electro-Optical Effect Measurement of Thin-Film Material Using PM Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

A polarization-maintaining （PM） fiber Mach-Zehnder （MZ） interferometer has been established to measure the EO effect of very thin film materials with optical anisotropy. Unlike a common MZ interferometer, all the components are connected via polarization-maintaining fibers. At the same time, a polarized DFB laser with a maximum power output of 10mW is adopted as the light source to induce a large extinction ratio. Here,we take it to determine the electro-optical coefficients of a very thin superlattice structure with GaAs, KTP, and GaN as comparative samples. The measured EO coefficients show good comparability with the others.

Time-Modulated Hamiltonian for Interpreting Delayed-Choice Experiments via Mach-Zehnder Interferometers

Many delayed-choice experiments based on Mach-Zehnder interferometers （MZI） have been considered and made to address the fundamental problem of wave-particle duality. Conventional wisdom long holds that by inserting or removing the second beam splitter （BS2） in a controllable way, microscopic particles （photons, electrons, etc.） transporting within the MZI can lie in the quantum superposition of the wave and particle state as ψ= aw ψ wave ＋ ap ψ particle. Here we present an alternative interpretation to these delayed-choice experiments. We notice that as the BS2 is purely classical, the inserting and removing operation of the BS2 imposes a time- modulated Hamiltonian H mod （t） = a（t）Hin ＋ b（t）Hout, instead of a quantum superposition of H in and Hour as H = awHin ＋ apHout, to act upon the incident wave function. Solution of this quantum scattering problem, rather than the long held quantum eigen-problem yields a synchronically time-modulated output wave function as ψ mod （t） = a（t） ψ wave ＋b（t） ψ particle, instead of the stationary quantum superposition state ψ = aw ψ wave ＋ ap ψ particle. As a result, the probability of particle output from the MZI behaves as if they are in the superposition of the wave and particle state when many events over time accumulation are counted and averaged. We expect that these elementary but insightful analyses will shed a new light on exploring basic physics beyond the long-held wisdom of wave-particle duality and the principle of complementarity.

Simulation of distributed optical fiber disturbance detection system based on Sagnac/Mach-Zehnder interferometer and cross-correlation location

A distributed optical fiber disturbance detection system consisted of a Sagnac interferometer and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is demonstrated. Two interferometers outputs are connected to an electric band-pass filter via a detector respectively. The central frequencies of the two filters are selected adaptively according to the disturbance frequency. The disturbance frequency is obtained by either frequency spectrum of the two interferometers outputs. An alarm is given out only when the Sagnac interferometer output is changed. A disturbance position is determined by calculating a time difference with a cross-correlation method between the filter output connected to the Sagnac interferometer and derivative of the filter output connected to the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The frequency spectrum, derivative and cross-correlation are obtained by a signal processing system. Theory analysis and simulation results are presented. They show that the system structure and location method are effective, accurate, and immune to environmental variations.

In-Fiber Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Based on Waist-Enlarged Taper and Core-Mismatching for Strain Sensing

An in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer for strain measurement is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor consists of a taper followed by a short section of a multi-mode fiber （MMF） and a dispersion com- pensating fiber （DCF）, which is sandwiched between two single mode fibers （SMFs）. The taper is used as a fiber coupler to excite cladding modes in the SMF, and these cladding modes transmit within the MMF and the DCF. The core mode and the cladding modes interfere in the DCF SMF fusion point to form intermodal interference. A well-defined interference spectrum is obtained in the experiment. Selected interference dips are used to measure the strain changes. The experimental results show that this device is sensitive to strain with the wavelength-referenced sensitivity of 2.6 pm/με and the power-referenced sensitivity of 0. 0027 dB/με, respectively.

Quantitative Visualization of the Thermal Boundary Layer of Forced Convection on a Heated or Cooled Flat Plate with a 30°Leading Edge Using a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

This study focuses on the experimental measurements of the heat transfer coefficient over a flat plate with a 30° leading edge. Under forced convection by a hot/cold air and flow over a cooled/heated flat plate, the thermal boundary layer and its thickness are quantitatively visualized and measured using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In addition, the variation in the local heat transfer coefficient is evaluated experimentally with respect to the air flow velocity and temperature. Differences within the heat transfer performance between the plates are confirmed and discussed. As a result, the average heat transfer performance is about the same for the heated plate and the cooled plate under all air velocity conditions. This contrasts with the theoretical prediction in the case of low air velocity, the reason considered was that the buoyancy at the 30° leading edge blocked air from flowing across the surface of the plate.

Temperature-induced effect on refractive index of graphene based on coated in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer

The temperature-induced complex refractive index（CRI） effect of graphene is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally based on a graphene coated in-fiber MZI（Mach-Zehnder interferometer）. The relationships between real and imaginary parts of the graphene CRI and temperature are obtained through investigating the dip wavelength and intensity of the MZI interference spectrum changing with temperature, respectively. The temperature effect of CRI of the graphene is also analyzed theoretically. Both experimental and theoretical studies show that the real part and imaginary part of the CRI nonlinearly decrease and increase with temperature increasing, respectively. This graphene-coated in-fiber MZI structure also possesses the advantages of easy fabrication, miniaturization, low cost and robustness. It has potential applications in nanomaterial-based optic devices for communication and sensing.

Compact temperature-insensitive modulator based on a silicon microring assistant Mach-Zehnder interferometer

On the silicon-on-insulator platform, an ultra compact temperature-insensitive modulator based on a cascaded microring assistant Mach-Zehnder interferometer is proposed and demonstrated with numerical simulation. According to the calculated results, the tolerated variation of ambient temperature can be as high as 134 ℃ while the footprint of such a silicon modulator is only 340 μm2.

An Improved Experiment to Determine the‘Past of a Particle’in the Nested Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

We argue that the modification proposed by Li et al. [Chin. Phys. Lett. 32 （2015）050303] to the experiment of Danan et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111 （2013） 240402] does not test the past of the photon as characterized by local weak traces. Instead of answering the questions： （i） were the photons in A？ （ii） were the photons in B？ and （iii） were the photons in C？ the proposed experiment measures a degenerate operator answering the questions： （i） were the photons in A？ and （ii） were the photons in B and C together？ A negative answer to the last question does not tell us if photons were present in B or C. On the other hand, a simple variation of the proposal by Li et al. does provide conceptually better evidence for the past of the pre- and post-selected photon, but this evidence will be in agreement with the results of Danan et al.

Theoretical Analysis and Experiment of Temperature Stability for Fiber-optic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Filter

Fiber optic Mach Zehnder interferometer(MZI) can be used as wavelength multiplexers and demultiplexers. The △ L and △ directly influence the properties of MZI. To lengthen the △ L can demultiplex much more wavelengths, but when the △ L is longer, the temperature will influence MZI more seriously. A method to solve this problem is proposed, which enables MZI to work stably. The wavelength distance is 0.8 nm, and the extinction ratio is high.

Two-Photon Interference Constructed by Two Hong–Ou–Mandel Effects in One Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

We present a two-photon interference experiment in a modified Mach-Zehnder （MZ） interferometer in which two Hong-Ou-Mandel effects occur in tandem and construct superposed two-photon states. The signal photons pass both the arms of the MZ interferometer while the idler photons pass one arm only. Interestingly, the probability of the idler photons emerging from any output port still shows a sine oscillation with the two-photon phase difference and it can be characterized only by the indistinguishability of the two-photon amplitudes. We also observe a two-photon interference pattern with a period being equal to the wavelength of the parametric photons instead of the two-photon photonie de Broglie wavelength due to the presence of two-photon phase difference, in particular, with complementary probabilities of finding the two-photon pairs in two output ports. The abundant observations can facilitate a more comprehensive understanding of the two-photon interference.

Dispersion suppression scheme for Mach-Zehnder interferometer based interleaver using phase shifter

To suppress the dispersion effect, an improved scheme was proposed for Mach-Zehnder intefferometer （MZI） based interleaver. The device consists of an MZI, a fiber loop （FL）, and a phase shifter inserted in FL. The introduction of π phase shifter into FI, dramatically suppresses the dispersion effiect. Then the transmission response remains square-like shape, with low frequency deviation and high extinction ratio. Moreover, the lower frequency deviation is achieved by reducing the dispersion coefficient. For 100GHz-spacing interleaver, the 0.08nm deviation is reduced to 0.02nm by replacing G.652 with G.655.

An Ideal Experiment to Determine the ’Past of a Particle’ in the Nested Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

An ideal experiment is designed to determine the past of a particle in the nested Mach-Zehnder interferometer （MZI） by using standard quantum mechanics with quantum non-demolition measurements. We find that when the photon reaches the detector, it only follows one arm of the outer interferometer and leaves no trace in the inner MZI. When it goes through the inner MZI, it cannot reach the detector. Our result obtained from the standard quantum mechanics contradicts the statement based on two-state vector formulism, ＇the photon did not enter the （inner） interferometer, the photon never left the interferometer, but it was there＇. Therefore, the statement and also the overlapping claim are incorrect.

Characterize and optimize the four-wave mixing in dual-interferometer coupled silicon microrings

By designing and fabricating a series of dual-interferometer coupled silicon microrings, the coupling condition of the pump, signal, and idler beams can be engineered independently and then we carried out both the continuous-wave and pulse pumped four-wave mixing experiments to verify the dependence of conversion efficiency on the coupling conditions of the four interacting beams, respectively. Under the continuous-wave pump, the four-wave mixing efficiency gets maximized when both the pump and signal/idler beams are closely operated at the critical coupling point, while for the pulse pump case, the efficiency can be enhanced greatly when the pump and converted idler beams are all overcoupled. These experiment results agree well with our theoretical calculations. Our design provides a platform for explicitly characterizing the four-wave mixing under different pumping conditions, and offers a method to optimize the four-wave mixing, which will facilitate the development of on-chip all-optical signal processing with a higher efficiency or reduced pump power.

Fringe visibility and correlation in Mach–Zehnder interferometer with an asymmetric beam splitter

We study the wave–particle duality in a general Mach–Zehnder interferometer with an asymmetric beam splitter from the viewpoint of quantum information theory.The correlations(including the classical correlation and the quantum correlation)between the particle and the which-path detector are derived when they are in pure state or mixed state at the output of Mach–Zehnder interferometer.It is found that the fringe visibility and the correlations are effected by the asymmetric beam splitter and the input state of the particle.The complementary relations between the fringe visibility and the correlations are also presented.

Multi-ion Mach–Zehnder interferometer with artificial nonlinear interactions

We propose a method to implement a Mach-Zehnder interferometry based upon a string of trapped ions with artificial nonlinear interactions. By manipulating the coupling strength between two involved internal states of the ions, we could achieve the beam splitting/recombination with NOON states. Using current techniques for manipulating trapped ions, we discuss the experimental feasibility of our scheme and analyze some undesired uncertainty under realistic experimental environment.

Phase precision of Mach–Zehnder interferometer in PM2.5 air pollution

This paper theoretically explores the effect of PM2.5 air pollution on the phase precision of a Mach-Zehnder inter- ferometer. With the increasing of PM2.5 concentration, phase precision for inputs of coherent state ＆ vacuum state and inputs of coherent state ＆ squeezed vacuum state will gradually decrease and be lower than the standard quantum limit. When the value of relative humidity is increasing, the precision of two input cases is decreasing much faster. We also find that the precision for inputs of coherent state ＆ squeezed state is better than that of coherent state ＆ vacuum state when PM2.5 concentration is lower. As PM2.5 concentration increases, the precision for inputs of coherent state ＆ squeezed state decreases faster, and then the two precisions tend to be the same while the concentration is higher.

Quantum interferometer with two-mode squeezed vacuum:_z^2 measurement

Quantum interferometric strategy with input two-mode squeezed vacuum [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104 103602] is reexamined for both parity and S^z2 measurements. Unlike the previous scheme, we find that phase sensitivity obtained with the S^z2 measurement is minimized at phase origin, which may be useful to estimate a small phase shift at high precision. For the phase deviated from zero, the sensitivity increases more slowly than that of the parity detection.

Strain and Temperature Discrimination Based on a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer With Cascaded Single Mode Fibers

An in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer is proposed for the discrimination of strain and temperature.The sensor is based on two cascaded standard single mode fibers using three peanut tapers fabricated by simple splicing.The cascaded structure excites more frequency components,which induce four sets of interference dips in the transmission spectrum.One set of the spectrum dips have different sensitivities to temperature and strain from those of the other three.The sensor can discriminate strain and temperature by monitoring the wavelength shifts of two spectrum dips.Repeated experiments are taken both for strain and temperature increasing and decreasing scenarios.Experimental results show that Dip 1 has an average strain sensitivity of-0.911 pm/με and an average temperature sensitivity of 49.98pm/℃.The strain sensitivity for Dip 2 is negligible and its average temperature sensitivity is 60.52pm/℃.The strain and temperature resolutions are±3.82με and±0.33℃.

MZI/FPI Fiber Optic Dual-parameter Sensor Based on a Double Cone and Air Cavity Structure(Invited)

This paper proposes a Mach Zehnder/Fabry Perot Interferometer(MZI/FPI)fiber sensor based on Single-mode Fiber(SMF)and Hollow-core Fiber(HCF),which has high sensitivity to temperature and lateral loads.The proposed device consists of two single-mode fiber cones formed by manually controlling the fusion splicer and an air cavity formed by fusing a section of hollow-core fiber.The structure of the sensor is a double cone cascaded air cavity.At the beginning of the design,we compared the basic transmission spectra of single cone structure and double cone structure experimentally,and therefore chose to use double cone structure and air cavity cascade.Light undergoes its first reflection at the first interface between the single-mode fiber and the air cavity structure,and its second reflection at the second interface between the air cavity structure and the single-mode fiber.The two reflected light waves produced by the two reflections form FP interference,which can be used to measure lateral loads.The transmitted light is excited through the first cone,and a portion of the core mode light is excited to the cladding,while another portion of the core mode light continues to propagate in the core.The light couples at the second cone,and the cladding mode light couples back into the core,forming MZ interference with the core mode light,which can be used to measure temperature.The use of hollow-core fiber to form an air cavity has little effect on transmitted light,while avoiding the problem of crosstalk in dual parameter measurements.By designing temperature and lateral load experiments,this article verifies the sensitivity characteristics of this sensor to temperature and lateral loads.A significant redshift phenomenon was observed in the temperature experiment.A significant redshift phenomenon also occurred in the lateral load experiment.Through wavelength demodulation,the experimental results show that the wavelength sensitivity of the sensor to temperature is 56.29 pm/℃in the range of 30℃to 80℃.The wavelength sensitivity of the sensor to lateral loads is 1.123 nm/N in the range of 0~5 N.In addition,we have prepared multiple sets of fiber optic sensors with this structure and conducted repeated experiments to verify that the sensing performance of this structure of fiber optic sensors for temperature and lateral load is relatively stable.Also,the different waist diameters of cones will have a certain impact on the transmission spectrum of MZ,while the length of the air cavity will also have a certain impact on the reflection spectrum of FP.This article lists some fiber optic sensors for dual parameter measurement of temperature and lateral load.Compared with the listed sensors,the fiber optic sensor proposed in this article has better sensitivity to temperature and lateral load.And the fiber optic sensor proposed in this article has a simple manufacturing process,low production cost,and good performance,which has certain prospects in scientific research and industrial production.

基于七芯光纤的M-Z双参数同时测量传感器

利用熔接机分别对单模光纤-七芯光纤-单模光纤进行纤芯错位熔接,制作了一种光纤Mach-Zehnder(M-Z)干涉型传感器。将一段长1cm的七芯光纤两端分别与SMF-28单模光纤错位熔接制得M-Z型干涉传感器。传感器最大条纹对比度为20dB。分别设计不同温度、不同应变对传感器的温度特性及应变特性进行分析研究。实验发现随着温度的增加,传感器的谐振波长发生红移,40~90℃温度范围内灵敏度和线性拟合度分别为39.3pm/℃和0.998 3;室温下随着应变由0增加到1 384με,传感器的谐振波功率下降,应变灵敏度和线性度分别为0.008 8dBm/με和0.990 3。实验结果表明,分别解调光谱的波长和光强都可实现温度和应变双参数同时测量。