Recent advancements in optical microstructure fabrication through glass molding process

Optical microstructures are increasingly applied in several fields, such as optical systems, precision measurement, and microfluid chips. Microstructures include microgrooves, microprisms, and microlenses. This paper presents an overview of optical microstructure fabrication through glass molding and highlights the applications of optical microstructures in mold fabrication and glass molding. The glass-mold interface friction and adhesion are also discussed. Moreover, the latest advance- ments in glass molding technologies are detailed, including new mold materials and their fabrication methods, viscoelastic constitutive modeling of glass, and micro- structure molding process, as well as ultrasonic vibration- assisted molding technology.

Effect of structure random disturbances on characterizations of microstructured optical fibres

A method is presented to analyse the effect of structure random disturbances on the confinement loss and the chromatic dispersion characterizations of microstructured optical fibres, which combines multipole methods with the random statistics process. Some useful results to the fabrication of microstructured optical fibres have been obtained.

Design of a Surface-Plasmon-Resonance Sensor Based on a Microstructured Optical Fiber with Annular-Shaped Holes

A novel design is proposed for highly sensitive surface-plasmon-resonance sensors. The sensor is based on a microstructured optical fiber with two layers of annular-shaped holes. A gold layer is deposited on the inner surface of the second hole-layer, in which the holes have several micrometers thickness in size, facilitating analyte infiltration and metal layer deposition. In the first layer of holes, the sector-ring^shaped arms, used as supporting strips, are utilized to tune the resonance depth of the sensor. Numerical results indicate that the sensor operation wavelength can be tuned across the C＋L-band. The spectral sensitivity of 1.0.104 nm. RIU-1 order of magnitude and a detection limit of 1.0.10-4 RIU order are demonstrated over a wide range of analyte refractive index from 1.320 to 1.335.

Photoluminescence of an Yb^(3+)/Al^(3+)-codoped microstructured optical fibre

An Yba＋/Al3＋-codoped microstructured optical fibre is prepared based on photonic crystal fibre technology. The characteristic spectra of preforms and fibres are experimentally investigated. The results show that under a 971 nm excitation, besides the known infrared fluorescence luminescence around 1050 nm, a blue luminescence peak at 486 nm is obtained. Moreover, an unexpected emission peak at 730 nm is also observed. The photoluminescence mechanism of an Yba＋/Al3＋-codoped microstructured optical fibre is discussed. The emission peak at 486 nm is attributed to the cooperative upconversion resulting from pairs of Yb3＋ ions, and the emission peak around 730 nm is ascribed to the stimulated Raman scattering because of nonlinear effects of microstructured optical fibre. The Yba＋/Al3＋-codoped microstructured optical fibre is promising for varieties of applications from laser printing and optical recording to cancer treatments, such as photodynamic therapy.

A Kind of Low Loss Birefringent Photonic Crystal Fibre with Increasing-Diameter Air-Holes

We report the results of our investigation on the loss property of a birefringent photonic crystal fibre （PCF） based on a particular periodic arrangement of air-holes and pure silica. The structure of the birefringent PCF, whose air-hole diameter in one ring is always larger than the next inner ring, presents an obviously low confinement loss than the one whose air-hole （except those on the horizontal line） diameter is constant. It is shown from numerical results that a four-ring PCF with birefringenee B=5×10^-4 and fast axis confinement loss of 4.5×10^-3 dB/km at wavelength of 1.55μm can be designed.

Infrared Emissivity of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 with Three Different Structures

La_（0.8）Sr_（0.2）MnO_3 samples with rhombohedral, orthohombic and monoclinic structures were prepared by solid state reaction, sol-gel and co-precipitation methods, respectively. Lattice parameters, grain size, morphology, infrared absorption and emissivity of samples were investigated. The results indicated that the average crystallite size calculated from XRD result and particle size of orthohombic sample were smaller than those of the other two samples, and honeycomb shape grains were observed in orthohombic sample. Due to lower crystal symmetry, Mn-O stretching vibration peaks of the three samples shifted to higher infrared wavenumber. According to the theory of wave optics and Kirchhoff law, bigger rhombohedral sample showed higher emissivity than monoclinic one. However, due to the honeycomb structure of orthohombic sample, repeated reflection and scattering led to the increase of absorption, and orthohombic sample exhibited the highest emissivity.

Characteristics of Bragg Gratings in All-Solid Photonic Bandgap Fiber

We report on fiber Bragg gratings in all-solid photonie bandgap fiber that was composed of a triangular array of high-index Ge-doped rods in pure silica background with fluorine-doped index-depressed layer surrounding the Ge-doped rod. Fiber Bragg gratings were photowritten with 193 nm ArF excimer laser and characterized for their response to strain, temperature, bending, and torsion. These gratings couple light from the forward core mode to not only backward core mode but also backward rod modes. This results in multiple resonance peaks in the reflection spectrum. All resonance wavelengths exhibited the same temperature and strain response with coefficient similar to that of Bragg gratings in standard single-mode fiber. The strength of the resonance peaks corresponding to the backward rod modes showed high sensitivity to bending and torsion.

Lab-on-Fiber Technology： a New Avenue for Optical Nanosensors

The ＂lab-on-fiber＂ concept envisions novel and highly functionalized technological platforms completely integrated in a single optical fiber that would allow the development of advanced devices, components and sub-systems to be incorporated in modem optical systems for communication and sensing applications. The realization of integrated optical fiber devices requires that several structures and materials at nano- and micro-scale are constructed, embedded and connected all together to provide the necessary physical connections and light-matter interactions. This paper reviews the strategies, the main achievements and related devices in the lab-on-fiber roadmap discussing perspectives and challenges that lie ahead.

Deep-learning cell imaging through Anderson localizing optical fiber

We demonstrate a deep-learning-based fiber imaging system that can transfer real-time artifact-free cell images through a meter-long Anderson localizing optical fiber.The cell samples are illuminated by an incoherent LED light source.A deep convolutional neural network is applied to the image reconstruction process.The network training uses data generated by a setup with straight fiber at room temperature(∼20°C)but can be utilized directly for high-fidelity reconstruction of cell images that are transported through fiber with a few degrees bend or fiber with segments heated up to 50°C.In addition,cell images located several millimeters away from the bare fiber end can be transported and recovered successfully without the assistance of distal optics.We provide evidence that the trained neural network is able to transfer its learning to recover images of cells featuring very different morphologies and classes that are never“seen”during the training process.

Spectral Absorption Gas Sensor Based on Anti-Resonant Reflecting Optical Waveguide

An air-silica microstructure optical fiber based on the anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide （ARROW） principle was used to develop a spectral absorption gas sensor. The ARROW fiber has an air core and an air cladding layer. An ARROW fiber with a length of 725mm was used to construct a sensing system to detect acetylene gas. The gas was injected into the fiber from one end of the fiber. The transmission spectra were collected using an optical spectrum analyzer. The results indicate that the system can detect the gas of different concentrations and has the good system linearity. The response time of the system is about 200 s.

Grating Writing in Structured Optical Fibers

Grating writing in structured optical fibers is reviewed. Various laser sources have been used including UV and near IR nanosecond and femtosecond lasers, each enabling different material processing regimes. The issue of scattering is modeled through simulation and compared with experiment. Good agreement has been established.

Multi-direction bending sensing based on spot pattern demodulation of dual-hole fiber

A multi-direction bending sensor based on spot pattern demodulation of a dual-hole fiber(DHF)is proposed.By using the interference and scattering in a DHF,the related multidirectional variations can be captured by the optical field.Furthermore,the multi-directional bending characteristics of the fiber are quantitatively described by the pattern of the output light spot,achieving multidirectional bending sensing.In addition,considering the subtle changes in the deformation patterns over time,a convolutional neural network(CNN)model based on deep learning is introduced for accurate recognition and prediction of the bending angle.The experimental results show that the sensor can perceive different bending angles in four directions.These outstanding results indicate that the multi-directional bending sensor based on dual-hole interference pattern decoding has potential applications in multi-directional quantitative sensing and artificial intelligence perception.

Recent Progress in Fiber Optofluidic Lasing and Sensing

Fiber optofluidic laser(FOFL)integrates optical fiber microcavity and microfluidic channel and provides many unique advantages for sensing applications.FOFLs not only inherit the advantages of lasers such as high sensitivity,high signal-to-noise ratio,and narrow linewidth,but also hold the unique features of optical fiber,including ease of integration,high repeatability,and low cost.With the development of new fiber structures and fabrication technologies,FOFLs become an important branch of optical fiber sensors,especially for application in biochemical detection.In this paper,the recent progress on FOFL is reviewed.We focuse mainly on the optical fiber resonators,gain medium,and the emerging sen sing applicatio ns.The prospects for FOFL are also discussed.We believe that the FOFL sensor provides a promising technology for biomedical analysis and environmental monitoring.