The number of least degrees of freedom required for a polarization controller to transform any state of polarization to any other output covering the entire Poincar sphere

Using two typical types of polarization controller, this paper analyses theoretically and experimentally the fact that it is necessary to adjust at least three instead of two waveplates in order to transform any state of polarization to any other output covering the entire Poincar6 sphere. The experimental results are exactly in accordance with the theory discussed in this paper. It has corrected the conventional and inaccurate point of view that two waveplates of a polarization controller are adequate to complete the transformation of state of polarization.

Modeling and Design of LiNbO_3 Electro-optic Polarization Controller

A theoretical model for describing the operation of an electro-optical polarization controller on LiNbO3 is presented. The model can be used to optimize the device’s structure and parameters to reach a specific polarization control. Meanwhile, some aspects on the design of an electro-optical polarization controller are described.

Polarization control of above-threshold ionization spectrum in elliptically polarized two-color laser fields

We study the above-threshold ionization(ATI)process of atoms exposed to fundamental and high-frequency lasers with arbitrary ellipticity by applying the frequency-domain theory.It is found that the angular-resolved ATI spectrum is sensitive to ellipticities of two lasers and emitted angles of the photoelectron.Particularly for the photon energy of the highfrequency laser more than atomic ionization potential,the width of plateau tends to a constant with increasing ellipticity of fundamental field,the dip structure disappears with increasing ellipticity of the high-frequency field.With the help of the quantum channel analysis,it is shown that the angular distribution depends mainly on the ellipticity of high-frequency field in the case that its frequency is high.Moreover,one can see that the maximal and minimal energies in quantum numerical results are in good agreement with the classical prediction.Our investigation may provide theoretical support for experimental research on polarization control of ionization in elliptically polarized two-color laser fields.

Silicon photonics integrated dynamic polarization controller

We designed and demonstrated experimentally a silicon photonics integrated dynamic polarization controller.The overall size of the dynamic polarization controller on chip is 2.830 mm × 0.210 mm × 1 mm.The modulation bandwidth is 30 kHz.By using a variable step simulated annealing approach,we achieve a dynamic polarization extinction ratio greater than 25 dB.A numerical simulation method was used to optimize the relevant parameters of the dynamic polarization controller.It is expected that the dynamic polarization controller can be utilized in fiber communication systems or silicon photonics integrated quantum communication systems to minimize the size and decrease the cost further.

Vertical cavity surface emitting laser transverse mode and polarization control by elliptical hole photonic crystal

The polarization of traditional photonic crystal（PC） vertical cavity surface emitting laser（VCSEL） is uncontrollable,resulting in the bit error increasing easily.Elliptical hole photonic crystal can control the transverse mode and polarization of VCSEL efficiently.We analyze the far field divergence angle,and birefringence of elliptical hole PC VCSEL.When the ratio of minor axis to major axis b/a = 0.7,the PC VCSEL can obtain single mode and polarization.According to the simulation results,we fabricate the device successfully.The output power is 1.7 mW,the far field divergence angle is less than 10°,and the side mode suppression ratio is over 30 dB.The output power in the Y direction is 20 times that in the X direction.

Controlling of the Polarization States of Electromagnetic Waves Using Epsilon-near-Zero Metamaterials

We demonstrate theoretically that the epsilon-near-zero materials can be utilized to control effectively the polarization conversion of an electromagnetic wave through reflection. The significant feature differing from all other means based on whatever natural materials or metamaterials is that for TM incident wave, the reflected phase is a constant, while for TE wave, the reflected phase is a linear function of the incident angle. The phase difference between them covers the range from -180°to 0°, and the polarization conversions from linear states to elliptical or circular states can be obtained by only adjusting the incident angle. Because no complex structures are employed, our proposal promises a simple approach for manipulating polarization conversion at both terahertz and optical frequencies.

Fabrication of Polarization Control Devices Using Metal Grating Structures

A polarization control device was developed using a plasmonic metasurface with the aim of achieving the desired polarization state. In this study, the Ag metal grating structure was fabricated as a plasmonic metasurface by electron beam lithography and a lift-off process. The phase difference of the fabricated sample was 21.0°. This value is almost consistent with the simulation (24.0°). Then, the transmission and phase difference is dependent on the structural parameter. Because of the propagation of surface plasmon polariton at the interface between Ag and SiO2 or Ag and air, it is believed that the transmittance and the phase difference for TM polarized light can be controlled by the structural parameters. By plotting on the Poincaré sphere after calculating the S-parameter by simulation, it is clear that the arbitrary polarization status can be controlled by the structural parameter.

All-optical controlled-NOT logic gate achieving directional asymmetric transmission based on metasurface doublet

Optical logic gates play important roles in all-optical logic circuits,which lie at the heart of the next-generation optical computing technology.However,the intrinsic contradiction between compactness and robustness hinders the development in this field.Here,we propose a simple design principle that can possess multiple-input-output states according to the incident circular polarization and direction based on the metasurface doublet,which enables controlled-NOT logic gates in infrared region.Therefore,the directional asymmetric electromagnetic transmission can be achieved.As a proof of concept,a spin-dependent Janus metasurface is designed and experimentally verified that four distinct images corresponding to four input states can be captured in the far-field.In addition,since the design method is derived from geometric optics,it can be easily applied to other spectra.We believe that the proposed metasurface doublet may empower many potential applications in chiral imaging,chiroptical spectroscopy and optical computing.

High-power all-fiber linearly polarized Yb-doped chirped pulse amplifier based on active polarization control

High-power ultrafast laser amplification based on a non-polarization maintaining fiber chirped pulse amplifier is demonstrated.The active polarization control technology based on the root-mean-square propagation(RMS-prop)algorithm is employed to guarantee a linearly polarized output from the system.A maximum output power of 402.3 W at a repetition rate of 80 MHz is realized with a polarization extinction ratio(PER)of>11.4 dB.In addition,the reliable operation of the system is verified by examining the stability and noise properties of the amplified laser.The M2factor of the laser beam at the highest output power is measured to be less than 1.15,indicating a diffraction-limited beam quality.Finally,the amplified laser pulse is temporally compressed to 755 fs with a highest average power of 273.8 W.This is the first time,to the best of our knowledge,that the active polarization control technology was introduced into the high-power ultrafast fiber amplifier.

Studies on the Technology and Mechanism of Laser Photoinduced Alignment of Liquid Crystal

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A dual-loop Sagnac interferometer

A new type of all-fibre Sagnac interferometer composed of two loops is proposed and analysed in detail. It can be used with a very long transmission line while maintaining excellent performance characteristics due to the automatic compensation of any birefringence effects in the trunk fibre. Preliminary experiments at 1310 nm wavelength with a 70 km long trunk fibre demonstrated an interference visibility as high as 98%, indicating that this scheme has promising potential applications.

Manipulating electromagnetic waves with metamaterials: Concept and microwave realizations

Our recent efforts in manipulating electromagnetic （EM） waves using metamaterials （MTMs） are reviewed with em- phasis on 1） manipulating wave polarization and transporting properties using homogeneous MTMs, 2） manipulating surface-wave properties using plasmonic MTMs, and 3） bridging propagating and surface waves using inhomogeneous meta-surfaces. For all these topics, we first illustrate the physical concepts and then present several typical practical real- izations and applications in the microwave regime.

Transmissive 2-bit anisotropic coding metasurface

Coding metasurfaces have attracted tremendous interests due to unique capabilities of manipulating electromagnetic wave.However,archiving transmissive coding metasurface is still challenging.Here we propose a transmissive anisotropic coding metasurface that enables the independent control of two orthogonal polarizations.The polarization beam splitter and the orbital angular momentum(OAM)generator have been studied as typical applications of the anisotropic 2-bit coding metasurface.The simulated far field patterns illustrate that the x and y polarized electromagnetic waves are deflected into two different directions,respectively.The anisotropic coding metasurface has been experimentally verified to realize an OAM beam with l=2 of right-handed polarized wave,resulting from both contributions from linear-to-circular polarization conversion and the phase profile modulation.This work is beneficial to enrich the polarization manipulation field and develop transmissive coding metasurfaces.

Controlling Three-Dimensional Electron-Electron Correlation via Elliptically Polarized Intense Laser Field

The three-dimensional electron-electron correlation in an elliptically polarized laser field is investigated based on a semiclassical model. Asymmetry parameter α of the correlated electron momentum distribution is used to quantitatively describe the electron-electron correlation. The dependence of α on elliptieity e is totally different in three directions. For the z direction （maJor polarization direction）, α first increases and reaches a maximum at ε = 0.275, then it decreases quickly. For the y direction in which the laser field is always absent, the ellipticity has a minor effect, and the asymmetry parameter fluctuates around α = -0.15. However, for the x direction （minor polarization direction）, α increases monotonously with ellipticity though starts from the same value as in the y direction when ε = 0. The behavior of α in the x direction actually indicates a transformation from the Coulomb interaction dominated correlation to the laser field dominated correlation. Therefore, our work provides an efficient way to control the three-dimensional electron electron correlation via an elliptically polarized intense laser field.

Spatial light modulation for femtosecond laser manufacturing:Current developments and challenges

Since the invention of lasers,spatial-light-modulated laser processing has become a powerful tool for various applications.It enables multidimensional and dynamic modulation of the laser beam,which significantly improves the processing efficiency,accuracy,and flexibility,and presents wider prospects over traditional mechanical technologies for machining three-dimensional,hard,brittle,or transparent materials.In this review,we introduce:(1)The role of spatial light modulation technology in the development of femtosecond laser manufacturing;(2)the structured light generated by spatial light modulation and its generation methods;and(3)representative applications of spatial-light-modulated femtosecond laser manufacturing,including aberration correction,parallel processing,focal field engineering,and polarization control.Finally,we summarize the present challenges in the field and possible future research.

Subcycle control of terahertz waveform polarization using all-optically induced transient metamaterials

Coherent radiation with frequencies ranging from 0.3 to 30 THz has recently become accessible using femtosecond laser technology.These terahertz(THz)waves have already been applied in spectroscopy and imaging and can be manipulated using static optical elements such as lenses,polarizers and filters.However,ultrafast modulation of THz radiation is required as well,for instance,in short-range wireless communication or for preparing shaped THz transients for the coherent control of numerous material excitations.Here,we demonstrate an all-optically created transient metamaterial that allows us to manipulate the polarization of THz waveforms with subcycle switch-on times.The polarization-modulated pulses are potentially interesting for controlling elementary motions such as the vibration of crystal lattices,the rotation of molecules and the precession of spins.

Uniformly high-speed semi-open loop polarization control and PMD suppression

We propose and demonstrate a novel scheme of semi-open-loop polarization control(SOL-PC), which controls the state of polarization(SOP) with high accuracy and uniform high speed. For any desired SOP, we first adjust the initial SOP using open-loop control(OLC) based on the matrix model of a three-unit piezoelectric polarization controller, and quickly move it close to the objective one. Then closed-loop control(CLC) is performed to reduce the error and reach precisely the desired SOP. The response time is three orders faster than that of the present closed-loop polarization control, while the average deviation is on par with it. Finally, the SOL-PC system is successfully applied to realize the suppression of the polarization mode dispersion(PMD) effect and reduce the first-order PMD to near zero. Due to its perfect performance, the SOL-PC energizes the present polarization control to pursue an ideal product that can meet the future requirements in ultrafast optical transmission and quantum communication.

A novel method of polarization state control for polarization division multiplexing system

We describe a new algorithm in a cost effective polarization division multiplexing （PDM） system. Without modifying the existing transmitter, receiver electronics, or softwares, we use a special optical scheme to demultiplex the signal multiplexed and improve it with a conjugated gradient algorithm. We experimentally resume the polarization state with a deviation under 5% and the power loss less than 20 dB which proves the feasibility of the polarization control algorithm in the new polarization multiplexing system.

FEL polarization control studies on Dalian coherent light source

The polarization switch of a free-electron laser （FEL） is of great importance to the user scientific community. In this paper, we investigate the generation of controllable polarization FEL from two well-known approaches for Dalian coherent light source, i.e., crossed planar undulator and elliptical permanent undulator. In order to perform a fair comparative study, a one-dimensional time-dependent FEL code has been developed, in which the imperfection effects of an elliptical permanent undulator are taken into account. Comprehensive simulation results indicate that the residual beam energy chirp and the intrinsic FEL gain may contribute to the degradation of the polarization performance for the crossed planar undulator. Tile elliptical permanent undulator is not very sensitive to the undulator errors and beam imperfections. Meanwhile, with proper configurations of the main planar undulators and additional elliptical pernmuent undulator section, circular polarized FEL with pulse energy exceeding 100 bt.J could be achieved at Dalian coherent light source.

Silicon non-blocking 4×4 optical switch with automated polarization adjustment

We demonstrate a polarization-insensitive silicon 4×4 optical switch based on Mach–Zehnder interferometer(MZI)switch elements.On-chip polarization controllers are integrated before the switch fabric to automatically adjust an arbitrary input polarization to the transverse electric mode.The 4×4 switch fabric is based on a dilated double-layer network architecture to completely cancel the first-order crosstalk.Thermo-optic phase shifters are integrated in the MZI switch elements and the polarization controllers for adjustment of the switching state and polarization,respectively.We develop a polarization control algorithm based on a gradient descent method for automated polarization control.The polarization recovery time is less than 4 ms,and the measured polarization-dependent loss is~2 d B.The scheme provides a new solution for realizing polarization-insensitive silicon optical switches.