Light-Induced Photorefractive Waveguides in Iron-Doped Lithium Niobate Crystals

Waveguides were fabricated in lithium niobate crystals solely by light irradiation using binary optical masks and SLM-prepared optical masks. Arrayed-waveguides were also obtained by once or twice irradiations of an interferogram of two plane waves.

Generation of hyperentangled photon pairs based on lithium niobate waveguide

Generation of hyperentangled photon pairs is investigated based on the lithium niobate straight waveguide.We propose to use the nonlinear optical process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion(SPDC)and a well-designed lithium niobate waveguide structure to generate a hyperentangled(in the polarization dimension and the energy-time dimension)two-photon state.By performing numerical simulations of the waveguide structure and calculating the possible polarization states,joint spectral amplitudes(JSA),and joint temporal amplitudes(JTA)of the generated photon pair,we show that the generated photon pair is indeed hyperentangled in both the polarization dimension and the energy-time dimension.

Growth and Holographic Storage Properties of Sc, Fe Co-Doped Lithium Niobate Crystals

The holographic storage properties of Fe （0.03% （mass fraction） Fe2O3）：LiNbO3 doped with Sc at different levels （0, 1%, 2%, 3%） were investigated. The Sc threshold concentration in Fe：LiNbO3 was implied to be about 3% （mole fraction） because O-H vibration absorption peak of Sc （3%）：Fe：LiNbO3 was at 3508 cm^-1, compared with 3484 cm^-1 of crystals with lower Sc doping level. Sc（3%）：Fe：LiNbO3 exhibited higher optical damage resistance ability. The threshold intensity （wavelength 488 nm） of Sc （3%）：Fe：LiNbO3 was 2.2 ×10^2 W ·cm^-2, two orders of masnitude higher than that of Fe：LiNbO3. Holographic storage properties of the crystals were determined in an extraordinary polarized laser of wavelength 632.8 nm by a two-wave coupling method. It was found that in terms of holographic storage properties, the optimal doping concentration of Sc was 2% （mole fraction） among this crystal series.

The two photorefractive centres in iron doped nearly stoichiometric lithium niobate crystals

This paper investigates the photorefractive properties of iron doped lithium niobate with different [Li]/[Nb] ratios The experimental results show two photorefractive centres for iron doped near-stoichiometric lithium niobate crystal Besides Fe^2＋ and Fe^3＋ ions, small polarons and bipolarons are considered as another photoactive centre.

Formation Enthalpy Calculation of Oxygen Vacancy Defect in Doped Lithium Niobate Crystals

The relationship between temperature and oxygen vacancy concentration is deduced in this paper. Based on the data of thermal weight-loss experiment, the formation enthalpies of congruent and several doped LN crystals have been calculated. It was found that the formation enthalpy of oxygen vacancies can be decreased evidently by doping valence-changeable ions. The experimental results were discussed and a new reduction process of the photorefractive LN crystal at a relatively low temperature was proposed, and the reduced crystals showed a good effect in practical use.

Continuous-wave mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate

This paper reports a continuous-wave （CW） mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate （PPLN） pumped by a diode-end-pumped CW Nd：YVO4 laser. Considering the thermal lens effects, it adopted an optical ballast lens and the near-concentric cavity for better operation. At the PPLN＇s grating period of 28.5 μm and the temperature of 140℃, the maximum idler output power of 155 mW at 3.86 μm has been achieved when the 808 nm pump power is 8.5 W, leading to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 1.82%.

High efficiency continuous-wave tunable signal output of an intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on periodically poled lithium niobate

In this paper we report on a continuous-wave （CW） intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator （ICSRO） based on periodically poled LiNbO3 （PPLN） pumped by a diode-end-pumped CW Nd：YVO4 laser. Considering the thermal lens effects and diffraction loss, an optical ballast lens and a near-concentric cavity are adopted for better operation. Through varying the grating period and the temperature, the tunable signal output from 1406 nm to 1513 nm is obtained. At a PPLN grating period of 29 pm and a temperature of 413 K, a maximum signal output power of 820 mW at 1500 nm is achieved when the 808 nm pump power is 10.9 W, leading to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 7.51%.

Recent progress in thin-film lithium niobate photonic crystal[Invited]

Lithium niobate is a material that exhibits outstanding electro-optic,nonlinear optical,acousto-optic,piezoelectric,photorefractive,and pyroelectric properties.A thin-film lithium niobate photonic crystal can confine light in the sub-wavelength scale,which is beneficial to the integration of the lithium niobate on-chip device.The commercialization of the lithium niobate on insulator gives birth to the emergence of high-quality lithium niobate photonic crystals.In order to provide guidance to the research of lithium niobate photonic crystal devices,recent progress about fabrication,characterization,and applications of the thin-film lithium niobate photonic crystal is reviewed.The performance parameters of the different devices are compared.

坩埚底角形状对提拉法生长同成分铌酸锂晶体的影响

铌酸锂晶体集压电、非线性、电光、光折变等效应于一身,同时其物理化学性质稳定,在集成光学领域极具应用潜力。然而,大尺寸铌酸锂晶体生长的热场设计难度大,其中坩埚形状作为热场设计的重要因素,对晶体生长的影响显著。坩埚直径和高度受制于装料量和晶体直径等硬性约束,因此通常通过改变坩埚局部的形状以改善热场。针对坩埚底角形状对大尺寸同成分铌酸锂晶体生长的影响,本研究使用两种底角形状的坩埚进行了四英寸同成分铌酸锂晶体生长实验。通过数值模拟,分析了坩埚底角形状对固液界面附近晶体内和熔体内轴向温度梯度的影响,以及对固液界面下方熔体内温度分布的影响,进而结合晶体生长结果分析了坩埚底角形状对晶体生长的影响。研究表明:坩埚底角形状的变化会引起坩埚侧壁上温差的变化和熔体内温度梯度的变化,并改变熔体自然对流的强弱;与底部斜角坩埚相比,使用底部弧角坩埚时,固液界面附近晶体内和熔体内的轴向温度梯度较大,固液界面下方熔体内的轴向温度梯度较大,自然对流更强。这一研究结果有助于解决晶体生长脊展宽和胞状界面生长等问题。

铌酸锂晶体电光系数的误差分析

电光系数是铌酸锂晶体的重要性能参数,密切关系着电光器件的设计和应用.然而由于铌酸锂晶体的合成条件不相同使得晶体的电光系数没有理论值,给电光系数测量值的误差分析带来困难.本文从数值分析的角度,利用开源的Python程序包拟合实验数据,得到拟合参数及其不确定度,再由误差传递理论推导出晶体的电光系数及其误差.本文利用半波电压法测量晶体电光系数的相对误差小于2%,具有很高的精度.文中还给出了当前广泛使用的Python程序的拟合源代码,欢迎相关科研人员参考使用.

应用于1064 nm倍频实验的啁啾周期极化铌酸锂晶体的结构设计与角度鲁棒性测试

通过倍频技术产生的532 nm固体激光器是目前应用最广泛的激光器之一,其最常用的倍频晶体三硼酸锂(LBO)在角度鲁棒性与倍频效率上仍有不足.为获得具有较好的角度鲁棒性的倍频晶体,实现激光器结构复杂度的降低与稳定性的提升,本文从角度鲁棒性的理论分析出发,对啁啾周期极化铌酸锂(CPPLN)晶体的结构进行设计,并对其进行理论仿真与实验测试.模拟仿真的结果表明,该设计结构的CPPLN晶体具有良好的角度鲁棒性,在-3°至+3°的范围内倍频效率一直维持在最高倍频效率的60%以上.倍频实验的结果显示可以达到LBO晶体的11倍以上.同时CPPLN晶体的倍频光功率关于入射角度的半高宽可以达到6°以上,并且出射光斑为标准的高斯光斑,几乎不受入射角度的影响.研究表明,CPPLN晶体具有远高于LBO晶体的倍频效率,且角度鲁棒性优于LBO晶体的角度鲁棒性.

飞秒激光直写铌酸锂晶体半包层光波导

本文采用飞秒激光微纳加工技术在铌酸锂(LiNbO_(3))晶体中成功制备了直径为30、40和50μm的半包层波导,并通过端面耦合技术对其导波性能进行测试,得出半包层波导在633、1550 nm波长下具有优良的传输性能,且仅支持TM偏振方向传输,具有单偏振性;通过计算波导的传输损耗,得出了30μm直径的波导在633及1550 nm波长下传输性能最佳。并且通过Rsoft软件理论计算,证明了实验结果的合理性。本研究结果为光波导设计和性能优化提供了重要的参考,具有一定的实验和理论价值。

Cu∶Co∶Mg∶LiNbO_(3)晶体电子结构和光学性质

基于第一性原理研究了LiNbO_(3)晶体及不同Mg浓度下的Cu∶Co∶LiNbO_(3)晶体的电子结构和光学性质。Cu∶LiNbO_(3)和Co∶LiNbO_(3)晶体禁带宽度分别为3.279 eV和3.333 eV,在带隙中出现的杂质能级主要由Cu 3d和Co 3d轨道贡献。在抗光折变Mg离子物质的量浓度达到阈值(约6%)时,光折变掺杂离子在3.069 eV和2.363 eV处表现出较好的光吸收。研究表明,与低浓度Mg离子掺杂晶体相比,Mg离子物质的量浓度达到阈值浓度(约6%)时,存储参量中的衍射效率增强、动态范围增加和灵敏度增高,在双光存储应用中更有优势。

Reconfigurable directional coupler in lithium niobate crystal fabricated by three-dimensional femtosecond laser focal field engineering

For crystals, depressed cladding waveguides have advantages such as preservation of the spectroscopic as well as non-linear properties and the capability to guide both horizontal and vertical polarization modes, but fabrication is always quite time consuming. In addition, it is usually difficult to couple modes propagating in different depressed cladding waveguides through evanescent field overlap, so it is often required to dynamically reconfigure photonic waveguide devices using external fields for classical or quantum applications. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the single-scan femtosecond laser transverse writing of depressed cladding waveguides to form a 2 × 2 directional coupler inside lithium niobate crystal, which is integrated with two deeply embedded microelectrodes on both sides of the interaction region to reconfigure the coupling. By focal field engineering of the femtosecond laser, we specially generate a three-dimensional longitudinally oriented ring-shaped focal intensity profile composed of 16 discrete spots to simultaneously write the entire cladding region. The fabricated waveguides exhibit good single guided modes in two orthogonal polarizations at 1550 nm. By applying voltage to the deeply embedded microelectrodes fabricated with the femtosecond laser ablation followed by selective electroless plating, we successfully facilitate the light coupling from the input arm to the cross arm and thus actively tune the splitting ratio. These results open new important perspectives in the efficient fabrication of reconfigurable complex three-dimensional devices in crystals based on depressed cladding waveguides.

Broadband and lossless lithium niobate valley photonic crystal waveguide [Invited]

We investigate the influences of structure parameters and interface shapes on the bandwidth of the edge state of lithium niobate valley photonic crystals. By increasing the size difference of two air holes in the same unit cell, we find that the bandwidth of the lossless nontrivial edge state possesses a peak value of 0.0201(a/λ), which can be used to construct broadband valley photonic crystal waveguides. Mode field distributions verify that the waveguide is robust against sharp bends and exhibits chirality. When the unit cell is arranged in a bearded interface with the top and bottom components showing negative and positive valley Chern numbers, respectively, we find that the lithium niobate valley photonic crystal is more likely to exhibit a lossless edge state, which is difficult to be realized in valley waveguides with low refractive index materials. This work can provide guidance on the design of the high-performance topological waveguide.

Characterization of lithium niobate single crystal diffused with magnesium by DTA

Based on the report given by J. E. Midwinter that the refractive indices no and ne oflithium niobate doped with magnesium （MgO:LiNbo3） are lower than those of LiNbO3,S.Sudo et al. achieved for the first time the core-cladding wave guide structure of LiNbO3

Mg-ion indiffusion of lithium niobate single crystal fiber

A core-cladding waveguide structure of lithium niobate single crystal fiber with different refractive index profiles has been obtained by using an Mg-ion indiffusion process. The propagation loss of the dadded crystal fiber is measured to be 14 times as low as that of the undadded crystal fibers. Mechanisms of Mg-ion indiffusion and reasons of lattice distortion are analyzed and discussed. It is found by X-ray diffraction analysis as well as scanning electron microscopy that MgO-rich layer in the magnesium diffused surface exhibits the crystal structure of a new compound from the Li-Mg-Nb-O ternary system. It is proposed, for the first time, that this new compound in MgO-rich layer is the real source of Mg-ion indiffusion lithium niobate.

提拉法生长平肩同成分铌酸锂晶体的研究

提拉法生长的晶体肩部形状普遍为斜肩,但斜肩的肩部质量差且加工难度大,会降低晶体的利用率,生长平肩晶体可以解决该问题。然而,平肩晶体对热场和扩肩工艺要求非常高,扩肩阶段易出现多晶和包裹体缺陷。铌酸锂晶体作为一种多功能晶体材料,在电子技术、光通信技术、激光技术及集成光子学技术等领域得到了广泛应用。本研究以同成分铌酸锂晶体为例,利用数值模拟和实验方法,研究了提拉法生长平肩晶体的热场和扩肩工艺。结果表明:提拉法生长平肩晶体时,放肩阶段结晶前沿的界面形状需保持微凸;反射屏降低(10 mm)可减小结晶前沿的温度梯度,避免肩部生成多晶;扩肩速度以监控为主,微调加热功率保证扩肩趋势,适当增大扩肩初期(ϕ≤30 mm)的速度,降低中后期(ϕ≥35 mm)的扩肩速度,可达到不产生包裹体和缩短放肩周期的目的;采用小幅度(Δt=10 min)微调拉速(Δv=0.2 mm/h)和功率的策略,可实现拉速(0~1.5 mm/h)的快速变化(1.5~2 h)而不影响晶体扩肩趋势和质量。使用优化后的热场和扩肩工艺,获得了系列三英寸平肩同成分铌酸锂晶体,晶体光学均匀性良好。

铌酸锂晶体结构对电场传感器灵敏度影响分析

铌酸锂晶体光学电场传感器为全介质结构,具有宽带宽、对被测电场干扰小的优点,但其灵敏度较低。因此,分析了晶体几何尺寸对传感器灵敏度的影响机理,得出通过增加沿外加电场方向的晶体尺寸同时减少晶体横截面上沿外加电场垂直方向的晶体尺寸来提高传感器的灵敏度。使用COMSOL仿真分析了铌酸锂晶体不同厚度、宽度、长度对晶体内部电场强度的影响,得出晶体厚度从15 mm减小到3 mm和宽度从3 mm增加到22 mm时,晶体内部电场强度分别提高约5.1倍和12.3倍;晶体长度从15 mm变化到55 mm时,晶体内部的电场强度变化仅约为5%。设计并研制出晶体尺寸分别为3 mm×3 mm×42.2 mm (x×y×z),3 mm×6 mm×42.2 mm (x×y×z),6 mm×6 mm×42.2 mm(x×y×z)的三只铌酸锂晶体电场传感器,并搭建工频电场测试平台,测试得出三只电场传感器的灵敏度分别为0.243 mV/(kV·m^(-1))、0.758 mV/(kV·m^(-1))、0.150 mV/(kV·m^(-1))。当晶体厚度和长度一定且晶体宽度从3 mm增加到6 mm时,传感器灵敏度提高3倍。当晶体宽度和长度一定且晶体厚度从6 mm减小到3 mm时,传感器灵敏度提高5倍。结合仿真与实验结果得出:在晶体长度一定时,可以通过设计使用宽度更宽、厚度更薄的晶体,研制出高灵敏度的电场传感器。

Compact 1×3 waveguide beam splitters with variable splitting ratios in LiNbO_(3) crystal fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing

In this Letter,waveguide beam splitters(1×3)with type I modifications are fabricated in a LiNbO_(3) crystal by femtosecond laser direct writing.The influence of the relative positions of three sub-waveguides on power splitting ratios are investigated in detail and the corresponding output intensities as functions of the relative positions in the numerical simulation are plotted,which are in good accordance with the experimental results.In addition,the waveguide beam splitter with a 1:1:1 splitting ratio is fabricated by changing the relative widths of the three branch-waveguides.Guiding performances at 532 nm are measured and analyzed by a typical end-face coupling system.The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the beam splitting ratio of the waveguide splitter can be precisely regulated by the positions and widths of the sub-waveguides.