No Arabic abstract
In this paper, we show by experiment that by covering a thin flat nonlinear lens on the sources, the sub-diffraction-limit observation can be achieved by measuring either the near-field distribution or the far-field radiation of the sources at the harmonic frequencies and calculating the inverse Fourier transformation to obtain the sub-wavelength imaging. Especially, the sub-wavelength image calculated from measured far-field data demonstrates very clear resolution. Since metamaterials included with active elements can easily behave strong nonlinearity under very weak incident electromagnetic powers, the application of the nonlinear lens proposed in this paper would have important potential in improving the sub-wavelength resolution in the near future.
We reveal for the first time a direct relationship between the diffraction of optical beams and their carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM). We experimentally demonstrate a novel phenomenon that the anisotropic diffraction can be induced by the OAM, predicted by us [Opt. Express, textbf{26}, 8084 (2018)], via the propagations of the elliptic beams with the OAM in linearly and both-linearly-and-nonlinearly isotropic media, respectively. In the former case, when its carrying OAM equals the so-called critical OAM, the spiraling elliptic Gaussian beam (fundamental eigenmode) is observed in the free space, where only the eigenmode with cylindrical-symmetry is supposed to exist for the beam without the OAM. In the latter case, the spiraling elliptic soliton, predicted by Desyatnikov et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett, textbf{104}, 053902 (2010)], is observed to stably propagate in a cylindrical lead glass. The power-controllable rotation of such an elliptic beam is also experimentally demonstrated.
Based on the concept of sub-wavelength imaging through compensated bilayer of anisotropic metamaterials (AMMs), which is an expansion of the perfect lens configuration, we propose two dimensional prism pair structures of compensated AMMs that are capable of manipulating two dimensional sub-wavelength images. We demonstrate that through properly designed symmetric and asymmetric compensated prism pair structures planar image rotation with arbitrary angle, lateral image shift, as well as image magnification could be achieved with sub-wavelength resolution. Both theoretical analysis and full wave electromagnetic simulations have been employed to verify the properties of the proposed prism structures. Utilizing the proposed AMM prisms, flat optical image of objects with sub-wavelength features can be projected and magnified to wavelength scale allowing for further optical processing of the image by conventional optics.
We analytically and numerically study the temporal intensity pattern emerging from the linear or nonlinear evolutions of a single or double phase jump in an optical fiber. The results are interpreted in terms of interferences of the well-known diffractive patterns of a straight edge, strip and slit and a complete analytical framework is provided in terms of Fresnel integrals for the case of purely dispersive evolution. When Kerr nonlinearity affects the propagation, various coherent nonlinear structures emerge according to the regime of dispersion.
Nonlinear optics is an increasingly important field for scientific and technological applications, owing to its relevance and potential for optical and optoelectronic technologies. Currently, there is an active search for suitable nonlinear material systems with efficient conversion and small material footprint. Ideally, the material system should allow for chip-integration and room-temperature operation. Two-dimensional materials are highly interesting in this regard. Particularly promising is graphene, which has demonstrated an exceptionally large nonlinearity in the terahertz regime. Yet, the light-matter interaction length in two-dimensional materials is inherently minimal, thus limiting the overall nonlinear-optical conversion efficiency. Here we overcome this challenge using a metamaterial platform that combines graphene with a photonic grating structure providing field enhancement. We measure terahertz third-harmonic generation in this metamaterial and obtain an effective third-order nonlinear susceptibility with a magnitude as large as 3$cdot$10$^{-8}$m$^2$/V$^2$, or 21 esu, for a fundamental frequency of 0.7 THz. This nonlinearity is 50 times larger than what we obtain for graphene without grating. Such an enhancement corresponds to third-harmonic signal with an intensity that is three orders of magnitude larger due to the grating. Moreover, we demonstrate a field conversion efficiency for the third harmonic of up to $sim$1% using a moderate field strength of $sim$30 kV/cm. Finally we show that harmonics beyond the third are enhanced even more strongly, allowing us to observe signatures of up to the 9$^{rm th}$ harmonic. Grating-graphene metamaterials thus constitute an outstanding platform for commercially viable, CMOS compatible, room temperature, chip-integrated, THz nonlinear conversion applications.
Speckle patterns have been widely used in imaging techniques such as ghost imaging, dynamic speckle illumination microscopy, structured illumination microscopy, and photoacoustic fluctuation imaging. Recent advances in the ability to control the statistical properties of speckles has enabled the customization of speckle patterns for specific imaging applications. In this work, we design and create special speckle patterns for parallelized nonlinear pattern-illumination microscopy based on fluorescence photoswitching. We present a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration where we obtain a spatial resolution three times higher than the diffraction limit of the illumination optics in our setup. Furthermore, we show that tailored speckles vastly outperform standard speckles. Our work establishes that customized speckles are a potent tool in parallelized super-resolution microscopy.