System and method for plasmonic control of short pulses in optical fibers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11374378-B2
Application number	US-202016999714-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 21, 2020
Priority date	Jul 17, 2018
Publication date	Jun 28, 2022
Grant date	Jun 28, 2022

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an optical waveguide system. The system has a first waveguide having a core-guide and a cladding material portion surrounding and encasing the core-guide to form a substantially D-shaped cross sectional profile with an exposed flat section running along a length thereof. The core-guide enables a core-guide mode for an optical pulse signal having a first characteristic, travelling through the core-guide. A material layer of non-linear material is used which forms a second waveguide. The material layer is disposed on the exposed flat section of the cladding material portion. The material layer forms a plasmonic device to achieve a desired coupling with the core-guide to couple optical energy travelling through the core-guide into the material layer to modify the optical energy travelling through the core-guide such that the optical energy travelling through the core-guide has a second characteristic different from the first characteristic.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An optical waveguide system including:
a first waveguide having a core-guide and a cladding material portion surrounding and encasing the core-guide to form a substantially D-shaped cross sectional profile with an exposed flat section running along a length thereof, the core-guide enabling a core-guide mode for an optical pulse signal having a first characteristic, travelling through the core-guide; and
a material layer of non-linear material forming a second waveguide, the material layer forming a lossy layer and being disposed on the exposed flat section of the cladding material portion, the material layer forming a plasmonic device to achieve a desired non-linear coupling with the core-guide to couple optical energy travelling through the core-guide into the material layer, which modifies the optical energy travelling through the core-guide to cause the optical energy travelling through the core-guide to have a second characteristic different from the first characteristic, and such that the non-linear coupling creates a fast pedestal suppression function for the optical pulse.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first characteristic comprises a first energy level, and the second characteristic comprises a second energy level, and wherein the first and second energy levels differ from one another.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of the second waveguides are disposed along a length of the optical fiber.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an additional plasmonic device forming a lattice like structure having a plurality of spaced apart strips held in an arrangement with a fixed spacing, the additional plasmonic device being disposed on a surface of the material layer.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the spaced apart strips form grooves therebetween.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the grooves are further formed normal to a longitudinal axis of the core-guide.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the core-guide is arranged in a coil, and wherein the second waveguide includes a plurality of independent plasmonic devices aligned adjacent to one another on the outer surface, which collectively form a two dimensional emitter.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second waveguide is constructed from at least one of:
copper;
gold; and
silver.

9. A surface emitting optical fiber including:
an optical fiber having a core-guide and a cladding material portion surrounding and encasing the core-guide, the core-guide forming a first wave-guide and enabling a core-guide mode for an optical signal having a first pulse profile travelling through the core-guide;
a second waveguide forming a lossy waveguide, the second waveguide being secured to an outer surface of the first waveguide, the second waveguide forming a plasmonic device which implements a plasmonic mode waveguide;
the construction of the second waveguide creating a desired level of non-linear coupling between the core-guide mode and the plasmonic mode waveguide such that optical energy coupled into the second waveguide has a second pulse profile being different from the first pulse profile, which is emitted out from the second waveguide, and further such that that the second waveguide creates a fast pedestal suppression function for the optical signal travelling through the core-guide.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the cladding material portion comprises a D-shaped profile having a flat portion, and wherein the second waveguide forms a planar element secured to the flat portion.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising an additional plasmonic device forming a lattice like structure having a plurality of spaced apart strips held in an arrangement with a fixed spacing, the additional plasmonic device being disposed on the flat portion of the D-shaped profile.

12. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of the second waveguides disposed along a length of the cladding material portion and spaced apart from one another.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the cladding material portion is arranged in a coil, and ones of the plurality of second waveguides are arranged to be aligned along the coil.

14. A method for transmitting optical energy comprising:
injecting optical energy forming a pulse having a first temporal pulse profile into a core-guide of an optical fiber, the core-guide forming a first waveguide, and the optical fiber having a cladding material portion with a D-shaped profile; and
using a non-linear, lossy material layer secured to the D-shaped profile of the cladding material portion to form a second waveguide, the second waveguide coupling at least a portion of the optical energy out from the first waveguide such that the optical energy travelling through the first waveguide is modified to have a second temporal pulse profile different from the first temporal pulse profile, and such that the non-linear, lossy material layer creates a pedestal suppression function for the second temporal pulse profile.

15. An optical waveguide system including:
a first waveguide having a core-guide and a cladding material portion surrounding and encasing the core-guide to form a substantially D-shaped cross sectional profile with an exposed flat section running along a length thereof, the core-guide enabling a core-guide mode for an optical pulse signal having a first characteristic, travelling through the core-guide;
a material layer of non-linear material forming a second waveguide, the material layer being disposed on the exposed flat section of the cladding material portion, the material layer forming a plasmonic device to achieve a desired coupling with the core-guide to couple optical energy travelling through the core-guide into the material layer, which modifies the optical energy travelling through the core-guide to cause the optical energy travelling through the core-guide to have a second characteristic different from the first characteristic; and
an additional plasmonic device forming a lattice like structure having a plurality of spaced apart strips held in an arrangement with a fixed spacing, the additional plasmonic device being disposed on a surface of the material layer.

16. A surface emitting optical fiber including:
an optical fiber having a core-guide and a cladding material portion surrounding and encasing the core-guide, the core-guide forming a first wave-guide and enabling a core-guide mode for an optical signal having a first pulse profile travelling through the core-guide;
a second waveguide secured to an outer surface of the first waveguide, the second waveguide forming a plasmonic device which implements a plasmonic mode waveguide;
the construction of the second waveguide being such as to achieve a desired level of coupling between the core-guide mode and the plasmonic mode waveguide such that optical energy coupled into the second waveguide has a second pulse profile being different from the first pulse profile, which is emitted out from the second waveguide;
a plurality of the second waveguides disposed along a length of the cladding material portion and spaced apart from one another; and
wherein the cladding material portion is arranged in a coil, and ones of the plurality of second waveguides are arranged to be aligned along the coil.

Assignees

• L Livermore Nat Security Llc
• Noginov Mikhail A
• Board Of Visitors Of Norfolk State Univ

Inventors

• Feigenbaum Eyal
• Allen Graham S
• Dawson Jay W
• Noginov Mikhail A

Classifications

• H01S3/06725

  Fibre characterized by a specific dispersion, e.g. for pulse shaping in soliton lasers or for dispersion compensating [DCF] · CPC title

• H01S3/06729 Primary

  Peculiar transverse fibre profile · CPC title

• H01S3/0675

  Resonators including a grating structure, e.g. distributed Bragg reflectors [DBR] or distributed feedback [DFB] fibre lasers · CPC title

• H01S3/094076 Primary

  Pulsed or modulated pumping (H01S3/1024 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G02B6/1226

  involving surface plasmon interaction · CPC title