Table of contents

We study transport properties of an array created by alternating (a, b) layers with balanced loss/gain characterized by the key parameter γ. It is shown that for non-equal widths of (a, b) layers, i.e., when the corresponding Hamiltonian is non-${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric, the system exhibits the scattering properties similar to those of truly ${ \mathcal P }{ \mathcal T }$-symmetric models provided that without loss/gain the structure presents the matched quarter stack. The inclusion of the loss/gain terms leads to an emergence of a finite number of spectral bands characterized by real values of the Bloch index. Each spectral band consists of a central region where the transmission coefficient ${T}_{N}\geqslant 1$, and two side regions with ${T}_{N}\leqslant 1$. At the borders between these regions the unidirectional reflectivity occurs. Also, the set of Fabry–Perot resonances with T_N = 1 are found in spite of the presence of loss/gain.

High resolution fast focus tracking and vibrometery system based on parallel phase shift polarization interferometry using three detectors is presented. The basic design and algorithm are described, followed by an experimental demonstration showing sub nm resolution of different controlled motion profiles instantaneously monitored at a feedback rate of 100 kHz. The fact that the method does not rely on active optical components, potentially allows extremely high vibration rates to be measured; limited only by the detector bandwidth and sampling rate. In addition, the relatively simple design relies only on standard optical equipment, combined with the simple algorithm, makes the task of setting up a high performance vibrometry system cheap and readily available.

We extend the concept of shortcuts to adiabaticity to full-wave optics and provide an application to the design of an ultra-compact waveguide junction. In particular, we introduce a procedure allowing one to synthesize a purely dielectric optical potential that precisely compensates for non-adiabatic losses of the transverse electric fundamental mode in any (sufficiently regular) two-dimensional waveguide junction. Our results are corroborated by finite-element method numerical simulations in a Pöschl–Teller waveguide mode expander.

This roadmap bundles fast developing topics in experimental optical quantum sciences, addressing current challenges as well as potential advances in future research. We have focused on three main areas: quantum assisted high precision measurements, quantum information/simulation, and quantum gases. Quantum assisted high precision measurements are discussed in the first three sections, which review optical clocks, atom interferometry, and optical magnetometry. These fields are already successfully utilized in various applied areas. We will discuss approaches to extend this impact even further. In the quantum information/simulation section, we start with the traditionally successful employed systems based on neutral atoms and ions. In addition the marvelous demonstrations of systems suitable for quantum information is not progressing, unsolved challenges remain and will be discussed. We will also review, as an alternative approach, the utilization of hybrid quantum systems based on superconducting quantum devices and ultracold atoms. Novel developments in atomtronics promise unique access in exploring solid-state systems with ultracold gases and are investigated in depth. The sections discussing the continuously fast-developing quantum gases include a review on dipolar heteronuclear diatomic gases, Rydberg gases, and ultracold plasma. Overall, we have accomplished a roadmap of selected areas undergoing rapid progress in quantum optics, highlighting current advances and future challenges. These exciting developments and vast advances will shape the field of quantum optics in the future.

Optical metamaterials have redefined how we understand light in notable ways: from strong response to optical magnetic fields, negative refraction, fast and slow light propagation in zero index and trapping structures, to flat, thin and perfect lenses. Many rules of thumb regarding optics, such as μ = 1, now have an exception, and basic formulas, such as the Fresnel equations, have been expanded. The field of metamaterials has developed strongly over the past two decades. Leveraging structured materials systems to generate tailored response to a stimulus, it has grown to encompass research in optics, electromagnetics, acoustics and, increasingly, novel hybrid material responses. This roadmap is an effort to present emerging fronts in areas of optical metamaterials that could contribute and apply to other research communities. By anchoring each contribution in current work and prospectively discussing future potential and directions, the authors are translating the work of the field in selected areas to a wider community and offering an incentive for outside researchers to engage our community where solid links do not already exist.

The year 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of modern ultrafast optics, since the demonstration of the first Kerr lens modelocked Ti:sapphire laser in 1990 (Spence et al 1990 Conf. on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO, pp 619–20) heralded an explosion of scientific and engineering innovation. The impact of this disruptive technology extended well beyond the previous discipline boundaries of lasers, reaching into biology labs, manufacturing facilities, and even consumer healthcare and electronics. In recognition of such a milestone, this roadmap on Ultrafast Optics draws together articles from some of the key opinion leaders in the field to provide a freeze-frame of the state-of-the-art, while also attempting to forecast the technical and scientific paradigms which will define the field over the next 25 years. While no roadmap can be fully comprehensive, the thirteen articles here reflect the most exciting technical opportunities presented at the current time in Ultrafast Optics. Several articles examine the future landscape for ultrafast light sources, from practical solid-state/fiber lasers and Raman microresonators to exotic attosecond extreme ultraviolet and possibly even zeptosecond x-ray pulses. Others address the control and measurement challenges, requiring radical approaches to harness nonlinear effects such as filamentation and parametric generation, coupled with the question of how to most accurately characterise the field of ultrafast pulses simultaneously in space and time. Applications of ultrafast sources in materials processing, spectroscopy and time-resolved chemistry are also discussed, highlighting the improvements in performance possible by using lasers of higher peak power and repetition rate, or by exploiting the phase stability of emerging new frequency comb sources.

Mechanistic understanding of how the brain gives rise to complex behavioral and cognitive functions is one of science's grand challenges. The technical challenges that we face as we attempt to gain a systems-level understanding of the brain are manifold. The brain's structural complexity requires us to push the limit of imaging resolution and depth, while being able to cover large areas, resulting in enormous data acquisition and processing needs. Furthermore, it is necessary to detect functional activities and 'map' them onto the structural features. The functional activity occurs at multiple levels, using electrical and chemical signals. Certain electrical signals are only decipherable with sub-millisecond timescale resolution, while other modes of signals occur in minutes to hours. For these reasons, there is a wide consensus that new tools are necessary to undertake this daunting task. Optical techniques, due to their versatile and scalable nature, have great potentials to answer these challenges. Optical microscopy can now image beyond the diffraction limit, record multiple types of brain activity, and trace structural features across large areas of tissue. Genetically encoded molecular tools opened doors to controlling and detecting neural activity using light in specific cell types within the intact brain. Novel sample preparation methods that reduce light scattering have been developed, allowing whole brain imaging in rodent models. Adaptive optical methods have the potential to resolve images from deep brain regions. In this roadmap article, we showcase a few major advances in this area, survey the current challenges, and identify potential future needs that may be used as a guideline for the next steps to be taken.

We review the recent progress in experimental and theoretical research of interactions between the acoustic, magnetic and plasmonic transients in hybrid metal-ferromagnet multilayer structures excited by ultrashort laser pulses. The main focus is on understanding the nonlinear aspects of the acoustic dynamics in materials as well as the peculiarities in the nonlinear optical and magneto-optical response. For example, the nonlinear optical detection is illustrated in detail by probing the static magneto-optical second harmonic generation in gold–cobalt–silver trilayer structures in Kretschmann geometry. Furthermore, we show experimentally how the nonlinear reshaping of giant ultrashort acoustic pulses propagating in gold can be quantified by time-resolved plasmonic interferometry and how these ultrashort optical pulses dynamically modulate the optical nonlinearities. An effective medium approximation for the optical properties of hybrid multilayers enables the understanding of novel optical detection techniques. In the discussion we also highlight recent works on the nonlinear magneto-elastic interactions, and strain-induced effects in semiconductor quantum dots.

Within the last two decades, vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs) have attracted rising interest from both industry and science. They have proven to be versatile lasers which can be specifically designed for research and applications that require a particular regime of operation. Various emission schemes ranging from narrow-linewidth emission, pulsed light or multimode emission to a frequency-converted output are feasible owing to remarkable device features. Being composed of a semiconductor gain mirror and an external cavity, not only is a unique access to high-brightness output and a high-beam quality is provided, but also wavelength flexibility. Moreover, the exploitation of intra-cavity frequency conversion further extends the accessible spectral range from the ultraviolet (UV) to the terahertz (THz). In this work, recent advances in the field of VECSELs are highlighted.

In this paper, we will review both past and recent progresses in the generation, detection and application of intense terahertz (THz) radiation. We will restrict the review to laser based intense few-cycle THz sources, and thus will not include sources such as synchrotron-based or narrowband sources. We will first review the various methods used for generating intense THz radiation, including photoconductive antennas (PCAs), optical rectification sources (especially the tilted-pulse-front lithium niobate source and the DAST source, but also those using other crystals), air plasma THz sources and relativistic laser–plasma sources. Next, we will give a brief introduction on the common methods for coherent THz detection techniques (namely the PCA technique and the electro-optic sampling), and point out the limitations of these techniques for measuring intense THz radiation. We will then review three techniques that are highly suited for detecting intense THz radiation, namely the air breakdown coherent detection technique, various single-shot THz detection techniques, and the spectral-domain interferometry technique. Finally, we will give an overview of the various applications that have been made possible with such intense THz sources, including nonlinear THz spectroscopy of condensed matter (optical-pump/THz-probe, THz-pump/THz-probe, THz-pump/optical-probe), nonlinear THz optics, resonant and non-resonant control of material (such as switching of superconductivity, magnetic and polarization switching) and controlling the nonlinear response of metamaterials. We will also provide a short perspective on the future of intense THz sources and their applications.

Extending the insufficient optical path length (OPL) in thin-film photovoltaic cells (PVs) is the key to achieving a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) in devices. Here, we introduce the apparent OPL (AOPL) as a figure of merit for light absorbing capability in thin-film PVs. The optical characteristics such as the structural effects and angular responses in thin-film PVs were analyzed in terms of the AOPL. Although the Lambertian scattering surface yields a broadband absorption enhancement in thin-film PVs, the enhancement is not as effective as in thick-film PVs. On the other hand, nanophotonic schemes are introduced as an approach to increasing the single-pass AOPL by inducing surface plasmon resonance. The scheme using periodic metal gratings is proved to increase the AOPL in a narrow wavelength range and specific polarization, overcoming the Yablonovitch limit. The AOPL calculation can be also adopted in the experimental analysis and a maximum AOPL of 4.15d (where d is the active layer thickness) is exhibited in the absorption band edge region of PTB7:PC₇₀BM-based polymer PVs.

Colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cells prove to be promising devices for optoelectronic applications due to their tunable absorption range, deep infrared absorption capabilities, and straightforward processability. However, there remains a need to further enhance their device performance—particularly when one has to adhere to strict physical limitations on their physical structure. Here we present a three-dimensional numerical model of CQD solar cells in COMSOL Multiphysics based on the finite element method. With this model we have simulated the optical characteristics of several CQD solar cells across varying photonic structures and physical parameters to investigate how distinct photonic structures may enhance the light absorption and current output of CQD solar cells using identical physical parameters. Of the many cells simulated, one notable model increased the predicted current in the active layer PbS by 69.33% as compared to a flat solar cell with identical physical parameters, and produced a current of 24.18 mA cm⁻² by implementing a cross-shaped photonic structure built on top of a flat substrate of glass and ITO. This cross-shaped model serves as a key example of how unique photonic structures can be implemented to further enhance light absorption.

Epi-optoacoustic (OA) imaging offers flexible clinical diagnostics of the human body when the irradiation optic is attached to or directly integrated into the acoustic probe. Epi-OA images, however, encounter clutter that deteriorates contrast and significantly limits imaging depth. This study elaborates clutter origin in clinical epi-optoacoustic imaging using a linear array probe for scanning the human forearm. We demonstrate that the clutter strength strongly varies with the imaging location but stays stable over time, indicating that clutter is caused by anatomical structures. OA transients which are generated by strong optical absorbers located at the irradiation spot were identified to be the main source of clutter. These transients obscure deep in-plane OA signals when detected by the transducer either directly or after being acoustically scattered in the imaging plane. In addition, OA transients generated in the skin below the probe result in acoustic reverberations, which cause problems in image interpretation and limit imaging depth. Understanding clutter origin allows a better interpretation of clinical OA imaging, helps to design clutter compensation techniques and raises the prospect of contrast optimization via the design of the irradiation geometry.

We study self-oscillations of an optomechanical system, where coherent mechanical oscillations are induced by a driven optical or microwave cavity, for the case of an anharmonic mechanical oscillator potential. A semiclassical analytical model is developed to characterize the limit cycle for large mechanical amplitudes corresponding to a weak nonlinearity. As a result, we predict conditions to achieve subpoissonian phonon statistics in the steady state, indicating classically forbidden behavior. We compare with numerical simulations and find very good agreement. Our model is quite general and can be applied to other physical systems such as trapped ions or superconducting circuits.

The Purcell factor F_p is a key quantity in cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) that quantifies the coupling rate between a dipolar emitter and a cavity mode. Its simple form ${F}_{{\rm{p}}}\propto Q/V$ unravels the possible strategies to enhance and control light–matter interaction. Practically, efficient light–matter interaction is achieved thanks to either (i) high quality factor Q at the basis of cQED or (ii) low modal volume V at the basis of nanophotonics and plasmonics. In the last decade, strong efforts have been done to derive a plasmonic Purcell factor in order to transpose cQED concepts to the nanocale, in a scale-law approach. In this work, we discuss the plasmonic Purcell factor for both delocalized (SPP) and localized (LSP) surface-plasmon-polaritons and briefly summarize the expected applications for nanophotonics. On the basis of the SPP resonance shape (Lorentzian or Fano profile), we derive closed form expression for the coupling rate to delocalized plasmons. The quality factor factor and modal confinement of both SPP and LSP are quantified, demonstrating their strongly subwavelength behavior.

Optical forces can set tiny objects in states of mechanical self-sustained oscillation, spontaneously generating periodic signals by extracting power from steady sources. Miniaturized self-sustained coherent phonon sources are interesting for applications such as mass-force sensing, intra-chip metrology and intra-chip time-keeping among others. In this paper, we review several mechanisms and techniques that can drive a mechanical mode into the lasing regime by exploiting the radiation pressure force in optomechanical cavities, namely stimulated emission, dynamical back-action, forward stimulated Brillouin scattering and self-pulsing.

We demonstrate a platform for implementing quantum walks that overcomes many of the barriers associated with photonic implementations. We use coupled fiber-optic cavities to implement time-bin encoded walks in an integrated system. We show that this platform can achieve very low losses combined with high-fidelity operations, enabling an unprecedented large number of steps in a passive system, as required for scenarios with multiple walkers. Furthermore the platform is reconfigurable, enabling variation of the coin, and readily extends to multidimensional lattices. We demonstrate variation of the coin bias experimentally for three different values.

In this paper, we show numerically that the asymmetric transmission of circularly polarized waves through a graphene chiral metasurface can be observed in the THz range. The relative enantiomeric difference in the total transmission varies with the change of graphene's Fermi level. The plasmonic excitation in the graphene metasurface is enantiomerically sensitive, which is asymmetric for opposite propagating directions. This phenomenon will deepen our understanding of light-matter interactions in planar chiral structures and may find applications in polarization-sensitive devices, sensors, detectors and other areas.

Polarisation charge formed on nanostructure surfaces upon optical excitation provides a useful tool to understand the underlying physics of plasmonic systems. Plasmonic simulations in the frequency domain typically calculate the polarisation charge as a complex quantity. In this paper, we provide a pedagogical treatment of the complex nature of the polarisation charge and its relevance in plasmonics, and discuss how naively extracting the real part of the complex quantities to obtain physical information can lead to pitfalls. We analyse the charge distributions on various plasmonic systems and explain how to understand and visualise them clearly using techniques such as phase-correction and polarisation ellipse representation, to extract the underlying physical information.

In this paper, we theoretically show that a broadband resonant enhancement of emission may occur for infrared sources located in a polaritonic wire medium. The reason for this enhancement is the overlapping of two topological transitions of the wave dispersion in the medium. The first topological transition has been revealed as an effect inherent to polaritonic wire media at a certain frequency in the mid-infrared range. This work uncovers another topological transition for such wire media which holds at a higher frequency but still in the mid infrared. We show that the first transition frequency can be shifted towards the second one by variation of the design parameters. This shift enables a broadband resonant Purcell factor. We compare the results obtained for two orientations of a subwavelength electric dipole embedded into the wire medium—that along the optical axis and that perpendicular to it—and report on the resonant isotropic radiation enhancement. Also, we reveal the enhancement of radiation to the free space from a finite sample of the wire medium.

This paper shows that epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) / mu-near-zero material can be obtained by using the transformation optics (TO) approach. It shows that when a line is stretched to a cylinder the z component of permittivity and permeability is zero, while the rho and phi components are equal to one. Hence in the presence of a TE mode wave, the cylinder is equivalent to an isotropic ENZ column. We further show that some additional spatial mapping can be applied to eliminate or mimic the scattering of the ENZ cylinder. To verify our proposal, a rigorous analysis based on Maxwell's equations and numerical simulations based on the finite element method are provided. Finally, cloaking and coherence enhancement are taken as examples to demonstrate potential applications of the ENZ material from the viewpoint of TO.

A photonic crystal Mach–Zehnder demultiplexer (PC-MZDmux) with four output ports based on the self-collimation phenomenon in a two-dimensional (2D) PC is proposed and numerically studied using finite-difference time-domain simulations. The PC-MZDmux is composed of three Mach–Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) and each MZI consists of two 50:50 beam splitters and two perfect mirrors. Employed as the design parameters to achieve the demultiplexing functionality are the radius of phase control rods (PCRs) in the mirrors and the distance between the beam spitter and the mirror in the three MZIs. From spatial electric field distributions and transmission spectra, it is demonstrated that an incident self-collimated beam with four different frequencies can be demultiplexed to four output ports of the PC-MZDmux with proper design parameters. Our results indicate that this device design may constitute an efficient approach to light propagation manipulation and increase the application range of self-collimated beams.

We propose a scheme for realizing the coherent perfect absorption (CPA) by exploiting the moderate coupling between the electric and magnetic resonators in an electromagnetically induced transparency-like (EIT-like) system. Moreover, the ideal parity-time (PT) symmetry can be established in such a passive system by precisely engineering the rate between the scattering and dissipative losses of resonators as well as their coupling. Specifically, by controlling the phase difference between two incident waves, the absorption ratio of CPA at the peak frequency can be dynamically modulated from 1 to 0. Such a scheme provides an effective route to construct absorbing devices.

We consider one-dimensional propagation of quantum light in the presence of a block of material, with a full account of dispersion and absorption. The electromagnetic zero-point energy for some frequencies is damped (suppressed) by the block below the free-space value, while for other frequencies it is increased. We also calculate the regularized (Casimir) zero-point energy at each frequency and find that it too is damped below the free-space value (zero) for some frequencies. The total Casimir energy is positive.

We report, for the first time, the development of a depth-sensitive Raman spectroscopy system for investigating subsurface depths in a layered turbid sample using the concept of varying Raman collection zones, while keeping the point of illumination fixed on the surface of the target sample. The system makes use of a conventional confocal Raman configuration and realizes the variation in Raman collection zones employing off-confocal detection. This is effected by moving the tip of the Raman detection fiber (acting as the pinhole aperture) from the focus of the Raman collection objective either by taking the point of detection away from the objective (along its axis) or bringing it closer to the objective (along the same axis), thereby essentially offering two ways of enabling subsurface interrogation at a given time. Another important attraction of the approach is that it can be used for analyzing layered turbid samples at depths beyond the reach of the conventional confocal Raman, though not at the cost of any further modifications in its instrumentation. Furthermore, the illumination point remains fixed on the sample surface and no adjustment is required in the sample arm, which indeed are significant advantages for depth-sensitive measurements in situ from layered turbid samples, particularly those having irregular surfaces (like biological tissues). The ability of the system to recover Raman spectra of the subsurface layer was demonstrated using a layered non-biological phantom and a biological tissue sample.

A non-destructive, in-line, and low-cost focusing device based on an image sensor has been developed and demonstrated. It allows an in situ focus determination for a broad variety of laser types (e.g. cw and pulsed lasers). It provides stringent focusing conditions with high numerical apertures. This approach does not require sub-picosecond and/or auxiliary lasers, or high fluences above damage thresholds. Applications of this system include, but are not limited to the laser-illumination of micro-electrodes, pump-probe microscopy on thin films, and laser ablation of small samples without sufficient surface area for focus determination by ablation. An uncertainty of the focus position by an order of magnitude less than the respective Rayleigh length could be demonstrated.

We present the first steps of a device suitable for characterization of complex 3D micro-structures. This method is based on an optical approach allowing extraction and separation of high frequency ultrasonic sound waves induced to the analyzed samples. Rapid, non-destructive characterization of 3D micro-structures are limited in terms of geometrical features and optical properties of the sample. We suggest a method which is based on temporal tracking of secondary speckle patterns generated when illuminating a sample with a laser probe while applying known periodic vibration using an ultrasound transmitter. In this paper we investigated lasers drilled through glass vias. The large aspect ratios of the vias possess a challenge for traditional microscopy techniques in analyzing depth and taper profiles of the vias. The correlation of the amplitude vibrations to the vias depths is experimentally demonstrated.

We investigate mixed-gap vector solitons involving incoherently coupled fundamental and dipole components in a parity-time symmetric lattice with nonlocal focusing nonlinearity. The fundamental component exists in the semi-infinite gap with propagation constant μ₁ and the dipole component exists in the first gap with propagation constant μ₂. We find that the width of the existence domain on μ₁ (μ₂) for vector solitons shrinks with the growth of nonlocality degree d and expands almost linearly with the increase of μ₂ (μ₁). In particular, linear stability analyses show that this type of vector solitons are unstable in the high-power region of the dipole component.

We report an increase in conversion efficiency and significant broadening of signal and idler bandwidth in the collinear KTA optical parametric amplifier operating close to mid-IR transparency cutoff (5.2 μm) for a visible and near IR pump. Using a 1.24 μm pump we have produced 2 μJ idler pulses at 3.8 μm central wavelength with a bandwidth supporting 65 fs transform limited duration. Further tuning to mid-IR up to 5 μm could be achieved with a 620 nm pump.

An experimental and theoretical study of the post-filamentation stage of focused high-power Ti:Sa-laser pulses in air is presented. For the first time to our knowledge, the angular and spatial characteristics of specific spatially localized light structures, the ionization-free post-filament channels (PFCs), formed inside the laser beam in the post-filamentation region are systematically quantified under different external focusing and energy of initial pulse. We show that PFC angular divergence tends to decrease with the increase of the laser pulse energy and beam focal distance. These findings are discussed in the framework of the Bessel–Gauss-like beam formation in a course of pulse filamentation stage.

The high-order harmonic generation in a polar medium driven by an initially chirped few-cycle laser pulse is investigated via numerically solving the nonlinear Bloch or Maxwell-Bloch equations based on whether propagation effects are taken into account or not. As a result of the reduction of quantum trajectories number due to the introduction of chirps, an attosecond pulse pair (APP) is generated instead of a general attosecond pulse train. Moreover, the time delay between the two attosecond pulses is tunable. When propagation effects take roles, the peak intensities of the APP can be enhanced at suitable propagation distances without observable duration broadening, and such an enhancement can be modulated by changing medium density.

We propose a simple free-space optics recipe for the controlled generation of optical vortex beams with a vortex dipole or a single charge vortex, using an inherently stable Sagnac interferometer. We investigate the role played by the amplitude and phase differences in generating higher-order Gaussian beams from the fundamental Gaussian mode. Our simulation results reveal how important the control of both the amplitude and the phase difference between superposing beams is to achieving optical vortex beams. The creation of a vortex dipole from null interference is unveiled through the introduction of a lateral shear and a radial phase difference between two out-of-phase Gaussian beams. A stable and high quality optical vortex beam, equivalent to the first-order Laguerre–Gaussian beam, is synthesized by coupling lateral shear with linear phase difference, introduced orthogonal to the shear between two out-of-phase Gaussian beams.

We propose a generalization of spherical waves in the form of linearly polarized beams with embedded optical vortices. The source of these beams is an infinitely narrow light ring with an infinitely small radius. These vectorial beams are obtained based on scalar Hankel beams discovered by the authors recently. We have derived explicit relations for complex amplitudes of all six components of vectorial vortex Hankel beams. A closed analytical expression for the axial projection of the orbital angular momentum density in far field has been obtained. We also showed that the intensity distribution of the electric vector rotates by 90 degrees upon the beam propagation in near field.

We apply a differential creation operator to an integer order Bessel beam in order to generate novel nondiffracting structures. The resulting phase structure and orbital angular momentum are discussed in detail. We find the parameters that preserve the orbital angular momentum of the seed beam and show how to produce and control shape preserving vortex arrays. In analogy to the Poincaré sphere, our approach is used to develop an operator sphere connecting higher-order Bessel beams.

We report the realization of Hardy's thought experiment in classical optical systems. Two different classical optical experiments are implemented. One is based on orbital angular momentum and polarization correlation in a classical optical beam, and the other is based on non-local classical correlation from two separated classical optical beams. All experimental results show that they are analogous to Hardy's paradox experiments. This means that Hardy's non-locality proof without inequalities, which is usually used in a quantum system, can also be achieved in classical optical systems.

We propose an alternative method for evaluating numerically the complete set of integer order Hankel transforms that constitute a free-space paraxial wave. This algorithm consists only of fast Fourier transforms and one-dimensional interpolations, making it fast and efficient. To prove its reliability we compare the reconstruction it provides with the analyzed wavefield for a wide variety of profiles. Additionally, we make use of this set of Hankel transforms to construct an alternative free-space beam propagation scheme which, based on the evidence presented, we can conclude hinders the aliasing effect inside a finite region of space.

We present an analytical method for designing fiber systems for a highly stable propagation of soliton molecules. This analytical design uses the variational equations of the soliton molecule to determine the parameters of the most suitable fiber system for any desired soliton, thus reducing dramatically the cost of the whole procedure of design, for both the appropriate fiber system and the desired soliton molecule.

We present a novel technique for 3D object hiding by applying three-dimensional ptychography. Compared with 3D information hiding based on holography, the proposed ptychography-based hiding technique is easier to implement, because the reference beam and high-precision interferometric optical setup are not required. The acquisition of the 3D object and the ptychographic encoding process are performed optically. Owing to the introduction of probe keys, the security of the ptychography-based hiding system is significantly enhanced. A series of experiments and simulations demonstrate the feasibility and imperceptibility of the proposed method.

An integrated polarization rotator is demonstrated experimentally by forming a strip waveguide with an asymmetric trench on a silicon-on-insulator wafer. The trench is located asymmetrically in the strip waveguide. It induces the evolution of an orthogonal polarization mode upon a linearly polarized beam input, and thus causes polarization rotation. The device is fabricated using a conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor process with a single dry etching step. The fabricated device shows a maximum transverse electric (TE)-to-transverse magnetic (TM) polarization conversion efficiency of 21.3 dB and an insertion loss of −0.95 dB at a 1550 nm wavelength with a device length of 67 μm. The device exhibits a polarization conversion efficiency and insertion loss of 21.1 dB and −2.12 dB, respectively, for the TM-to-TE polarization conversion. The optimum parameters for the waveguide size and trench size are investigated by performing numerical simulations, and by demonstrating experimental fabrication and measurement.