The benefits obtained in terms of costs and applicability by the development of flexible and stretchable electronics, compared to its rigid counterpart, have fostered the quest for flexible photonic technologies and integrated platforms on suitable material systems. By adding mechanical flexibility to photonic structures, novel functionalities would be added to their already broad range of applications. In case of oxides, their typical qualifying properties in terms of transparency, high thermal and chemical resistance could be exploited in suitable material systems. Here it is presented two flexible SiO2/HfO2 1D photonic crystals, fabricated by radio frequency sputtering. As expected, the systems show a strong dependence of the optical features on the light incident angle. Nevertheless, the most interesting result is the experimental evidence that, even after the sample breakage, where the flexible glass shows naked-eye visible cracks, the multilayer structures generally maintain their integrity, resulting to be promising systems for flexible photonic applications thanks to their optical, thermal and mechanical stability.
Integration of photonic systems on deformable substrates has given rise to flexible photonics, a research field that has rapidly emerged in recent years. By adding mechanical flexibility to planar photonic structures, the spectrum of applications gains an incredible expansion. Flexible glassy photonic structures require a careful design and suitable fabrication protocols, in order to keep the optical and spectroscopic properties similar to their traditional rigid counterparts, even under mechanical deformation. Here, a radio frequency (RF) sputtering deposition protocol is developed for fabricating glass-based 1D photonic crystals on ultrathin flexible glass as well as on rigid substrates for comparison. Three different 1D multilayer structures, constituted by SiO2 and HfO2 layers, were first designed and modelled by Transfer Matrix Method to tailor targeted optical features (transmission windows, stopband ranges) and then fabricated by RF-sputtering technique. The structural, morphological, and optical features of the samples were investigated. In particular, the transmission spectra of the glass-based 1D photonic crystals, deposited on both flexible and rigid substrates, were acquired to highlight up to which extent the different nature of the substrates and the mechanical deformations (bending tests on the flexible structures) are not influencing the key spectral properties of the photonic crystals.
The demand for transparent conductive films (TCFs) is dramatically increasing. In this work tungsten oxide (WO3-x) is studied as a possible option additional to the existed TCFs. We introduce WO3-x thin films fabricated by a non-reactive magnetron RF-sputtering process at room temperature, followed by thermal annealing in dry air. Films are characterized morphologically, structurally, electrically, optically, and dielectrically. Amorphous WO3-x thin films are shown to be n-type conductive while the transparency extends to the near-IR. By evaluating a figure of merit for transparent-conductive performance and comparing to some most-widely used TCFs, WO3-x turns out to outperform in the near-IR optical range
The research interest for tungsten oxide (WO3) as a photonic material is prompted by its extraordinarily broad range of applications, deriving from its polymorphism and variety of substoichiometric WO3-x phases. WO3 contributes compact and smooth electrochromic layers for smart windows, UV optical detectors and nanoporous photo-electro-catalytic membranes. Full-optical chemical sensors can also be provided, by optically read-out of its chemically modified dielectric response. Radio-Frequency (RF) sputtering is a versatile method to synthesize WO3-x. It provides films of different stoichiometric ratios, either glassy or crystalline, either porous or compact. In this work we report about an ongoing experimental activity on optical-grade WO3-x thin films, fabricated by non-reactive magnetron RF-sputtering in Ar atmosphere. Stoichiometry and structure are tailored by post-growth thermal annealing in dry air. Annealed films are quite transparent in the near infrared NIR and short-wave infrared SWIR optical range. Their quality was assessed by morphological, structural and compositional characterizations. Dielectric properties were evaluated by optical spectroscopy and ellipsometry, also rating the amount of optical anisotropy of thin films in its crystalline phase. To boost the sensitivity of RF-sputtered WO3-x layers as spectroscopic opto-chemical sensors, their direct integration at top of 1D Photonic bandgap structures can be conceived. We summarize the results on the design of a photonic chip structure, formed by a silica-titania multilayer and capped with a 450 nm-thick WO3-x film, that effectively confines near-IR optical field in the topmost layer, as suitable for sensing of environmental contaminants in gas and vapor phase.
We have implemented a Finite-Beam Rigorous Coupled-Wave Approach (FB-RCWA) to solve for guided-optics
propagation in the presence of holographic slanted Bragg gratings, embedded in the core of slab waveguides and
operated in Extreme Asymmetrical Scattering (EAS) configuration. In EAS a resonance condition can be established, as
proceeding from the design parameters. Diffraction efficiency can be evaluated as the ratio of the flux of diffracted
power P1, on a suitably defined cross-section along the propagation of diffracted beam, and input power P0. By FBRCWA,
no limitation in the depth of grating modulation is assumed. The first-order diffracted field in resonant Bragg
condition propagates along the waveguide. EAS in thick waveguides operating in highly multimodal regime can be
investigated, as well as macroscopic volumes and widely extended illuminated regions up to a few millimeters. In thick
slabs, η > 90% is demonstrated, for input illuminated apertures of length L ≥ Lc, where Lc is the optimum coupling
length. The effects of detuning from Bragg condition, both in distribution and amplitude of the diffracted field, are
quantified. Diffraction efficiency, i.e. optical coupling, bandwidth is evaluated.
Organic photochromic materials have been studied as active materials in optical devices since they show a reversible
change of color in the visible region and appreciable reversible changes of the refractive index (Δn) in the NIR. The
latter peculiar property can be suitably exploited for the realization of holographic optical elements (HOEs) and in
particular volume phase holographic gratings (VPHGs). Photochromic polyester based on diarylethene alcohol was
synthesized and characterized both in solution and in thin film. The optical properties of the films were good enough for
making optical devices and the modulation of the refractive index (measured by spectral ellipsometry) was large at 1.5
micron and it became even larger at shorter wavelength where the material is still transparent. Such photochromic
material is a good candidate for making rewritable efficient HOEs.
A key parameter for the choice of an erbium-doped material suitable for efficient amplification around 1.55 μm is its ability to isolate Er ions from each other in order to increase the quenching concentration and henceforth to improve pumping efficiency. Encapsulation of Er ions by organic ligands results in quenching concentrations about a few % in a polymer matrix and may therefore induce high gain values at 1.55 μm. In this paper, we report on the elaboration and optical characterization of Erbium complex-doped PMMA thin films and waveguides with different concentrations by spin-coating technique. Refractive index of these thin films and etching conditions for waveguide fabrication are carefully investigated. Strong gain coefficient values (up to 9 cm-1) measured by Amplified Spontaneous Emission are reported at 1.55 μm under 980 nm cw pumping of an erbium-complex-doped PMMA film. A multifunctional polymer material containing an erbium complex together with an electric-field oriented nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophore is shown to simultaneously display good IR gain properties and quadratic NLO response, then qualifying this approach for in-situ amplification of active electro-optic devices for optical signal processing. Rib waveguides made of erbium-doped PMMA have been elaborated using standard lithographic and reactive ionic etching techniques. Gain and loss measurements of these waveguides are characterized for single mode propagation of signal (1.55 μm) and pump (980 nm) waves, and compared to predictions from beam propagation method modelization.
We present a theoretical analysis of second-order nonlinear difference frequency generation (DFG) in a generalized mirrorless quasi-phase-matching (QPM) frame, aimed at a comparison of counter-propagating difference frequency generation configuration (CDFG) to other DFG schemes, in view of all-optical processing and optical amplifying applications. The evolution of propagating fields within the material have been calculated in dependence of operating parameters. The increased complexity in the evolution of amplitude and phase for fields interacting in CDFG with respect to forward- propagating DFG(FDFG) is at the basis of a dramatic increase in optical amplification under particular settings of device parameters.
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