Issue 2 (2019)

QCL-based frequency metrology from the mid-infrared to the THz range: a review

QCL-based frequency metrology from the mid-infrared to the THz range: a review

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are becoming a key tool for plenty of applications, from the mid-infrared (mid-IR) to the THz range. Progress in related areas, such as the development of ultra-low-loss crystalline microresonators, optical frequency standards, …

Multimode silicon photonics

Multimode silicon photonics

Multimode silicon photonics is attracting more and more attention because the introduction of higher-order modes makes it possible to increase the channel number for data transmission in mode-division-multiplexed (MDM) systems as well as improve the …

Metamaterials and chiral sensing: a review of fundamentals and applications

Metamaterials and chiral sensing: a review of fundamentals and applications

Chirality, a property of broken mirror symmetry, prevails in nature. Chiral molecules show different biochemical behaviors to their mirror molecules. For left or right circularly polarized lights, the fundamental chiral states of electromagnetic fields …

Measuring the optical permittivity of two-dimensional materials without a priori knowledge of electronic transitions

Measuring the optical permittivity of two-dimensional materials without a priori knowledge of electronic transitions

We propose a deterministic method to measure the optical permittivity of two-dimensional (2D) materials without a priori knowledge of the electronic transitions over the spectral window of interest. Using the thin-film approximation, we show that the ratio of …

Complex analysis between CV modes and OAM modes in fiber systems

Complex analysis between CV modes and OAM modes in fiber systems

As two groups of bases in fibers, cylindrical vector (CV) modes and the orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes can be transformed into each other. Several transformation relations have been studied in previous works. However, these relations are discussed in …

Transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect at narrow optical resonances

Transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect at narrow optical resonances

Magneto-optical spectroscopy based on the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect (TMOKE) is a sensitive method for investigating magnetically-ordered media. Previous studies were limited to the weak coupling regime where the spectral width of optical …

Towards all-solution-processed top-illuminated flexible organic solar cells using ultrathin Ag-modified graphite-coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrates

Towards all-solution-processed top-illuminated flexible organic solar cells using ultrathin Ag-modified graphite-coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrates

All-solution-processed flexible organic solar cells (FOSCs) with high power conversion efficiency (PCE) are the prerequisite for application in low-cost, large-area, flexible, photovoltaic devices. In this work, high-performance, top-illuminated FOSCs using …

Portable tumor biosensing of serum by plasmonic biochips in combination with nanoimprint and microfluidics

Portable tumor biosensing of serum by plasmonic biochips in combination with nanoimprint and microfluidics

Plasmonic sensing has a great potential in the portable detection of human tumor markers, among which the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is one of the most widely used in clinical medicine. Traditional plasmonic and non-plasmonic methods for CEA biosensing …

Vortex beam generation with variable topological charge based on a spiral slit

Vortex beam generation with variable topological charge based on a spiral slit

We propose a vortex beam generator based on a nanometer spiral slit and explore the propagation rule of the topological charge. Compared to the common methods of generation of a vortex beam with a fixed topological charge, the optical vortex generated by the …

Multiperiodic nanohole array for high precision sensing

Multiperiodic nanohole array for high precision sensing

In this article, we present a multiperiodic nanohole array structure for improved sensing. The structure consists a series of rows of nanoholes, each having a different period in an ascending order. A monochromatic source illuminates the structure, and a …