Size characterization of x-ray tube source with sphere encoded imaging method.

In x-ray imaging, the size of the x-ray tube light source significantly impacts image quality. However, existing methods for characterizing the size of the x-ray tube light source do not meet measurement requirements due to limitations in processing accuracy and mechanical precision. In this study, we introduce a novel method for accurately characterizing the size of the x-ray tube light source using spherical encoded imaging technology. This method effectively mitigates blurring caused by system tilting, making system alignment and assembly more manageable. We employ the Richardson-Lucy algorithm to iteratively deconvolve the image and recover spatial information about the x-ray tube source. Unlike traditional coded imaging methods, spherical coded imaging employs high-Z material spheres as coding elements, replacing the coded holes used in traditional approaches. This innovation effectively mitigates blurring caused by system tilting, making system alignment and assembly more manageable. In addition, the mean square error is reduced to 0.008. Our results demonstrate that spherical encoded imaging technology accurately characterizes the size of the x-ray tube light source. This method holds significant promise for enhancing image quality in x-ray imaging.

Polarization Splitting at Visible Wavelengths with the Rutile TiO2 Ridge Waveguide.

On-chip polarization control is in high demand for novel integrated photonic applications such as polarization division multiplexing and quantum communications. However, due to the sensitive scaling of the device dimension with wavelength and the visible-light absorption properties, traditional passive silicon photonic devices with asymmetric waveguide structures cannot achieve polarization control at visible wavelengths. In this paper, a new polarization-splitting mechanism based on energy distributions of the fundamental polarized modes in the r-TiO2 ridge waveguide is investigated. The bending loss for different bending radii and the optical coupling properties of the fundamental modes in different r-TiO2 ridge waveguide configurations are analyzed. In particular, a polarization splitter with a high extinction ratio operating at visible wavelengths based on directional couplers (DCs) in the r-TiO2 ridge waveguide is proposed. Polarization-selective filters based on micro-ring resonators (MRRs) with resonances of only TE or TM polarizations are designed and operated. Our results show that polarization-splitters for visible wavelengths with a high extinction ratio in DC or MRR configurations can be achieved with a simple r-TiO2 ridge waveguide structure.

Simulation of a micron resolution capillary liquid scintillation detector for 14 MeV fusion neutrons.

Aiming to improve the spatial resolution of a neutron imaging system (NIS) for 14 MeV fusion neutrons, an ideal micron resolution capillary detector filled with a high optical index liquid scintillator was simulated. A threshold for each capillary pixel and a threshold for each cluster were applied to suppress the gamma-induced background. In addition, by using a pattern recognition algorithm and an optimized Hough transform, the accuracy of determining the neutron impinging positions and the dynamic range of this detector were enhanced. For an ideal capillary array detector, the spatial resolution is expected as one capillary size of 20µm. The dynamic range of ∼1000 is reachable while the accuracy of neutron impinging position determination keeps better than 85%. The ionization quenching, light sharing and energy resolution of the detector were applied to the simulated data to understand the capillary array detector.

Fabricating 3D Metastructures by Simultaneous Modulation of Flexible Resist Stencils and Basal Molds.

Metamaterials have gained much attention thanks to their extraordinary and intriguing optical properties beyond natural materials. However, universal high-resolution fabrications of 3D micro/nanometastructures with high-resolution remain a challenge. Here, a novel approach to fabricate sophisticated 3D micro/nanostructures with excellent robustness and precise controllability is demonstrated by simultaneously modulating of flexible resist stencils and basal molds. This method allows arbitrary manipulations of morphology, size, and orientation, as well as contact angles of the objects. Combined with a new alignment strategy of high-resolution, previously inaccessible architectures are fabricated with ultrahigh precision, leading to an excellent spectra response from the fabricated metastructures. This method provides a new possibility to realize true 3D metamaterial fabrications featuring high-resolution and direct-compatibility with broad planar lithography platforms.

Refractive index sensing and imaging based on polarization-sensitive graphene.

Graphene exhibits extraordinary opto-electronic properties due to its unique dynamic conductivity, bringing great value in optical sensing, surface plasmon modulation and photonic devices. Based on the polarization-sensitive absorption of graphene working at near infrared to ultraviolet wavelengths, we theoretically investigate the refractive index sensing and imaging mechanism under oblique and tight focusing incidences of light respectively. We demonstrate that such graphene-based methods can provide ultrahigh refractive index resolution (∼2.09×10-8 RIU) for label-free sensing, and high transverse spatial resolution (∼200 nm) and large longitudinal detecting length (∼750 nm) for imaging under 532 nm incident wavelength. The proposed methods could potentially guide future researches in graphene optical detection, non-invasive biological sensing and imaging, and other applications.

Broadband High-Efficiency Chiral Splitters and Holograms from Dielectric Nanoarc Metasurfaces.

Simultaneous broadband and high efficiency merits of designer metasurfaces are currently attracting widespread attention in the field of nanophotonics. However, contemporary metasurfaces rarely achieve both advantages simultaneously. For the category of transmissive metadevices, plasmonic or conventional dielectric metasurfaces are viable for either broadband operation with relatively low efficiency or high efficiency at only a selection of wavelengths. To overcome this limitation, dielectric nanoarcs are proposed as a means to accomplish two advantages. Continuous nanoarcs support different electromagnetic resonant modes at localized areas for generating phase retardation. Meanwhile, the geometric nature of nanoarc curvature endows the nanoarcs with full phase coverage of 0-2π due to the Pancharatnam-Berry phase principle. Experimentally incorporated with the chiral-detour phase principle, a few compelling functionalities are demonstrated, such as chiral beamsplitting, broadband holography, and helicity-selective holography. The continuous nanoarc metasurfaces prevail over plasmonic or dielectric discretized building block strategies and the findings lead to novel designs of spin-controllable metadevices.

High-Throughput Fabrication of Ultradense Annular Nanogap Arrays for Plasmon-Enhanced Spectroscopy.

The confinement of light into nanometer-sized metallic nanogaps can lead to an extremely high field enhancement, resulting in dramatically enhanced absorption, emission, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of molecules embedded in nanogaps. However, low-cost, high-throughput, and reliable fabrication of ultra-high-dense nanogap arrays with precise control of the gap size still remains a challenge. Here, by combining colloidal lithography and atomic layer deposition technique, a reproducible method for fabricating ultra-high-dense arrays of hexagonal close-packed annular nanogaps over large areas is demonstrated. The annular nanogap arrays with a minimum diameter smaller than 100 nm and sub-1 nm gap width have been produced, showing excellent SERS performance with a typical enhancement factor up to 3.1 × 106 and a detection limit of 10-11 M. Moreover, it can also work as a high-quality field enhancement substrate for studying two-dimensional materials, such as MoSe2. Our method provides an attractive approach to produce controllable nanogaps for enhanced light-matter interaction at the nanoscale.

Interfacially Al-doped ZnO nanowires: greatly enhanced near band edge emission through suppressed electron-phonon coupling and confined optical field.

Aluminium (Al)-doped zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) with a unique core-shell structure and a Δ-doping profile at the interface were successfully grown using a combination of chemical vapor deposition re-growth and few-layer AlxOy atomic layer deposition. Unlike the conventional heavy doping which degrades the near-band-edge (NBE) luminescence and increases the electron-phonon coupling (EPC), it was found that there was an over 20-fold enhanced NBE emission and a notably-weakened EPC in this type of interfacially Al-doped ZnO NWs. Further experiments revealed a greatly suppressed nonradiative decay process and a much enhanced radiative recombination rate. By comparing the finite-difference time-domain simulation with the experimental results from intentionally designed different NWs, this enhanced radiative decay rate was attributed to the Purcell effect induced by the confined and intensified optical field within the interfacial layer. The ability to manipulate the confinement, transport and relaxation dynamics of ZnO excitons can be naturally guaranteed with this unique interfacial Δ-doping strategy, which is certainly desirable for the applications using ZnO-based nano-photonic and nano-optoelectronic devices.

Wafer scale fabrication of highly dense and uniform array of sub-5 nm nanogaps for surface enhanced Raman scatting substrates.

Metallic nanogap is very important for a verity of applications in plasmonics. Although several fabrication techniques have been proposed in the last decades, it is still a challenge to produce uniform nanogaps with a few nanometers gap distance and high throughput. Here we present a simple, yet robust method based on the atomic layer deposition (ALD) and lift-off technique for patterning ultranarrow nanogaps array. The ability to accurately control the thickness of the ALD spacer layer enables us to precisely define the gap size, down to sub-5 nm scale. Moreover, this new method allows to fabricate uniform nanogaps array along different directions densely arranged on the wafer-scale substrate. It is demonstrated that the fabricated array can be used as an excellent substrate for surface enhanced Raman scatting (SERS) measurements of molecules, even on flexible substrates. This uniform nanogaps array would also find its applications for the trace detection and biosensors.

Unidirectional reflectionless phenomenon in periodic ternary layered material.

Unidirectional reflectionless phenomenon is reported in periodic ternary layered material (PTLM). The unit of the material is composed of two real dielectric layers and a complex medium (loss or gain) layer. The model is analyzed by coupled mode theory. Because of the asymmetric coupling between the forward and backward propagating modes, the left- and right-side reflectivities of this PTLM are generally unequal. The necessary and sufficient (NS) condition for unidirectional reflectionless phenomenon is presented in a concise formulation. And the underlying physical mechanism of the unidirectional reflectionless phenomenon in this material is revealed by numerical simulations. Both unidirectional reflectionless and symmetric reflection phenomena can be realized by judicious choice of the structural and optical parameters.

Near-infrared quarter-waveplate with near-unity polarization conversion efficiency based on silicon nanowire array.

Metasurfaces made of subwavelength resonators can modify the wave front of light within the thickness much less than free space wavelength, showing great promises in integrated optics. In this paper, we theoretically show that electric and magnetic resonances supported simultaneously by a subwavelength nanowire with high refractive-index can be utilized to design metasurfaces with near-unity transmittance. Taking silicon nanowire for instance, we design numerically a near-infrared quarter-waveplate with high transmittance using a subwavelength nanowire array. The operation bandwidth of the waveplate is 0.14 µm around the center wavelength of 1.71 µm. The waveplate can convert a 45° linearly polarized incident light to circularly polarized light with conversion efficiency ranging from 94% to 98% over the operation band. The performance of quarter waveplate can in principle be tuned and improved through optimizing the parameters of nanowire arrays. Its compatibility to microelectronic technologies opens up a distinct possibility to integrate nanophotonics into the current silicon-based electronic devices.

Realizing full visible spectrum metamaterial half-wave plates with patterned metal nanoarray/insulator/metal film structure.

Abrupt phase shift introduced by plasmonic resonances has been frequently used to design subwavelength wave plates for optical integration. Here, with the sandwich structure consisting of a top periodic patterned silver nanopatch, an in-between insulator layer and a bottom thick Au film, we realize a broadband half-wave plate which is capable to cover entire visible light spectrum ranging from 400 to 780 nm. Moreover, when the top layer is replaced with a periodic array of composite super unit cell comprised of two nanopatches with different sizes, the operation bandwidth can be further improved to exceed an octave (400-830 nm). In particular, we demonstrate that the designed half-wave plate can be used efficiently to rotate the polarization state of an ultra-fast light pulse with reserved pulse width. Our result offers a new strategy to design and construct broadband high efficiency phase-response based optical components using patterned metal nanoarray/insulator/metal structure.

Tailoring the coupling between localized and propagating surface plasmons: realizing Fano-like interference and high-performance sensor.

Surface plasmon modes originated from various metallic nanostructures possess unique features of strong nanoscale light confinement and enhancement with tunable energy, which make them attractive and promising for a variety of applications such as sensing, solar cell, and lasing. Here, we have investigated the interaction between localized and propagating surface plasmons in a structure consisting of a gold nanobar array and a thick gold film, separated by a silica dielectric spacer layer. It is found that the reflection spectrum of the designed plasmonic structure can be readily tailored by changing the gold nanobar size, array period and the spacer layer thickness. Moreover, the strong coupling between the localized and propagating modes can result in an anticrossing behavior and even induce a Fano-like asymmetric lineshape. Importantly, the sensitivity and the figure of merit (FoM) of this plasmonic system can reach as high as 936 nm/RIU and 112, respectively. Our study offers a new, simple, efficient and controllable way to design the plasmonic systems with desired modes coupling and spectral lineshapes for different applications.