Squeezed states generation by nonlinear plasmonic waveguides: a novel analysis including loss, phase mismatch and source depletion.

In this article, a full numerical method to study the squeezing procedure through second harmonic generation process is proposed. The method includes complex nonlinear coupling coefficient, phase mismatch, and pump depletion. Attention has been also paid to the effects of accumulated noises in this work. The final form of the numerical formula seems to be much simpler than the analytical solutions previously reported. The function of this numerical method shows that it works accurately for different mechanisms of squeezed state generations and does not suffer from instabilities usually encountered even for non-uniform, coarse steps. The proposed method is used to examine the squeezing procedure in an engineered nonlinear plasmonic waveguide. The results show that using the nonlinear plasmonic waveguide, it is possible to generate the squeezed states for the pump and the second harmonic modes with high efficiency in a propagation length as short as 2 mm which is much shorter than the needed length for the traditional nonlinear lithium niobate- based optical waveguides being of the order of 100 mm. This new method of squeezed states generation may find applications in optical communication with a noise level well below the standard quantum limit, in quantum teleportation, and in super sensitive interferometry.

Near-IR reconfigurable 1D Ag grating Fabry-Perot absorber hybridized with phase-change material GSST.

Chalcogenide phase-change materials (PCMs) offer a unique feature that can be used to dynamically control the response of the photonic devices and achieve fast, nonvolatile, reversible, multilevel, and specific optical modulation. The phase-change material Ge2Sb2Se4Te1 (GSST) has recently received a lot of attention due to the large index contrast between its amorphous and crystalline states with significantly low optical loss in the optical to near-IR spectrum. In this paper, we propose a tunable and reconfigurable hybrid PCM plasmonic nanostructure composed of a spacer layer of GSST sandwiched between a Ag back reflector and a 1D Ag Fabry-Perot grating structure. We use the finite element method (FEM) to numerically calculate the light absorption, absorption contrast, and figure of merit of the plasmonic nanostructure for both the amorphous and crystalline state of the GSST. Our calculations show that with constant structural variation the observed multimode absorption is drastically modified when the GSST undergoes a phase change from the amorphous to the crystalline state. The absorption contrast spectrum, which is defined as the absorption difference between the amorphous and crystalline state of GSST, shows four extrema modes between 70% and 89%. The figure of merit spectrum shows two large values of 44.39 and 37.78 at the 1502 nm and 2063 nm wavelengths, respectively. We also address the observed modes in the absorption contrast spectrum through spatial representation of the enhanced electric field distribution at their corresponding wavelengths. We show how the phase change in the GSST spacer can control the coupling between the optical cavity modes and the Ag surface plasmon resonance modes in the cavities and GSST spacer strip boundaries. The findings in this paper may open new avenues toward the design of next-generation photonic systems such as thermal emission controllers, sensors, ranging holograms, modulators and optical detection devices.

Single-chain antibody-decorated Au nanocages@liposomal layer nanoprobes for targeted SERS imaging and remote-controlled photothermal therapy of melanoma cancer cells.

The development of theranostic platforms combining surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) imaging with NIR-stimulated photothermal therapy (PTT) is of utmost importance for the precise diagnosis and selective treatment of cancers, especially in superficial solid tumors. For this purpose, a versatile theranostic nanoprobe of liposomal layer-coated Au nanocages (AuNCs) was decorated with an anti-MUC18 single-chain antibody (scFv). 4-mercapto benzoic acid (p-MBA)-labeled AuNCs (p-AuNCs) were coated by a liposomal layer (p-AuNCs@lip), followed by conjugating anti-MUC18 scFv via post-insertion method to form immuno-liposomal layer-coated AuNCs (p-AuNCs@scFv-lip). Physicochemical characterizations of the p-AuNCs@scFv-lip were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the targeting ability and theranostic efficiency of the nanoprobe were evaluated for specific diagnosis and treatment of cancerous melanoma cells by flow cytometry, SERS mapping, and live/dead assay. The formation of lipid layer on p-AuNCs surface was confirmed by TEM imaging. After decorating the liposomal layer with scFv, a relevant red shift was observed in the UV-vis spectrum. Moreover, p-AuNCs@lip presented characteristic peaks in the Raman spectrum, which exhibited only a minor change after scFv conjugation (p-AuNCs@scFv-lip). Interestingly, the cellular uptake of AuNCs@scFv-lip by A375 cell line (MUC18+) showed a 24-fold enhancement compared with SKBR3 cells (MUC18-). AuNCs@scFv-lip specifically identified A375 cells from SKBR cells via SERS mapping and effectively killed A375 cells through the PTT mechanism. Taken together, this theranostic platform can provide a promising tool for both in situ diagnosis and remote-controlled thermal ablation of cancer cells.

Heat-coupled Gaussian continuous-wave double-pass optical parametric oscillator: thermally induced phase mismatching for periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 crystal.

In this paper, a model describing the thermal effects on the optical parametric oscillator (OPO) of Gaussian continuous waves in double-pass cavities is presented. Eight equations, including forward and backward nonlinear waves, heat, and thermally induced phase mismatching equations, were coupled and solved simultaneously to investigate the effect of heat generation on the OPO's efficiency. The model was applied for a periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 crystal with an excellent agreement with experimental data. The numerical calculations have been carried out by a homemade code written in Intel FORTRAN, which used a finite difference method.

Optical Concentrators with Simple Layered Designs.

A microwave prototype of field concentrator was recently fabricated, based on the combination of transformation optics and Fabry-Pérot resonances. Perfect electric conductors used as design elements is however, impossible when the working frequencies go to infrared or optical frequencies. Here in this paper, we show that layered structure with alternating dielectrics of positive and negative permittivities can be used to design concentrators of similar function. A practical design with only two kinds of semiconductors is suggested. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are performed to verify the concentrating effect.

Ultra-sensitive optical biosensor based on whispering gallery modes: The effect of buffer solutions refractive index on their sensitivity and performance.

BACKGROUND: Whispering gallery modes (WGM) biosensors are ultrasensitive systems that can measure amount of adsorbed layer onto the micro-cavity surface. They have many applications including protein, peptide growth, DNA and bacteria detection, molecular properties measurements and specific interaction and drug table recognitions due to their high sensitivity, compact size and label free sensing mechanism.     OBJECTIVE: In this paper we investigate the effect of buffer solution on detection of specific biomolecules in WGM biosensors through its refractive index change. METHODS: The propagation of electromagnetic waves in a dielectric microsphere is analyzed by solving Maxwell's equations through proper boundary condition to find a concise relation for micro-cavity resonance shift. RESULTS: Analysis of the buffer solution's refractive index effects on detection of BSA by WGM biosensors are presented and it was shown that even a very small change in the refractive index of buffer solution can affect the biosensor wavelength shift and the sensitivity of biosensors. CONCLUSION: This study opens up a discussion in biosensor sensitivity based on true and reliable performance of the buffer solution through its accurate determination of refractive index and behavior. To avoid expensive methods of enhancing sensitivity, one can improve the sensitivity of WGM biosensor to some extent, by means of using proper buffer solution.

Investigation of thermally-induced phase mismatching in continuous-wave second harmonic generation: a theoretical model.

A fraction of the fundamental beam energy deposited into nonlinear crystals to generate second harmonic waves (SHW) causes a temperature gradient within the crystal. This temperature inhomogeneity can alter the refractive index of the medium leading to a well-known effect called thermal dispersion. Therefore, the generated SHW suffers from thermal lensing and a longitudinal thermal phase mismatching. In this work by coupling the heat equation with second harmonic generation (SHG) formalism applied to type-II configuration along with walk-off effect, we investigate the continuous wave (CW) SHW beam profile and conversion efficiency when a non-linear KTP crystal is under induced thermal load. We have demonstrated for average and high powers, the thermal de-phasing lead to considerable reduction in SHG compared to an ideal case in which induced heat is neglected.

Analytical solution of the heat equation in a longitudinally pumped cubic solid-state laser.

Knowledge about the temperature distribution inside solid-state laser crystals is essential for calculation of thermal phase shift, thermal lensing, thermally induced birefringence, and heat-induced crystal bending. Solutions for the temperature distribution for the case of steady-state heat loading have appeared in the literature only for simple cylindrical crystal shapes and are usually based on numerical techniques. For the first time, to our knowledge, a full analytical solution of the heat equation for an anisotropic cubic cross-section solid-state crystal is presented. The crystal is assumed to be longitudinally pumped by a Gaussian pump profile. The pump power attenuation along the crystal and the real cooling mechanisms, such as convection, are considered in detail. A comparison between our analytical solutions and its numerical counterparts shows excellent agreement when just a few terms are employed in the series solutions.

Contour-path effective permittivities for the two-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method.

Effective permittivities for the two-dimensional Finite- Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method are derived using a contour path approach that accounts for the boundary conditions of the electromagnetic field at dielectric interfaces. A phenomenological formula for the effective permittivities is also proposed as an effective and simpler alternative to the previous result. Our schemes are validated using Mie theory for the scattering of a dielectric cylinder and they are compared to the usual staircase and the widely used volume-average approximations. Significant improvements in terms of accuracy and error fluctuations are demonstrated, especially in the calculation of resonances.