Silver-film subwavelength gratings for polarizers in the terahertz and mid-infrared regions.

Silver is proposed as a useful metal for thin metal-film subwavelength-grating polarizers in both the terahertz and mid-infrared regions. A triangular Ag-film grating for a terahertz-region polarizer fabricated on a resin substrate showed measured TE-wave losses of higher than 45 dB in the frequency range of 0.5-2.2 THz, while TM-wave losses were lower than 0.75 dB in the range of 0.5-3THz. A triangular double Ag-film grating structure on a thin silicon substrate with an anti-reflection layer on its reverse side was fabricated for the polarizer in the mid-infrared region. Measured TE-wave losses were higher than 27 dB in the wavelength range of 16-21 µm, while the minimum TM-wave loss was 3.5 dB at around the wavelength of 19 µm. Silver films are confirmed to be promising candidates for fabricating high-performance polarizers in the terahertz and mid-infrared regions.

Metal-film subwavelength-grating polarizer with low insertion losses and high extinction ratios in the terahertz region.

A metal-film subwavelength-grating polarizer with high performance in the terahertz region is presented. The polarizer was obtained by depositing a thin Au film on a resin grating with a triangular cross section duplicated from a metal mold by using the imprinting method. Microstructural parameters were investigated in detail. Measured insertion losses were less than 0.5 dB in the frequency range of 0.5-3 THz, while extinction ratios were 50 dB in the range of 0.5-2.3 THz. The proposed fabrication method is suited to mass production of large-aperture robust polarizers.

Infrared polarizer employing multiple metal-film subwavelength gratings.

A multiple thin metal-film subwavelength grating is proposed for polarizers in the infrared wavelength region of 10-20 µm. The dependence of the transmission characteristics of the polarizers on structural parameters was obtained numerically, and the potential for high performance was confirmed experimentally. The measured TE-wave losses in a polarizer comprising a triangular triple Al-film grating are more than 45 and 35 dB for the wavelength ranges of 10-16 and 16-20 µm, respectively, while the net TM-wave losses are lower than 1.5 dB in the wavelength rage of 15-20 µm.

A two-port polarization-insensitive coupler module between single-mode fiber and silicon-wire waveguide.

A two-port polarization-insensitive single-mode fiber-silicon wire-waveguide coupler module, 5.3 × 3.4 × 0.7 mm(3) in size, is realized. The spot-size converter (SSC) involved utilizes a concatenated horizontal up-taper and vertical down-taper. Measured coupling losses between the fiber and the silicon-wire waveguide of the E(11)(y) and E(11)(x) modes of the SSC are 2.8 and 2.7 dB/port, respectively. The device platform is planar, robust, and easy to fabricate with conventional lithography.

Reduction of light reflection at silicon-plate surfaces by means of subwavelength gratings in terahertz region.

We investigate triangular surface-relief gratings for reducing reflection at a planar silicon surface for light in the terahertz frequency region of 0.3-3.0THz. Structural parameters of the one- and two-dimensional (1D 2D) subwavelength gratings required for the antireflection (AR) layer were obtained numerically. Experimental results for the AR effects agreed well with those obtained numerically, except for gratings fabricated with laser ablation, which causes structural fluctuations of the grating. In the 1D grating, a high transmittance exceeding 90% for the TM wave was obtained. 2D gratings comprised of arrayed micropyramids were experimentally confirmed to be polarization insensitive.

Single-mode fiber with a plano-convex silicon microlens for an integrated butt-coupling scheme.

A single-mode fiber with plano-convex silicon microlens is proposed for butt-coupling between single-mode fibers and high-index-contrast waveguides with fine mode-field diameter. The lensed fiber has two specific features, high focusing power, and null working distance. The theoretical focus-spot diameter at the endface of the lensed fiber is calculated to be as small as 0.56 microm at a wavelength 1.55 microm. A simple fabrication method for the lensed fiber employing chemical etching and rf-sputtering is presented. Experiments showed that the mode-field-diameter of a single-mode fiber was successfully contracted from 10.5 to 1.3 microm with the lensed fiber.

Rugate filters fabricated by a radio frequency magnetron sputtering system by use of an optical in situ monitoring technique.

We propose, for the first time to our knowledge, a new feedback fabrication technique for rugate filters with sinusoidal refractive index distribution. The technique uses an in situ optical monitoring system, in contrast to conventional techniques for rugate filters that are based on time control, which is generally unsuitable for accurate fabrication of a continuous index distribution. We employed a-SiOx:H thin film as the material for the rugate filters because its refractive index can be successively controlled. Using the proposed technique and material, we fabricated near-infrared rugate minus filters having multiple and continuous refractive index distributions. The experimental and calculated spectra were well correlated as a result of applying the proposed feedback fabrication technique.

a-Si:H/SiO2 multilayer films fabricated by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering for optical filters.

We examined the optical properties of a-Si:H/SiO2 multilayer films fabricated by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering for optical bandpass filters (BPFs). Because of the high refractive-index contrast between a-Si:H and SiO2, the total number of layers of an a-Si:H/SiO2 multilayer can be relatively small. We obtained an a-Si:H refractive index of 3.6 at lambda = 1550 nm and its extinction coefficient k < 1 x 10(-4) and confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy that such small k is influenced by the Si-H bonding in the film. We fabricated a-Si:H/SiO2 BPFs by using in situ optical monitoring. Thermal tuning of a-Si:H/SiO2 BPF upon a silica substrate was also performed, and a thermal tunability coefficient of 0.07 nm/degree C was obtained.

Explicit formulas for transmission characteristics of graded-index oval core fibers.

Transmission characteristics of graded-index oval (GIO) core fibers are theoretically analyzed, and basic equations representing the specific properties of the fiber are obtained. Formulas for the propagation constant, the field-profile function, the cutoff condition, and the total number of guided modes are derived in explicit forms. The formula for the change of the Gaussian beam radius as a function of the propagation distance is also given, and the numerical example agrees well with experimental data and agrees completely with that obtained by the beam-propagation method. These explicit expressions are useful for finding optimum structural parameters of GIO fibers to be used in practical fields.

Variable-field aspect-ratio transformer with cascaded graded-index oval-core fibers.

A new configuration is proposed for continuously transforming aspect ratios of field-intensity distributions in optical fibers. The field aspect ratio varies in proportion to the angle between the principal axes of two cascaded graded-index oval-core fibers. The highest aspect-ratio conversion is obtained at an angle of 90 degrees. The conversion effect is numerically and experimentally confirmed, showing that a circular field is successfully transformed into an elliptical one with an aspect ratio as high as 9 at a wavelength of 0.98 microm.