Refractometric Detection of Adulterated Milk Based on Multimode Interference Effects.

Fiber laser sensor based on multimode interference (MMI) effect can achieve high sensitivity with lower temperaturestrain cross sensitivity by designing optimally the MMI structure. An erbium-doped fiber laser for temperature, stress and refractive sensing based on single mode fiber spliced a short section of no-core fiber was proposed in this paper. The optical field characteristics of this MMI structure have been analyzed, indicating the spectral filtering effect existed. An erbium-doped fiber laser with the MMI structure inserted as the sensor element, the enhanced sensing sensitivity is achieved on the sensing experiments of ambient temperature, mechanical stress and liquid refractive index. The sensitivity of this MMI-based fiber laser sensor is up to 13.24 pm/°C with the measured range from 30 °C to 220 °C, 1.29pm/μe from 0 to 7776.05μe, 180.21nm/RIU from 1.34 to 1.42, respectively.

In this work, we report on the fabrication and testing of a fiber optics sensor based on multimodal interference (MMI) that is capable of measuring sugar concentration in aqueous solutions. The sensor has a simple structure, built by splicing a segment of multimode fiber (MMF) between two single-mode fibers (SMS architecture). The sensor’s operating mechanism is based on the spectral shift due to changes in the effective refractive index (RI) of the media surrounding the MMF. The optical sensor was tested with fructose and sucrose, which were diluted in distilled water in a concentration range from 0% to 18.5%. The proposed device exhibits a linear response with a sensitivity of around 0.17524 nm/% and 0.16321 nm/% for sucrose and fructose, respectively. In addition, this optical sensor shows the advantage of simple construction, low cost, and linear response, it does not require additional processes or coatings on the optical fiber.

We report on the generation of dual-wavelength noise-like pulse (NLP) from a passively mode-locked all-fiber laser based on multimode interference (MMI) effect. The theory to evaluate and design transmission spectrum of MMI filter is analyzed. A homemade MMI filter was employed in an Er-doped fiber ring laser with NPE configuration and dual-wavelength NLP at 1530 and 1600 nm was obtained with 3-dB bandwidth of 18.1 and 41.9 nm, respectively. The output had a signal-to-noise ratio higher than 35 dB and can achieve self-started operation.

Multimode interference effect in plasmonic subwavelength waveguides and an ultra-compact power splitter

We report on a novel tuning mechanism to fabricate an all-fiber tunable laser based on multimode interference (MMI) effects. It is well known that the wavelength response of MMI devices exhibits a linear dependence when the length of the multimode fiber (MMF) section. Therefore, tuning in the MMI filter is achieved using a ferrule (capillary tube of 127 μm diameter) filled with a liquid with a higher refractive index than that of the ferrule, which creates a variable liquid MMF. This liquid MMF is used to increase the effective length of the MMI filter and tuning takes place. Using this simple scheme, a tuning range of 30 nm was easily achieved, with very small insertion losses. The filter was tested within a typical Erbium doped fiber (EDF) ring laser cavity, and a tunable EDF laser covering the full C-band was demonstrated. The advantage of our laser is of course the simplicity of the tunable MMI filter, which results in an inexpensive tunable fiber laser.

We experimentally demonstrate a fiber laser refractometer based on the use of a multimode interference (MMI) fiber structure. The MMI filter is constructed with an uncladded fiber segment which acts as sensing element to determine the refractive index (RI) of liquid solutions. The laser emission, generated at the 2 μm waveband, is wavelength shifted in linear proportion to the RI of the liquid. The proposed fiber laser refractometer exhibits high sensibility of 937.81 nm/RIU.

In this Letter, topological photonic heterostructures, which are composed of finite-size photonic crystals with different topological phases, are proposed. The coupled topological edge states (CTESs), which originate from the coupling between topological edge states, are found. By using the finite element method, the multimode interference effect of CTESs is predicted and investigated. Paired and symmetrical interferences are discussed, and the respective imaging positions are calculated. In addition, the multimode interference effect is topologically protected when introducing disorders. As examples of application, frequency and power splitters of topological edge states based on the multimode interference effect are designed and demonstrated numerically. Our findings pave a new, to the best of our knowledge, way of designing topological photonic integrated circuit applications such as filters, couplers, multiplexers, and so on.

A stable and tunable linear-polarization fiber ring laser with a high side-mode-suppression ratio (SMSR) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated by using a compounded fiber filter, which is composed of a dual-pass Mach-Zehnder interferometer filter incorporating one segment of polarization-maintaining fiber and a high finesse filter. By adjusting the polarization controllers, the output laser can be tuned from 1560.37 to 1568.56 nm and an SMSR as high as 72 dB is achieved. In addition, the peak power fluctuation and wavelength shift are monitored to be less than 0.08 dB and 0.02 nm over an hour. Due to the introduction of the compounded fiber filter as a wavelength selector, the side mode of lasing output can be effectively suppressed and mode competition can be weakened. As a result, the SMSR of lasing output is increased and power stability is improved.

Multi-point fiber-optic refractive index sensor by using coreless fibers

We demonstrated a widely tunable mode-locked thulium doped fiber laser (TDFL) by using a homemade multimode interference filter (MMIF). The MMIF had a structure of single mode fiber (SMF)—multimode fiber (MMF)—SMF and three main transmission peaks at 1901.2, 1957.2 and 2043.2 nm. By mechanically bending the MMIF, the three main transmission peaks were tuned in the range of 1860–2024 nm due to multimode interference effect. By inserting the MMIF into a passively mode-locked TDFL cavity pumped by a 1570 nm fiber laser, a tunable mode-locked TDFL with a tuning range of 1919.6–2014.9 nm was achieved by adjusting the MMIF. To the best of our knowledge, such a tunable range is the largest among all-fiber tunable mode-locked TDFLs.

The wavelength shift in fiber Bragg grating does not depend directly on the total light levels, losses in the connecting fibers and couplers, or source power. However, if the tunable Fabry-Perot filter is place on the end of incident fiber, the detected time delay of modulation light is occurred due to the unmatch between the scanning time and light transmission time in the transmission fiber. Consequently, the detected peak wavelength shifts with the length of transmission fiber. Thus, the peak wavelength shift effect of Bragg reflective light transmitted in fiber with different fiber length can be obvious in the demodulator with a prepositive tunable Fabry-Perot filter. The experiment indicates the shift rates of 0.109 - 0.126 nm/km increase approximately linearly with the original peak wavelength of 1532.917 - 1560.300 nm at the fiber length of 0 - 6 km. To certify the consistency of measurement data, the criterion correction is introduced. By using the differential method of two fiber Bragg gratings with an optical path, the differential worth is compensated from the disturbance modulated by the time delay of fiber length.

We have studied organic layer-thickness dependent electrical and optical properties of bottom- and top-emission devices. Bottom-emission device was made in a structure of ITO(170 nm)/TPD(x nm)/(y nm)/LiF(0.5 nm)/Al(100 nm), and a top-emission device in a structure of glass/Al(100 nm)/TPD(x nm)/(y nm)/LiF(0.5 nm)/Al(25 nm). A hole-transport layer of TPD (N,N`-diphenyl-N,N`-di(m-tolyl)-benzidine) was thermally deposited in a range of 35 nm and 65 nm, and an emissive layer of (tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum) was successively deposited in a range of 50 nm and 100 nm. Thickness ratio between the hole-transport layer and the emissive layer was maintained to be 2:3, and a whole layer thickness was made to be in a range of 85 and 165 nm. From the current density-luminance-voltage characteristics of the bottom-emission devices, a proper thickness of the organic layer (55 nm thick TPD and 85 nm thick layer) was able to be determined. From the view-angle dependent emission spectrum of the bottom-emission device, the peak wavelength of the spectrum does not shift as the view angle increases. However, for the top-emission device, there is a blue shift in peak wavelength as the view angle increases when the total layer thickness is thicker than 140 nm. This blue shift is thought to be due to a microcavity effect in organic light-emitting diodes.

In this paper, the simulation and design of a waveguide for water turbidity sensing are presented. The structure of the proposed sensor uses a 2x2 array of multimode interference (MMI) coupler based on micro graphene waveguide for high sensitivity. The beam propagation method (BPM) are used to efficiently design the sensor structure. The structure is consist of an array of two by two elements of sensors. Each element has three sections of single mode for field input tapered to MMI as the main core sensor without cladding which is graphene based material, and then a single mode fiber as an output. In this configuration MMI responses to any change in the environment. We validate and present the results by implementing the design on a set of sucrose solution and showing how these samples lead to a sensitivity change in the sensor based on the MMI structures. Overall results, the 3D design has a feasible and effective sensing by drawing topographical distribution of suspended particles in the water.

We demonstrate a thulium-doped mode-locked fiber laser with ultra-broadband wavelength tunability for micro-strain sensing based on the multimode interference (MMI) effect in single-mode-multimode-single-mode (SMS) fiber configuration. The homemade SMS device with high performance is fusion spliced in the laser cavity, and the developed dispersion precisely managed the all-fiber structured mode-locked picosecond laser with a record-breaking wavelength tuning range from 1976 to 1916 nm while exerting axial strain on this SMS device. We experimentally explored the regularity between the strain and the central-wavelength shift of the mode-locked pulse, and for the first time to the best of the authors' knowledge, achieved the precise in-line axial strain measurement from 0 to 5385 µɛ by using the tunable ultrafast-laser-based sensor, and sensitivity is up to -11.5 pm/µɛ. With high compactness and durability, this sensor has advantages in real-time dynamic measurement over other passive devices, thus will undoubtedly find various application scenarios.

Interstellar dust contains a component that reveals its presence by emitting a broad unstructured band of light in the 540-950 nm wavelength range, referred to as extended red emission (ERE). The presence of interstellar dust and ultraviolet photons are two necessary conditions for ERE to occur. This is the basis for suggestions that attribute ERE to an interstellar dust component capable of photoluminescence. In this study, we have collected all published ERE observations with absolute-calibrated spectra for interstellar environments, where the density of ultraviolet photons can be estimated reliably. In each case, we determined the band-integrated ERE intensity, the wavelength of peak emission in the ERE band, and the efficiency with which absorbed ultraviolet photons are contributing to the ERE. The data show that radiation is not only driving the ERE, as expected for a photoluminescence process, but is modifying the ERE carrier, as manifested by a systematic increase in the ERE band's peak wavelength and a general decrease in the photon conversion efficiency with increasing densities of the prevailing exciting radiation. The overall spectral characteristics of the ERE and the observed high quantum efficiency of the ERE process are currently best matched by the recently proposed silicon nanoparticle (SNP) model. Using the experimentally established fact that ionization of semiconductor nanoparticles quenches their photoluminescence, we proceeded to test the SNP model by developing a quantitative model for the excitation and ionization equilibrium of SNPs under interstellar conditions for a wide range of radiation field densities. With a single adjustable parameter, the cross section for photoionization, the model reproduces the observations of ERE intensity and ERE efficiency remarkably well. The assumption that about 50% of the ERE carriers are neutral under radiation conditions encountered in the diffuse interstellar medium leads to a prediction of the single-photon ionization cross section of SNPs with average diameter 3.5 nm of ≤3.4 × 10-15 cm2. The shift of the ERE band's peak wavelength toward larger values with increasing radiation density requires a change of the size distribution of the actively luminescing ERE carriers through a gradual removal of the smaller particles by size-dependent photofragmentation. We propose that heat-assisted Coulomb decay of metastable, multiply charged SNPs is such a process, which selectively removes the smaller components of an existing SNP size distribution.