Enhancement of optical levitation with hyperbolic metamaterials.

The tightly focused laser beam in an optical trap has become a useful tool for many recent research areas. The momentum change in the photon-stream path of incident laser beam induces radiation force that enables trapping and manipulating mesoscopic micron-sized objects. In this study, we report the first analytical demonstration of optical trapping and levitation with radiation pressure on a transparent micron-sized spherical object made of hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM).

Photonic crystal based interferometric design for label-free all-optical sensing applications.

Optical sensing devices has a great potential in both industrial and biomedical applications for the detection of biochemicals, toxic substances or hazardous gases thanks to their sustainability and high-selectivity characteristics. Among different kinds of optical sensors based on such as fibers, surface plasmons and resonators; photonic crystal (PC) based optical sensors enable the realization of more compact and highly efficient on-chip sensing platforms due to their intriguing dispersive relations. Interferometric devices based on PCs render possible the creation of biochemical sensors with high sensitivity since a slight change of sensor path length caused by the captured biochemicals could be detected at the output of the interferometer via the interferences of separated beams.

Beam recirculation and mode-order conversion via compact Mach-Zehnder-Fano interferometers.

In this Letter, photonic crystal (PC) waveguide-based interferometer design is studied; spectral as well as temporal analyses have been conducted. Intentional structural modifications inside the interferometer trigger Fano resonances, allowing for extraordinary optical effects, such as enhanced beam recirculation and mode-order conversion. The proposed Mach-Zehnder-Fano interferometer is compatible with conventional silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology and consists of two arms: the lower arm, with no point defects, creates continuum states, whereas the upper arm, including a Fano defect, creates discrete states.