Integrating deep convolutional surrogate solvers and particle swarm optimization for efficient inverse design of plasmonic patch nanoantennas.

Plasmonic nanoantennas with suitable far-field characteristics are of huge interest for utilization in optical wireless links, inter-/intrachip communications, LiDARs, and photonic integrated circuits due to their exceptional modal confinement. Despite its success in shaping robust antenna design theories in radio frequency and millimeter-wave regimes, conventional transmission line theory finds its validity diminished in the optical frequencies, leading to a noticeable void in a generalized theory for antenna design in the optical domain. By utilizing neural networks, and through a one-time training of the network, one can transform the plasmonic nanoantennas design into an automated, data-driven task.

Experimental demonstration of a Grover-Michelson interferometer.

We present a low-resource and robust optical implementation of the four-dimensional Grover coin, a four-port linear-optical scatterer that augments the low dimensionality of a regular beam-splitter. While prior realizations of the Grover coin required a potentially unstable ring cavity to be formed, this version of the scatterer does not exhibit any internal interference. When this Grover coin is placed in another system, it can be used for interferometry with a higher-dimensional set of optical field modes.

Superhydrophobic Anticorrosive Phosphonate-Siloxane Films Formed on Zinc with Different Surface Morphology.

The composition, structure, and protective and hydrophobic properties of nanoscale films formed layer-by-layer in solutions of sodium dodecylphosphonate (SDDP) and vinyltrimethoxysilane or -octyltriethoxysilane (OTES) on the zinc surface with different morphologies were studied by SEM, XPS, water contact angle measurements, and electrochemical and corrosion tests. The protective, hydrophobic properties of phosphonate-siloxane films on zinc and their stability in a corrosive media are determined both by the initial surface morphology and composition of the surface oxide layer, and by the nature of inhibitors. It was shown that preliminary laser texturing of the zinc surface is preferable than chemical etching to enhance the anticorrosive properties of the resulting thin films.

Plasmonic loss-mitigating broadband adiabatic polarizing beam splitter.

The intriguing analogy between quantum physics and optics has inspired the design of unconventional integrated photonics devices. In this paper, we numerically demonstrate a broadband integrated polarization beam splitter (PBS) by implementing the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) technique in a three-waveguide plasmonic system. Our proposed PBS exhibits >250 nm transverse-magnetic (TM) bandwidth with <-40 dB extinction and >150 nm transverse-electric (TE) bandwidth with <-20 dB extinction, covering the entire S-, C-, and L-bands and part of the E-band.

Tunable polarization mode conversion using thin-film lithium niobate ridge waveguide.

Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides, as an emerging technology, have proven to offer a promising platform for integrated optics, due to their strong optical confinement comparable to silicon on insulator (SOI) waveguides, while possessing the versatile properties of lithium niobate, such as high electro-optic coefficients. In this paper, we show that mode hybridization, a phenomenon widely found in vertically asymmetric waveguides, can be efficiently modulated in an LNOI ridge waveguide by electro-optic effect, leading to a polarization mode converter with 97% efficiency. Moreover, the proposed device does not require tapering or periodic poling, thereby greatly simplifying the fabrication process.