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Results for “Optical waveguides”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1996

Waveguides in Thin Film Polymeric Materials

Results on the fabrication of integrated optical components in polymeric materials using photo printing methods will be presented. Optical waveguides were fabricated by spin coating preoxidized silicon wafers with organic dye/polymer solution followed by soft baking. The waveguide modes were studied using prism coupling technique. Propagation losses were measured by collecting light scattered from the trace of a propagation mode by either scanning photodetector or CCD camera. We observed the formation of graded index waveguides in photosensitive polyimides after exposure of UV light from a mercury arc lamp. By using a theoretical model, an index profile was reconstructed which is in agreement with the profile reconstructed by the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin calculation technique using a modal spectrum of the waveguides. Proposed mechanism for the formation of the graded index includes photocrosslinking followed by UV curing accompanied with optical absorption increase. We also developed the prototype of a novel single-arm double-mode interferometric sensor based on our waveguides. It demonstrates high sensitivity to the chance of ambient temperature. The device can find possible applications in aeropropulsion control systems.

Sakisov, Sergey↗
NASA NTRS1974

Mode conversion in periodically disturbed thin-film waveguides

Mode conversion in a periodically perturbed thin-film optical waveguide is studied in detail. Three different types of perturbations are considered: periodic index of refraction of the film, periodic index of refraction of the substrate, and periodic boundary. The applications in filters, mode converters, and distributed feedback lasers are discussed.

Elachi, C.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Investigation of a GaAlAs Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator

A GaAs modulator operating at 0.78 to 0.88 micron wavelength has the potential to be integrated with a GaAs/GaAlAs laser diode for an integrated fiber-optic transmitter. A travelling-wave Mach-Zehnder modulator using the electro-optic effect of GaAs and operating at a wavelength of 0.82 microns has been investigated for the first time. A four layer Strip-loaded ridge optical waveguide has been analyzed using the effective index method and single mode waveguides have been designed. The electro-optic effect of GaAs has also been analyzed and a modulator using the geometry producing the maximum phase shift has been designed. A coplanar transmission line structure is used in an effort to tap the potentially higher bandwidth of travelling-wave electrodes. The modulator bandwidth has been calculated at 11.95 GHz with a required drive power of 2.335 Watts for full intensity modulation. Finally, some preliminary experiments were performed to characterize a fabrication process for the modulator.

Materna, David M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Near-Field Nanoimaging of Colloidal Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Waveguides

Bulk transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) nanostructures are regarded as promising material candidates for integrated photonics due to their high refractive index at the near-infrared wavelengths. Here in this work, colloidal TMDC waveguides with tailorable dimensions are prepared by a scalable synthetic approach. The optical waveguiding properties of colloidal nanowires are studied by the near-field nanoimaging technique. In addition to dependence on thickness and wavelength, the excitonic responses and resultant waveguide modes in TMDC nanowires can be modulated by the environmental temperature. With the high-throughput production and tunable optical properties, colloidal TMDC nanowires highlight the potential for active optical components and integrated photonic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1977

Optically activated switch/modulator using a photoconductor and two channel waveguides

An optically activated switch was fabricated on LiNbO3 substrate by deposition of photoconductor-metal electrode structure on two channel waveguides obtained by the outdiffusion process. One waveguide was overcoated with a CdS film, and served as a light detector which converted the optical signal in that waveguide into an electric signal. Utilizing the electrooptic effect, this electric signal modulated the light propagating in the second waveguide by changing the refractive index, and the cutoff condition, of the waveguiding channel between two metal electrodes. The waveguides in the optically controlled switch can be either single or multimode. The length of the device can be short in comparison with other switching schemes. When binary optical signals are applied to the two waveguides, the switch can perform logic AND, NEGATION, OR and pseudo-amplification operations.

Goldberg, L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Buried-Dielectric-Microstrip Network

Problem of obtaining very-broadband frequency response resolved with buried-dielectric-microstrip matching network incorporated into infraredwaveguide structure. Waveguide modulator structure represents state-of-the-art of integrated optical devices: Has three-dimensional shape to accommodate three quarter-wavelength-transformers for microwave impendance matching at both input and output terminals. Microwave network, along with microstrip line designed with aid of computer, integrated with optical waveguide and used to tune line-selectable CO2 laser that provides total tuning range of 30 GHz in two sidebands.

Cheo, P. K.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Optical Tapers as White-Light WGM Resonators

A theoretical analysis has revealed that tapered optical waveguides could be useful as white-light whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators. The compactness and the fixed-narrow-frequency-band nature of the resonances of prior microdisk and microsphere WGM resonators are advantageous in low-power, fixed-narrow-frequency-band applications. However for optical-processing applications in which there are requirements for power levels higher and/or spectral responses broader than those of prior microdisk and microsphere WGM resonators, white-light WGM resonators in the form of optical tapers would be preferable. The theoretical analysis was performed for a multimode, axisymmetric, circular-cross-section waveguide having a taper sufficiently smooth and gradual to justify the approximation of adiabaticity. In this approximation, the equation for the dependence of the electromagnetic field upon the axial (longitudinal) waveguide coordinate can be separated from the equation for the dependence upon the radius and the azimuthal angle.

Strekalov, Dmitry V.↗
DOE OSTI2020

System and method for plasmonic control of short pulses in optical fibers

The present disclosure relates to an optical waveguide system. The system may include a first waveguide having a core-guide and a material portion surrounding and encasing the core-guide. The core-guide enables a core-guide mode for an optical signal travelling through the core-guide. A second waveguide forms a lossy waveguide on an outer surface of the first waveguide. The construction of the second waveguide is such as to achieve a desired coupling between the core-guide mode and the lossy waveguide to control an energy level of the optical signal travelling through the core-guide.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1986

Deep levels in as-grown and Si-implanted In(0.2)Ga(0.8)As-GaAs strained-layer superlattice optical guiding structures

Trap levels in about 2-micron In(0.2)Ga(0.8)As(94 A)/GaAs(25 A) strained-layer superlattices, suitable for optical waveguides, have been identified and characterized by deep-level transient spectroscopy and optical deep-level transient spectroscopy measurements. Several dominant electron and hole traps with concentrations of approximately 10 to the 14th/cu cm, and thermal ionization energies Delta-E(T) varying from 0.20 to 0.75 eV have been detected. Except for a 0.20-eV electron trap, which might be present in the In(0.2)Ga(0.8)As well regions, all the other traps have characteristics similar to those identified in molecular-beam epitaxial GaAs. Of these, a 0.42-eV hole trap is believed to originate from Cu impurities, and the others are probably related to native defects. Upon Si implantation and halogen lamp annealing, new deep centers are created. These are electron traps with Delta-E(T) = 0.81 eV and hole traps with Delta-E(T) = 0.46 eV. Traps occurring at room temperature may present limitations for optical devices.

Dhar, S.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Optoelectronic Infrastructure for Radio Frequency and Optical Phased Arrays

Optoelectronic integrated circuits offer radiation-hardened solutions for satellite systems in addition to improved size, weight, power, and bandwidth characteristics. ODIS, Inc., has developed optoelectronic integrated circuit technology for sensing and data transfer in phased arrays. The technology applies integrated components (lasers, amplifiers, modulators, detectors, and optical waveguide switches) to a radio frequency (RF) array with true time delay for beamsteering. Optical beamsteering is achieved by controlling the current in a two-dimensional (2D) array. In this project, ODIS integrated key components to produce common RF-optical aperture operation.

Cai, Jianhong↗
NASA NTRS2007

Efficient Generation of Truncated Bessel Beams using Cylindrical Waveguides

In this paper we address efficient conversion between a Gaussian beam (a truncated plane wave) and a truncated Bessel beam of agiven order, using cylindrical optical waveguides and whispering gallery mode resonators. Utilizing a generator based on waveguides combined with whispering gallery mode resonators, we have realized Bessel beams of the order of 200 with a conversion efficiency exceeding 10 %.

laser beam shaping↗
NASA NTRS1983

Integrated optics for fiber gyro's

Expected advantages of incorporating integrated optical waveguide components into fiber gyroscopes are summarized. The structural-simplicity benefits which can be achieved through the use of solid-state lasers, and integrated and fiber optics are examined; angular rate noise and random walk drift for the current technology in the 0.84-micron wavelength region are reported as 0.00001 deg/sec and 0.0002 deg/hr to the 1/2, respectively. The state-of-the-art in the pertinent materials research is reviewed; lithium niobate, suggested to be used as a waveguide substrate material, is noted to have a complex chemistry that is not yet fully understood. However, most of the optical and electrooptical components of a fiber gyro are conceptually understood and have been demonstrated.

Goss, W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nonlinear Topological Photonics: Capturing Nonlinear Dynamics and Optical Thermodynamics

Combining multiple optical resonators or engineering dispersion of complex media has provided an effective method for demonstrating topological physics controlling photons in unprecedented ways such as unidirectional light propagation and spatially localized modes between an interface or on a corner. Further, adding nonlinear responses to those topological photonic systems has enabled achieving diverse phases of photons in both space and time, allowing for more functionalities in photonic devices that provide a new playground for studying dynamic features of nonlinear topological systems. However, most methods for describing nonlinear topological photonic systems rely on linear topological theories, making it challenging to accurately characterize the topology of nonlinear systems. Thus, substantial efforts have focused on rigorously describing nonlinear topological phases and developing effective tools to analyze nonlinear topological effects. Meanwhile, coupled multimode optical waveguides with nonlinear dynamic responses provide an excellent platform for the statistical description of photons, opening a new paradigm called “optical thermodynamics”. This review will introduce the basic concepts of nonlinear topological photonics and the recent development of theoretical approaches focusing on data-driven approaches for creating phase diagrams as well as the spectral localizer framework and the pseudospectrum method for understanding optical nonlinearities in topological systems. In addition, the new concept of optical thermodynamics will be introduced with some recent theoretical works.

Topological photonics↗
NASA NTRS1992

High-speed electro-optic switch with -80 dB crosstalk

Special device modeling, design and layout, and precision processing controls were employed to fabricate new balanced-bridge 2x2 and 4x4 switches on X-cut, Y-propagation LiNbO3 substrate using Ti indiffused optical waveguides. The best of these devices achieved extinction ratio and crosstalk isolation of better than 93 dB electrically (46.5 dB optically). The new switches demonstrate good reproducibility with electrical crosstalk less than -80 dB.

Pan, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Integrated-Optic Oxygen Sensors

Compact optical oxygen sensors with self-calibration capabilities are undergoing development. A sensor of this type features a single-chip, integrated-optic design implemented by photolithographic fabrication of optical waveguides in a photosensitive porous glass. The porosity serves as both a matrix for retention of an oxygen-sensitive fluorescent indicator chemical and a medium for diffusion of oxygen to the chemical from the ambient air to be monitored. Each sensor includes at least one such waveguide exposed to the atmosphere and at least one covered with metal for isolation from the atmosphere. The covered one serves as a reference channel. In operation, the concentration of oxygen is deduced from the intensity and lifetime of the fluorescence in the exposed channel, with the help of calibration data acquired via the reference channel. Because the sensory chemical is placed directly in and throughout the cross section of the light path, approximately 99 percent of the light in the waveguide is available for interaction with the chemical, in contradistinction to only about 1 percent of the light in an optical sensor that utilizes evanescentwave coupling. Hence, a sensor of this type is significantly more sensitive.

Mendoza, Edgar A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optical sensor employing a refractive index engineered metal oxide material

An optical sensor device includes an optical waveguide portion having a core, the core having a first refractive index, and a functional material layer coupled to the optical fiber portion, the functional material layer being made of a metal oxide material, the functional material layer being structured to have a second refractive index, the second refractive index being less than the first refractive index. The functional material layer may be a nanostructure material comprising the metal oxide material with a plurality of holes or voids formed therein such that the functional material layer is caused to have the second refractive index.

Chen, Peng↗
NASA NTRS1990

Propagation characteristics of optical fiber structures with arbitrary shape and index variation

The application of the scalar wave-fast Fourier transform (SW-FFT) technique to the computation of the propagation characteristics of some complex optical fiber structures is presented. The SW-FFT technique is based on the numerical solution of the scalar wave equation by a forward-marching fast Fourier transform method. This solution yields the spatial configuration of the fields as well as its modal characteristics in and around the guiding structure. The following are treated by the SW-FFT method: analysis of coupled optical fibers and computation of their odd and even modes and coupling length; the solution of tapered optical waveguides (transitions) and the study of the effect of the slope of the taper on mode conversion; and the analysis of branching optical fibers and demonstration of their mode-filtering and/or power-dividing properties.

Manshadi, F.↗