Terahertz (THz) heterodyne receiver systems are required by NASA to monitor gas concentrations related to the Earth's ozone depletion. To this end, NASA needs compact, solid state, tunable THz local oscillators. THz LOs have been developed using three means: 1) All-electronic LOs using mixers in combination with Gunn oscillators, 2) Hybrid Photo-electronic LOs using a cw analog of the Auston switch, and 3) All-photonic THz LOs using coherent sources, such as vapor lasers or solid-state Quantum Cascade Lasers, and down converting lasers using nonlinear crystals. In this dissertation, we began with two frequency stabilized Nd:YAG lasers, locked to a common reference cavity, as a starting point to having a stable input into a nonlinear optical frequency conversion system. Following this, we explored the nonlinear crystals useful for THz generation, and the phasematching schemes that could be employed by each. We concluded by settling on highly insulating III-V semiconductor crystals as the proper choice of nonlinear element, and put together a new phasematching method that is most useful for them.

In this work, two optical devices, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and optical fibers, are introduced. Each of these devices have performance drawbacks. The major drawbacks of organic photovoltaics is their low absorption rate due to bandgap mismatch with the solar spectrum as well as poor charge carrier mobility and short exciton diffusion length. In order to overcome some of these drawbacks and increase the efficiency of OPVs, we use plasmonic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). We report 30% increase in the efficiency of bulk-heterojunction OPV after incorporation of 50 nm AuNPs. The optical, electrical, and thermal impacts of AuNPs on the performance of PVs have been investigated experimentally and using Lumerical Solutions and COMSOL Multiphysics® simulation packages. The major contributions of AuNPs is causing near field enhancement and increasing the absorption of the structure by 65%, decreasing the extracted carrier density by quenching the excitons, changing the workfunction of the structure, as well as increasing the temperature of their surrounded medium when exited at their plasmon resonance frequency. Furthermore, one of the challenges in devices made from optical fibers such as wavelength division multiplexing systems, is self-phase modulation (SPM) which is a nonlinear phenomenon. We introduce a novel method to remove the SPM in liquid core optical fibers (LCOF) using nonlinear organic chromophores with a negative third-order susceptibility. The idea of this work is to eliminate the effective nonlinear refractive index that the optical pulses are experiencing while propagating through the LCOF. Further, a novel method is introduced to characterize the third-order optical nonlinear susceptibility of organic chromophores in LCOF system. The presented method is simple, and can be extended to the characterization of other nanoscale particles such as quantum dots and plasmonic metal nanoparticles in solutions. Finally, a convenient method is presented that enables researchers to investigate the mechanisms behind photobleaching of various materials. The photostability of materials is of great importance for their acceptance in commercial systems such as organic photovoltaics, electro-optic (EO) modulators and switches, etc. This method is based on the simultaneous detection of different signals such as second-, and third-harmonic generations as well as two-, and three-photon excitation fluorescence using multi-photon microscopy.

In this dissertation I report the development of high power pulsed fiber laser systems. These systems utilize phosphate glass fiber for active elements, instead of the industry-standard silica fiber. Because the phosphate glass allows for much higher doping of rare-earth ions than silica fibers, much shorter phosphate fibers can be used to achieve the same gain as longer silica fibers.This single-frequency laser technology was used to develop an all-fiber actively Q-switched fiber lasers. A short cavity is used to create large spacing between longitudinal modes. Using this method, we demonstrated the first all-fiber Q-switched fiber laser in the 1 micron region.In addition to creating high peak powers with Q-switched lasers, created even higher powers using fiber amplifier systems. High power fiber lasers typically produce spectral broadening through the nonlinear effects of stimulated Raman scattering, stimulated Brullion scattering, and self-phase modulation. The thresholds for these nonlinearities scale inversely with intensity and length. Thus, we used a short phosphate fiber gain stage to reduce the length, and a large core fiber final stage to reduce intensity. In this way we were able to generate high peak power pulses while avoiding visible nonlinearities, and keeping a narrow bandwidth.The immediate goal of developing these high power fiber laser systems was to generate narrowband terahertz radiation. Two different wavelengths were combined into the final amplifier stage at orthogonal polarizations. These were collimated and directed into a GaSe crystal, which has a very high figure of merit for THz generation. The two wavelengths combined in the crystal through the process of nonlinear difference frequency generation. This produced a narrowband beam of THz pulses, at higher powers than previous narrowband THz pulses produced by eyesafe fiber lasers.

The constantly increasing volume of information in modern society demands a better understanding of the physics and modeling of optical phenomena, and in particular, optical waveguides which are the central component of information systems. Two ways of advancing this physics are to push current technologies into new regimes of operation, and to study novel materials which offer superior properties for practical applications. This dissertation considers two problems, each addressing the above-mentioned demands. The first relates to the influence of high-order nonlinear effects on pulse collisions in existing high-speed communication systems. The second part is a study of pulse dynamics in a novel nanocomposite medium which offers great potential for both optical waveguide physics and applications. The nanocomposite consists of metallic nanoparticles embedded in a host medium. Under resonance conditions, the optical field excites plasmonic oscillations in the nanoparticles, which induce a strong nonlinear response.Analytical and computational tools are used to study these problems. In the first case, a double perturbation method, in which the small parameters are the reciprocal of the relative frequency of the colliding solitons and the coefficient of quintic nonlinearity, reveals that the leading order effects on collisions are radiation emission and phase shift of the colliding solitons. The analytical results are shown to agree with numerics. For the case of pulse dynamics in nanocomposite waveguides, the resonant interaction of the optical field and material excitation is studied in a slowly-varying envelope approximation, resulting in a system of partial differential equations. A family of solitary wave solutions representing the phenomenon of self-induced transparency are derived. Stability analysis reveals the solitary waves are conditionally stable, depending on the sign of the perturbation parameter. A characterization of two-pulse interaction indicates high sensitivity to relative phase, and collision dynamics vary from highly elastic to the extreme case where one wave is immediately destroyed by the collision, depositing its energy into a localized hotspot of material excitation. This last scenario represents a novel mechanism for "stopping light".

Thesis consists of introduction, followed by five main chapters and conclusions. Introduction is devoted to the explanation of filamentation process. The mechanisms responsible for filament generation and evolution are explained first and various models of the filamentation are presented as well. The second chapter is devoted to the study on supercontinuum spectrum dependence on the initial pulse diameter. The chapter 4 is devoted to the study of the filamentation in scattering medium, and covers the performed experiment, explanation of new developed numerical scheme, and finally comparison of the numerical and experimental results. The chapter 5 describes the multifilamentation with elliptical beam. The role of the four wave mixing to the filaments periodicity is briefly explained. The periodicity dependence on the wave of intensity as well the evolution of multifilamentation is shown. Three dimensional study of the modulation instability during multifilamentation process is also presented in chapter 5. The last chapter 6 is devoted to the origin of the rogue wave statistics in supercontinuum generation, and comparison of the numeric results with experimental. At the end (chapter 7) the main conclusions of the current work are presented. / Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, penki pagrindiniai skyriai ir išvados. Įvade aiškinamas sudėtingas šviesos gijų formavimosi procesas. Paaiškinami fizikiniai reiškiniai, lemiantys šviesos gijų generacijos bei evoliucijos ypatybes, supažindinama su įvairiais šviesos gijų susidarymo ir sklidimo modeliais. Antrajame skyriuje nagrinėjama pradinio pluošto diametro įtaka superkontinuumo spektrui. Trečias skyrius, skirtas šviesos gijų generacijos sklaidančioje terpėje tyrimui, apima atlikto eksperimento bei sukurtos naujos skaitmeninio modeliavimo schemos pristatymą, ir, galiausiai, skaitmeninio modeliavimo ir eksperimentinių rezultatų palyginimą. Ketvirtame skyriuje nagrinėjama daugelio gijų generacija elipsiniais pluoštais. Trumpai paaiškinta kaskadinio keturbangio maišymo įtaka šviesos gijų periodiškumui. Ištirta šviesos gijų periodo priklausomybė nuo bangos intensyvumo, ir atskleista daugelio gijų generacijos dinamika. Moduliacinio nestabilumo analizė ir jos įtaka taip pat pateikiama ketvirtame skyriuje. Penktajame skyriuje nagrinėjama ekstremalių įvykių tūrinėje Kerro terpėje atsiradimas. Palyginami plataus spektro generacijos kompiuterinio modeliavimo ir eksperimento metu surinkti statistiniai duomenys. Pabaigoje pateikti pagrindiniai darbo rezultatai ir išvados.

Disertaciją sudaro įvadas, penki pagrindiniai skyriai ir išvados. Įvade aiškinamas sudėtingas šviesos gijų formavimosi procesas. Paaiškinami fizikiniai reiškiniai, lemiantys šviesos gijų generacijos bei evoliucijos ypatybes, supažindinama su įvairiais šviesos gijų susidarymo ir sklidimo modeliais. Antrajame skyriuje nagrinėjama pradinio pluošto diametro įtaka superkontinuumo spektrui. Trečias skyrius, skirtas šviesos gijų generacijos sklaidančioje terpėje tyrimui, apima atlikto eksperimento bei sukurtos naujos skaitmeninio modeliavimo schemos pristatymą, ir, galiausiai, skaitmeninio modeliavimo ir eksperimentinių rezultatų palyginimą. Ketvirtame skyriuje nagrinėjama daugelio gijų generacija elipsiniais pluoštais. Trumpai paaiškinta kaskadinio keturbangio maišymo įtaka šviesos gijų periodiškumui. Ištirta šviesos gijų periodo priklausomybė nuo bangos intensyvumo, ir atskleista daugelio gijų generacijos dinamika. Moduliacinio nestabilumo analizė ir jos įtaka taip pat pateikiama ketvirtame skyriuje. Penktajame skyriuje nagrinėjama ekstremalių įvykių tūrinėje Kerro terpėje atsiradimas. Palyginami plataus spektro generacijos kompiuterinio modeliavimo ir eksperimento metu surinkti statistiniai duomenys. Pabaigoje pateikti pagrindiniai darbo rezultatai ir išvados. / Thesis consists of introduction, followed by five main chapters and conclusions. Introduction is devoted to the explanation of filamentation process. The mechanisms responsible for filament generation and evolution are explained first and various models of the filamentation are presented as well. The second chapter is devoted to the study on supercontinuum spectrum dependence on the initial pulse diameter. The chapter 4 is devoted to the study of the filamentation in scattering medium, and covers the performed experiment, explanation of new developed numerical scheme, and finally comparison of the numerical and experimental results. The chapter 5 describes the multifilamentation with elliptical beam. The role of the four wave mixing to the filaments periodicity is briefly explained. The periodicity dependence on the wave of intensity as well the evolution of multifilamentation is shown. Three dimensional study of the modulation instability during multifilamentation process is also presented in chapter 5. The last chapter 6 is devoted to the origin of the rogue wave statistics in supercontinuum generation, and comparison of the numeric results with experimental. At the end (chapter 7) the main conclusions of the current work are presented.

<p>All-optical devices have attracted many research interests due to their ultimately low heat dissipation compared to conventional devices based on electric-optical conversion. With recent advances in nonlinear optics, it is now possible to design the optical properties of a medium via all-optical nonlinear effects in a table-top device or even on a chip.</p><p>In this thesis, I realize all-optical control of the optical group velocity using the nonlinear process of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical fibers. The SBS-based techniques generally require very low pump power and offer a wide transparent window and a large tunable range. Moreover, my invention of the arbitrary SBS resonance tailoring technique enables engineering of the optical properties to optimize desired function performance,</p><p>which has made the SBS techniques particularly widely adapted for</p><p>various applications.</p><p>I demonstrate theoretically and experimentally how the all-optical</p><p>control of group velocity is achieved using SBS in optical fibers.</p><p>Particularly, I demonstrate that the frequency dependence of the</p><p>wavevector experienced by the signal beam can be tailored using</p><p>multi-line and broadband pump beams in the SBS process. Based on the theoretical framework, I engineer the spectral profile</p><p> to achieve two different application goals: a uniform low group velocity (slow light) within a broadband spectrum, and a group velocity with a linear dependence on the frequency detuning (group velocity dispersion or GVD).</p><p>In the broadband SBS slow light experiment, I develop a novel noise current modulation method that arbitrarily tailors the spectrum of a diode laser. Applying this method, I obtain a 5-GHz broadband SBS gain with optimized flat-topped profile, in comparison to the ~40 MHz natural linewidth of the SBS resonance. Based on the broadband SBS resonance, I build a 5-GHz optical buffer and use this optical buffer to delay a return-to-zero data sequence of rate 2.5 GHz (pulse width 200 ps). The fast noise modulation method significantly stabilizes the SBS gain and improves the signal fidelity. I obtain a tunable delay up to one pulse-width with a peak signal-to-noise ratio of 7. I also find that SBS slow light performance can be improved by avoiding competing nonlinear effects. A gain-bandwidth product of 344 dB.GHz is obtained in our system with a highly-nonlinear optical fiber.</p><p>Besides the slow light applications, I realize that group velocity dispersion is also optically controlled via the SBS process. In the very recent GVD experiment, I use a dual-line SBS resonance and obtain a tunable GVD parameter of 7.5 ns$^2$/m, which is 10$^9$ times larger than the value found in a single-mode fiber. The large GVD system is used to disperse an optical pulse with a pulse width of 28 ns, which is beyond the capability for current dispersion techniques working in the picosecond and sub picosecond region. The SBS-based all-optical control of GVD is also widely tunable and can</p><p>be applied to any wavelength within the transparent window of the</p><p>optical fiber. I expect many future extensions following this work</p><p>on the SBS-based all-optical GVD control using the readily developed SBS tailoring techniques.</p><p>Finally, I extend the basic theory of backwards SBS to describe the forward SBS observed in a highly nonlinear fiber, where asymmetric forward SBS resonances are observed at the gigahertz range. An especially large gain coefficient of 34.7 W$^{-1}$ is observed at the resonance frequency of 933.8 MHz. This is due to good overlap between the optical wave and the high order guided radial acoustic wave. The interplay from the competing process known as the Kerr effect is also accounted for in the theory.</p> / Dissertation

I present a detailed study of many-body effects associated with the interband 1s transition and intraband 1s-2p transition in two- and three-dimensional photo-excited semiconductors. I employ a previously developed excitonic model to treat effects of exchange and phase space filling. I extend the scope of the model to include static free-carrier screening. I also develop a factorization scheme to obtain a consistent set of excitonic dynamical equations. The exciton transition energies are renormalized by many-body interactions, and the excitonic dynamical equations provide simple expressions for the individual contributions of screening, phase space filling and exchange. The effects of exchange and phase space filling are quantified by a set of excitonic coefficients. I first calculate these coefficients analytically by omitting screening effects. In contrast, the screened coefficients involve multi-dimensional integrals which must be evaluated numerically. I present a detailed discussion of the numerical methods used to evaluate these integrals, which include a novel algorithm for segmenting multi-dimensional integration regions. The excitonic model correctly predicts the blue shift and bleaching of the 1s exciton resonance due to exchange and phase space filling. Free-carrier screening is found to enhance these effects by lowering the exciton binding energy. In contrast, the effects of free-carrier screening on the 1s-2p transition energy are more subtle. In the absence of free-carrier screening, exchange and phase space filling lead to a blue shift of the transition energy. However, screening decreases the 1s binding energy faster than the 2p binding energy, which in turn decreases the transition energy. Thus, screening effects oppose exchange and phase space filling, and the overall magnitude and sign of the 1s-2p transition energy shift depends on the free-carrier density. Specifically, for low-moderate excitation densities exchange and phase space filling can be dominated by screening, leading to a net red shift of the transition energy. The results for two- and three-dimensional systems are qualitatively similar, although the magnitudes of the shifts are much smaller in three dimensions. / Thesis (Master, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2011-05-31 15:58:27.222

No description available.

In 1995 Braun and co-workers reported the observation of self-channeling of femtosecond laser pulses over 20 m in air. This first observation of femtosecond filament triggered a series of studies, which discovered an exciting physics beyond the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with transparent dielectric media. This dissertation aims at comprehensive study of transient spatiotemporal phenomena (space-time transformations, pulse splitting and compression, filament propagation dynamics, supercontinuum generation and multiple filamentation) that take place during self-focusing of intense femtosecond laser pulses in various self-action regimes in transparent dielectric media with instantaneous Kerr nonlinearity. Various nonlinear optics diagnostic methods (three dimensional mapping, auto- and cross-correlation measurements, frequency resolved optical gating measurements), spatially resolved frequency spectra measurements, statistical analysis of spectral intensities and energies, numerical simulations were employed. The dissertation addresses important issues regarding complete physical understanding of the evolution cycle of femtosecond filaments in normally dispersive media, physical nature of spatiotemporal light bullets generated by filamentation in the anomalous group velocity regime, detailed statistical aspects of supercontinuum generation, and spatiotemporal characterization of multiple filaments. Analysed factors are useful for practical applications when... [to full text] / Ultratrumpiesiems šviesos impulsams sklindant skaidriose terpėse dėl jų saviveikos gali formuotis ypatingi šviesos dariniai – šviesos gijos, kurios pirmą kartą stebėtos 1995 m. Braun ir kt. Pirmuosius šviesos gijų stebėjimus sekė eilė tyrimų, kurie atskleidė įdomius femtosekundinių lazerinių impulsų saviveikos reiškinius, kartais apimančius platesnes netiesinės optikos tyrimų sritis. Šios disertacijos tikslas – išsamiai ištirti dinaminius erdvėlaikinius reiškinius (šviesos gijų sklidimą, erdvėlaikines transformacijas, impulsų skilimą ir spūdą, superkontinuumo generaciją ir daugelio šviesos gijų atsiradimą) įvairiuose intensyvių femtosekundinių lazerio impulsų saviveikos režimuose skaidriose dielektrinėse terpėse su momentiniu Kero netiesiškumu. Tyrimams naudoti įvairūs netiesinės optikos metodai (trimatė lazerinė tomografija, auto- ir kryžminės koreliacijos matavimai, dažninės skyros optinės sklendės autokoreliaciniai matavimai), erdvinės-dažninės skyros spektrų matavimas, statistinė spektrinių, energijos matavimų analizė, skaitmeninis modeliavimas. Atliktų tyrimų visuma išplečia esamas žinias apie femtosekundinių šviesos impulsų saviveiką ir netiesinių optinių sistemų dinamiką normalios ir anomalios grupinių greičių dispersijos atvejais, vedančią prie nestabilumo ir ekstremalių optinių įvykių žadinimo. Kita vertus, ištirti veiksniai naudingi praktiniuose taikymuose, kai siekiama formuoti tvarkias erdvines-laikines struktūras, žadinti ekstremalias optines bangas arba... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]