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F. A. Bovino

Publications and source records attributed to F. A. Bovino.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2011

Bacteriorhodopsin: Tunable Optical Nonlinear Magnetic Response

We report on a strong and tunable magnetic optical nonlinear response of Bacteriorhodopsin (BR) under "off resonance" femtosecond (fs) pulse excitation, by detecting the polarization map of the noncollinear second harmonic signal of an oriented BR film, as a function of the input beam power. BR is a light-driven proton pump with a unique photochemistry initiated by the all trans retinal chromophore embedded in the protein. An elegant application of this photonic molecular machine has been recently found in the new area of optogenetics, where genetic expression of BR in brain cells conferred a light responsivity to the cells enabling thus specific stimulation of neurons. The observed strong tunable magnetic nonlinear response of BR might trigger promising applications in the emerging area of pairing optogenetics and functional magnetic resonance imaging susceptible to provide an unprecedented complete functional mapping of neural circuits.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2011

Fabrication of GaN/AlGaN 1D photonic crystals designed for nonlinear optical applications

In this paper we present a reliable process to fabricate GaN/AlGaN one dimensional photonic crystal (1D-PhC) microcavities with nonlinear optical properties. We used a heterostructure with a GaN layer embedded between two Distributed Bragg Reflectors consisting of AlGaN/GaN multilayers, on sapphire substrate, designed to generate a λ= 800 nm frequency down-converted signal (χ^(2) effect) from an incident pump signal at λ= 400 nm. The heterostructure was epitaxially grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) and integrates a properly designed 1D-PhC grating, which amplifies the signal by exploiting the double effect of cavity resonance and non linear GaN enhancement. The integrated 1D-PhC microcavity was fabricate combing a high resolution e-beam writing with a deep etching technique. For the pattern transfer we used ~ 170 nm layer Cr metal etch mask obtained by means of high quality lift-off technique based on the use of bi-layer resist (PMMA/MMA). At the same time, plasma conditions have been optimized in order to achieve deeply etched structures (depth over 1 micron) with a good verticality of the sidewalls (very close to 90°). Gratings with well controlled sizes (periods of 150 nm, 230 nm and 400 nm respectively) were achieved after the pattern is transferred to the GaN/AlGaN heterostructure.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2011

GaN/AlGaN microcavities for enhancement of non linear optical effects

We present a study on the design, growth and optical characterization of a GaN/AlGaN microcavity for the enhancement of second order non linear effects. The proposed system exploits the high second order nonlinear optical response of GaN due to the non centrosymmetric crystalline structure of this material. It consists of a GaN cavity embedded between two GaN/AlGaN Distributed Bragg Reflectors designed for a reference mode coincident with a second harmonic field generated in the near UV region (~ 400 nm). Critical issues for this target are the crystalline quality of the material, together with sharp and abrupt interfaces among the multi-stacked layers. A detailed investigation on the growth evolution of GaN and AlGaN epilayers in such a configuration is reported, with the aim to obtain high quality factor in the desiderated spectral range. Non linear second harmonic generation experiments have been performed and the results were compared with bulk GaN sample, highlighting the effect of the microcavity on the non linear optical response of this material.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2009

Bound and free waves in non-collinear second harmonic generation

We analyze the relationship between the bound and the free waves in the noncollinear SHG scheme, along with the vectorial conservation law for the different components arising when there are two pump beams impinging on the sample with two different incidence angles. The generated power is systematically investigated, by varying the polarization state of both fundamental beams, while absorption is included via the Herman and Hayden correction terms. The theoretical simulations, obtained for samples which are some coherence length thick show that the resulting polarization mapping is an useful tool to put in evidence the interference between bound and free waves, as well as the effect of absorption on the interference pattern

physics.optics↗
arXiv2009

Optical polarization based logic functions (XOR or XNOR) with nonlinear Gallium nitride nanoslab

We present a scheme of XOR/XNOR logic gate, based on non phase-matched noncollinear second harmonic generation from a medium of suitable crystalline symmetry, Gallium nitride. The polarization of the noncollinear generated beam is a function of the polarization of both pump beams, thus we experimentally investigated all possible polarization combinations, evidencing that only some of them are allowed and that the nonlinear interaction of optical signals behaves as a polarization based XOR. The experimental results show the peculiarity of the nonlinear optical response associated with noncollinear excitation, and are explained using the expression for the effective second order optical nonlinearity in noncollinear scheme.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2009

Mapping the nonlinear optical susceptibility by noncollinear second harmonic generation

We present a method, based on noncollinear second harmonic generation, to evaluate the non-zero elements of the nonlinear optical susceptibility. At a fixed incidence angle, the generated signal is investigated by varying the polarization state of both fundamental beams. The resulting polarization charts allows to verify if Kleinman symmetry rules can be applied to a given material or to retrieve the absolute value of the nonlinear optical tensor terms, from a reference measurement. Experimental measurements obtained from Gallium Nitride layers are reported. The proposed method does not require an angular scan thus is useful when the generated signal is strongly affected by sample rotation

physics.optics↗
arXiv2008

Quantum Correlation Bounds for Quantum Information Experiments Optimization: the Wigner Inequality Case

Violation of modified Wigner inequality by means binary bipartite quantum system allows the discrimination between the quantum world and the classical local-realistic one, and also ensures the security of Ekert-like quantum key distribution protocol. In this paper we study both theoretically and experimentally the bounds of quantum correlation associated to the modified Wigner's inequality finding the optimal experimental configuration for its maximal violation. We also extend this analysis to the implementation of Ekert's protocol.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2006

Spatial Orientation using Quantum Telepathy

We implemented the protocol of entanglement assisted orientation in the space proposed by Brukner et al (quant-ph/0603167). We used min-max principle to evaluate the optimal entangled state and the optimal direction of polarization measurements which violate the classical bound.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2003

Experimental evidence for bounds on quantum correlations

We implemented the experiment proposed by Cabello [arXiv:quant-ph/0309172] to test the bounds of quantum correlation. As expected from the theory we found that, for certain choices of local observables, Cirel'son's bound of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality ($2\sqrt{2}$) is not reached by any quantum states.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2003

Quantum dense key distribution

This paper proposes a new protocol for quantum dense key distribution. This protocol embeds the benefits of a quantum dense coding and a quantum key distribution and is able to generate shared secret keys four times more efficiently than BB84 one. We hereinafter prove the security of this scheme against individual eavesdropping attacks, and we present preliminary experimental results, showing its feasibility.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2003

Experimental Eavesdropping Attack against Ekert's Protocol based on Wigner's Inequality

We experimentally implemented an eavesdropping attack against the Ekert protocol for quantum key distribution based on the Wigner inequality. We demonstrate a serious lack of security of this protocol when the eavesdropper gains total control of the source. In addition we tested a modified Wigner inequality which should guarantee a secure quantum key distribution.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2003

Effective fiber-coupling of entangled photons for quantum communication

We report on theoretical and experimental demonstration of high-efficiency coupling of two-photon entangled states produced in the nonlinear process of spontaneous parametric down conversion into a single-mode fiber. We determine constraints for the optimal coupling parameters. This result is crucial for practical implementation of quantum key distribution protocols with entangled states.

quant-ph↗
arXiv1999

Quantum Superposition of Parametrically Amplified Multiphoton Pure States whitin a Decoherence-Free Schroedinger-Cat Structure

The new process of quantum-injection into an optical parametric amplifier operating in entangled configuration is adopted to amplify into a large dimensionality spin 1/2 Hilbert space the quantum entanglement and superposition properties of the photon-couples generated by parametric down-conversion. The structure of the Wigner function and of the field's correlation functions shows a decoherence-free, multiphoton Schroedinger-cat behaviour of the emitted field which is largely detectable against the squeezed-vacuum noise. Furthermore, owing to its entanglement character, the system is found to exhibit multi-particle quantum nonseparability and Bell-type nonlocality properties. These relevant quantum features are analyzed for several travelling-wave optical configurations implying different input quantum-injection schemes

quant-ph↗