arXiv subjects

Kestutis Staliunas

Publications and source records attributed to Kestutis Staliunas.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Normal forms of unidirectional coupling in quasi-phase-matched non-Hermitian systems

Optimal conditions for unidirectional coupling in quasi-phase-matched non-Hermitian systems are analyzed for both autonomous and externally driven configurations. The quasi-phase-matched coupling mechanism is due to periodic modulation of the real and imaginary parts of the coupling interface, which results in unequal coupling coefficients between interacting waves. The conventional parity-time (PT) symmetry theory suggests that the strongest unidirectionality should occur exactly at the exceptional point (EP). We show that this expectation is generally incorrect, as the optimum is shifted away from the EP depending on the detuning from exact quasi-phase-matching resonance. We formulate a unified two-mode description for autonomous and driven systems, and derive the corresponding normal forms near the shifted singularities associated with the EPs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Understanding all-dielectric periodically modulated coatings for normal-incidence polarization control

An ultracompact thin-film polarizer for normal-incidence (0° angle of incidence, AOI) applications is analytically and experimentally investigated. The device is based on Fano resonances in periodically nanostructured dielectric thin films, enabling polarization selective reflection and transmission due to polarization dependent resonance frequencies. The operating principle is analyzed both analytically and numerically, and the optimized structure is fabricated and experimentally characterized. Measurements demonstrate polarization contrast ratios of up to approximately 1:1000 at normal incidence. Laser-induced damage threshold measurements using nanosecond laser pulses further confirm the high damage resistance of the all-dielectric polarizer.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Oscillator Chain: A Simple Model for Universal Description of Excitation of Waveguiding Modes in Thin Films

There is no simple and universal analytical description of various micro-optical systems related with Fano resonances. This especially concern modulated thin films, which, when coupled to external fields, show Fano resonances. Usually, such micro-optic circuits are simulated numerically, frequently by the use of commercial software. We fill this gap of the lack of universal analytical description by introducing and exploring a simple mechanical equivalent, the oscillator chain, which mimic such schemes involving Fano resonances. The model does not necessary provide the rigorous description of complicated micro-optical schemes, however does capture the main properties of such Fano-related micro-optical systems. The model captures different modifications of the thin film arrangement as well: thin film with amplification, non-Hermitical thin films, and others. It also covers the case of multiple Fano resonances in a thin film. The model is compared with the rigorously calculated (Rigorous Coupled Wave analysis) wave propagation in the thin films.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Light Amplification by Active Meta-mirrors

We consider a scheme of thin films, deposited on periodically modulated amplifying materials. We show that the reflection from such meta-interface can undergo substantial amplification, due to Fano resonances in the thin films. The amplification strongly increases when the Fano waveguiding modes approach the edge of the continuum and degenerate into the leaky surface modes. The study is based on simplified analytical models, as well as on Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Light Trapping by Non-Hermitian Thin Films

One of the exceptional features of non-Hermitian systems is the unidirectional wave interactions. Simultaneous modulation of the real and the imaginary part of the interaction potentials (of the refractive index and the gain/loss in the case of optical systems) can result in unequal coupling coefficients between the fields of different parts of the system. The unidirectional coupling can also be arranged not only between the internal fields of the system but also between internal fields and external radiation. At a particular (exceptional) point the situation can be achieved, that the external radiation is efficiently coupled into the system, but the internal radiation cannot escape backwards. In this way, the incident radiation can be trapped inside the non-Hermitian system and, eventually, can be efficiently absorbed there. We realize this idea in non-Hermitically modulated thin films. The modulation consists of a Hermitian part - the periodic corrugation of the surfaces of a thin film, and a non-Hermitian part - the modulation of losses along the film. We prove numerically and demonstrate experimentally that the incident radiation, coupled with such a non-Hermitian thin film, is unidirectionally trapped into a planar mode of the film, does not escape from the film (or escape weakly due to experimental imperfections), and is efficiently absorbed there.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Hybrid patterns and solitonic frequency combs in non-Hermitian Kerr Cavities

We unveil a new scenario for the formation of dissipative localised structures in nonlinear systems. Commonly, the formation of such structures arises from the connection of a homogeneous steady state with either another homogeneous solution or a pattern. Both scenarios, typically found in cavities with normal and anomalous dispersion, respectively, exhibit unique fingerprints and particular features that characterise their behaviour. However, we show that the introduction of a periodic non-Hermitian modulation in Kerr cavities hybridises the two established soliton formation mechanisms, embodying the particular fingerprints of both. In the resulting novel scenario, the stationary states acquire a dual behaviour, playing the role that was unambiguously attributed to either homogeneous states or patterns. These fundamental findings have profound practical implications for frequency comb generation, introducing unprecedented reversible mechanisms for real-time manipulation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Extremely Narrow, Sharp-Peaked Resonances at the Edge of the Continuum

We report a critical narrowing of resonances of a driven potential well, when their eigenfrequencies approach the edge of the continuum. The resonances also obtain unusual sharp-peak shapes at the continuum boundary. The situation can be realized for the electromagnetic wave propagating across the dielectric thin films with a periodically modulated interface(s). We show the general phenomenon semi-analytically on a simplified model of a driven quantum potential well, also by rigorous numerical analysis of Maxwell equations for the wave propagation across the thin film with a modulated interface(s). We justify the phenomenon experimentally, by the measurements of light reflection from the dielectric thin film deposited on a periodically modulated surface. The narrow and sharp-peak resonances can be used for an efficient narrow-band frequency- and spatial filtering of light.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Nanostructured Multilayer Coatings for Spatial Filtering

Spatial filtering is an important mechanism to improve the spatial quality of laser beams. Typically, a confocal arrangement of lenses with a diaphragm in the focal plane is used for intracavity spatial filtering. Such conventional filtering requires access to the far-field domain. In microlasers, however, conventional filtering is impossible due to the lack of space in micro-resonators to access the far-field. Therefore, a novel concept for more compact and efficient spatial filtering is necessary. In this study, we propose and demonstrate a conceptually novel mechanism of spatial filtering in the near-field domain, by a nanostructured multilayer coating - a 2D photonic crystal structure with a periodic index modulation along the longitudinal and transverse direction to the beam propagation. The structure is built on a nano-modulated substrate, to provide the transverse periodicity. The physical vapor deposition is used to provide self-repeating modulation in the longitudinal direction. We experimentally demonstrate a 5 micron thick photonic multilayer structure composed of nanostructured multiple layers of alternating high- and low-index materials providing spatial filtering in the near-infrared frequencies with 2° low angle passband. The proposed photonic structure can be considered as an ideal component for intracavity spatial filtering in microlasers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2020

Tilted black-Si: ~0.45 form-birefringence from sub-wavelength needles

The self-organised conical needles produced by plasma etching of silicon (Si), known as black silicon (b-Si), create a form-birefringent surface texture when etching of Si orientated at angles of $θ_i < 50 - 70^\circ$ (angle between the Si surface and vertical plasma E-field). The height of the needles in the form-birefringent region following 15~min etching was $d\sim 200$ nm and had a 100 $μ$m width of the optical retardance/birefringence, characterised using polariscopy. The height of the b-Si needles corresponds closely to the skin-depth of Si $\simλ/4$ for the visible spectral range. Reflection-type polariscope with a voltage-controlled liquid-crystal retarder is proposed to directly measure the retardance $Δn\times d/λ\approx 0.15$ of the region with tilted b-Si needles. The quantified form birefringence of $Δn = - 0.45$ over $λ= 400-700$~nm spectral window was obtained. Such high values of $Δn$ at visible wavelengths can only be observed in the most birefringence calcite or barium borate as well as in liquid crystals. The replication of b-Si into Ni-shim with high fidelity was also demonstrated and can be used for imprinting of the b-Si nanopattern into other materials.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Gain-through-filtering enables tuneable frequency comb generation in passive optical resonators

Optical frequency combs (OFCs), consisting of a set of phase locked equally spaced laser frequency lines, have enabled a great leap in precision spectroscopy and metrology since seminal works of Hänsch et al. . Nowadays, OFCs are cornerstones of a wealth of further applications ranging from chemistry and biology to astrophysics and including molecular fingerprinting and LIDARs among others. Driven passive optical resonators constitute the ideal platform for OFCs generation in terms of compactness and low energy footprint. We propose here a new technique for generation of OFCs with tuneable repetition rate in externally driven optical resonators based on the gain-through-filtering process, a simple and elegant method, due to an asymmetric spectral filtering on one side of the pump wave. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept experimental result in a fibre resonator, pioneering a new technique that does not require specific engineering of the resonator dispersion to generate frequency agile OFCs.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2019

Photonic Crystal Spatial Filters Fabricated by Femtosecond Pulsed Bessel Beam

We propose and experimentally demonstrate femtosecond direct laser writing with Bessel beams for the fabrication of photonic crystals with spatial filtering functionality. Such filters are mechanically stable, of small (of order of millimeter) size, do not require direct access to the far-field domain, and therefore are excellent candidates for intracavity spatial filtering applications in mini- and micro-lasers. The technique allows the fabrication of efficient photonic crystal spatial filters in glass, with a narrow angle (~1 degree) nearly 100%-transmission pass-band between broad angle (up to 10 degrees) nearly 0%-transmission angular stop-bands. We show, that this technique can not only significantly shorten the fabrication time, but also allows the fabrication of large-scale defect-free photonic crystal spatial filters with a wide filtering band.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2019

Photonic crystal spatial filtering in broad aperture diode laser

Broad aperture semiconductor lasers usually suffer from low spatial quality of the emitted beams. Due to the highly compact character of such lasers the use of a conventional intra-cavity spatial filters is problematic. We demonstrate that extremely compact Photonic Crystal spatial filters, incorporated into the laser resonator, can improve the beam spatial quality, and correspondingly, increase the brightness of the emitted radiation. We report the decrease of the M2 from 47 down to 28 due to Photonic Crystal spatial intra-cavity filtering, and the increase of the brightness by a factor of 1.5, giving a proof of principle of intra-cavity Photonic Crystal spatial filtering in broad area semiconductor lasers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Invisibility on demand based on a generalized Hilbert transform

Designing invisible objects without the usage of extreme materials is a long-sought goal for photonic applications. Invisibility techniques demonstrated so far typically require high anisotropy, gain and losses, while also not being flexible. Here we propose an invisibility approach to suppress the scattering of waves from/to given directions and for particular frequency ranges, i.e. invisibility on demand. We derive a Born approximation-based generalized Hilbert transform for a specific invisibility arrangement relating the two quadratures of the complex permittivity of an object. The theoretical proposal is confirmed by numerical calculations, indicating that near-perfect invisibility can be attained for arbitrary objects with low-index contrast. We further demonstrate the cases where the idea can be extended to high-index objects or restricted to within practical limits by avoiding gain areas. The proposed concept opens a new route for the practical implementation of complex-shaped objects with arbitrarily suppressed scatterings determined on demand.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

All-dielectric self-cloaked structures

While practical realizations of optical invisibility have been achieved so far by various ingenious methods, they generally rely on complex materials which prevent the wide implementation of such schemes. Here, we propose an alternative indivisibility procedure to design objects (i.e. self-cloaked structures) that have optical properties identical to the surrounding environment and are, thereby, intrinsically invisible to an external observer as such (without the necessity of an external cloak). The proposed method is based on the uncoupling of the scattered waves from the incident radiation by judiciously manipulating the scattering potential of a given object. We show that such a procedure is able to yield optical invisibility for any arbitrarily shaped object within any specified frequency bandwidth by simply employing isotropic non-magnetic dielectric materials, without the usage of loss or gain material. The validity of the design principle has been verified by direct experimental observations of the spatial electric field profiles and scattering patterns at the microwave regime. Our alternative self-cloaking strategy may have profound implications especially in noninvasive probing and cloaked sensor applications, where the wave penetrability into the sensor region is essential together with its invisibility to minimize the field distortion.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Rainbow Trapping in a Chirped Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystal

Light localization and intensity enhancement in a woodpile layer-by-layer photonic crystal, whose interlayer distance along the propagation direction is gradually varied, has been theoretically predicted and experimentally demonstrated. The phenomenon is shown to be related to the progressive slowing down and stopping of the incoming wave, as a result of the gradual variation of the local dispersion. The light localization is chromatically resolved, since every frequency component is stopped and reflected back at different spatial positions. It has been further discussed that the peculiar relation between the stopping distance and the wave vector distribution can substantially increase the enhancement factor to more than two orders of magnitude. Compared to previously reported one- and two-dimensional photonic crystal configurations, the proposed scheme has the advantage of reducing the propagation losses by providing a three-dimensional photonic bandgap confinement in all directions. The slowing down and localization of waves inside photonic media can be exploited in many applications that requires enhanced interaction of light and matter.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Formation of high-order acoustic Bessel beams by spiral diffraction gratings

The formation of high-order Bessel beams by a passive acoustic device consisting of an Archimedes' spiral diffraction grating is theoretically, numerically and experimentally reported in this work. These beams are propagation-invariant solutions of the Helmholtz equation and are characterized by an azimuthal variation of the phase along its annular spectrum producing an acoustic vortex in the near field. In our system, the scattering of plane acoustic waves by the spiral grating leads to the formation of the acoustic vortex with zero pressure on-axis and the angular phase dislocations characterized by the spiral geometry. The order of the generated Bessel beam and, as a consequence, the size of the generated vortex can be fixed by the number of arms in the spiral diffraction grating. The obtained results allow to obtain Bessel beams with controllable vorticity by a passive device, which has potential applications in low-cost acoustic tweezers and acoustic radiation force devices.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2015

Efficient mode conversion in guiding structures with longitudinal modulation of nonlinearity

We describe power-dependent dynamics of conversion of the guided modes of various guiding structures due to nearly resonant longitudinal modulation of the nonlinear coefficient of the medium. It is shown that the control of the energy exchange integrals, as well as of the input weights of the interacting modes is especially crucial for efficient mode conversion in the setting considered here. Complex dynamics of conversion incorporates various scenarios, including non-harmonic oscillations of the energy weights, which mimics Jacoby elliptical functions.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Nonlinear self-collimated sound beams in sonic crystals

We report the propagation of high-intensity sound beams in a sonic crystal, under self-collimation or reduced-divergence conditions. The medium is a fluid with elastic quadratic nonlinearity, where the dominating nonlinear effect is harmonic generation. The conditions for the efficient generation of narrow, non-diverging beam of second harmonic are discussed. Numerical simulations are in agreement with the analytical predictions made, based on the linear dispersion characteristics in modulated media and the nonlinear interaction in a quadratic medium under phase matching conditions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗