arXiv subjects

Momchil Minkov

Publications and source records attributed to Momchil Minkov.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Experimental band structure spectroscopy along a synthetic dimension

In recent years there has been significant interest in the concepts of synthetic dimensions, where one couples the internal degrees of freedom of a particle to form higher-dimensional lattices in lower-dimensional physical structures. For these systems the concept of band structure along the synthetic dimension plays a central role in their theoretical description. Here we provide the first direct experimental measurement of the band structure along the synthetic dimension. By dynamically modulating a ring resonator at frequencies commensurate with its mode spacing, we realize a periodically driven system with a synthetic frequency dimension lattice. The strength and range of the couplings along the lattice can be dynamically reconfigured by changing the amplitude and frequency of modulation. We show theoretically and demonstrate experimentally that time-resolved transmission measurements of this system result in a direct "read out" of its band structure. We also show how long-range coupling, photonic gauge potentials and nonreciprocal bands can be realized in the system by simply incorporating additional frequency drives, enabling great flexibility in engineering the band structure.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Experimental demonstration of dynamical input isolation in nonadiabatically modulated photonic cavities

Modulated optical cavities have been proposed and demonstrated for applications in communications, laser frequency stabilization, microwave-to-optical conversion and frequency comb generation. However, most studies are restricted to the adiabatic regime, where either the maximum excursion of the modulation or the modulation frequency itself is below the linewidth of the cavity. Here, using a fiber ring resonator with an embedded electro-optic phase modulator, we investigate the nonadiabatic regime. By strongly driving the modulator at frequencies that are significantly smaller than the free-spectral range of the ring resonator, but well beyond the linewidth of the resonator, we experimentally observe counterintuitive behavior predicted in a recent theoretical study by Minkov et al. [APL Photonics 2, 076101 (2017)], such as the complete suppression of drop-port transmission even when the input laser wavelength is on resonance with the optical cavity. This can be understood as dynamical isolation of the cavity from the input light. We also show qualitative differences in the steady-state responses of the system between the adiabatic and nonadiabatic limits. Our experiments probe a seldom explored regime of operation that is promising for applications in integrated photonic systems with current state-of-the-art technology.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Zero-index bound states in the continuum

Metamaterials with an effective zero refractive index associated to their electromagnetic response are sought for a number of applications in communications and nonlinear optics. A promising way that this can be achieved in all-dielectric photonic crystals is through the design of a Dirac cone at zero Bloch wave-vector in the photonic band structure. In the optical frequency range, the natural way to implement this design is through the use of a photonic crystal slab. In the existing implementation, however, the zero-index photonic modes also radiate strongly into the environment due to intrinsic symmetry properties. This has resulted in large losses in recent experimental realizations of this zero-index paradigm. Here, we propose a photonic crystal slab with zero-index modes which are also symmetry-protected bound states in the continuum. Our approach thus eliminates the associated radiation loss. This could enable, for the first time, large-scale integration of zero-index materials in photonic devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Adjoint method and inverse design for nonlinear nanophotonic devices

The development of inverse design, where computational optimization techniques are used to design devices based on certain specifications, has led to the discovery of many compact, non-intuitive structures with superior performance. Among various methods, large-scale, gradient-based optimization techniques have been one of the most important ways to design a structure containing a vast number of degrees of freedom. These techniques are made possible by the adjoint method, in which the gradient of an objective function with respect to all design degrees of freedom can be computed using only two full-field simulations. However, this approach has so far mostly been applied to linear photonic devices. Here, we present an extension of this method to modeling nonlinear devices in the frequency domain, with the nonlinear response directly included in the gradient computation. As illustrations, we use the method to devise compact photonic switches in a Kerr nonlinear material, in which low-power and high-power pulses are routed in different directions. Our technique may lead to the development of novel compact nonlinear photonic devices.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Absence of unidirectionally propagating surface plasmon-polaritons in nonreciprocal plasmonics

In the presence of an external magnetic field, the surface plasmon polariton that exists at the metal-dielectric interface is believed to support a unidirectional frequency range near the surface plasmon frequency, where the surface plasmon polariton propagates along one but not the opposite direction. Recent works have pointed to some of the paradoxical consequences of such a unidirectional range, including in particular the violation of the time-bandwidth product constraint that should otherwise apply in general in static systems. Here we show that such a unidirectional frequency range is nonphysical, using both a general thermodynamic argument, and a detailed calculation based on a nonlocal hydrodynamic Drude model for the metal permittivity. Our calculation reveals that the surface plasmon-polariton remains bidirectional for all frequencies. This work overturns a long-held belief in nonreciprocal photonics, and highlights the importance of quantum plasmonic concepts for the understanding of nonreciprocal plasmonic effects.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Laterally confined photonic crystal surface emitting laser based on monolayer tungsten disulfide operating at room temperature

We report a photonic crystal surface emitting laser using monolayer tungsten disulfide as the gain medium. The cavity design utilizes a heterostructure in the photonic crystal lattice to provide lateral confinement for a high quality factor with a compact active region. Room temperature continuous wave lasing is realized after integrating monolayer tungsten disulfide flakes onto the silicon nitride photonic crystal on quartz substrate. Highly directional, near surface normal emission has also been experimentally demonstrated.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Training of photonic neural networks through in situ backpropagation

Recently, integrated optics has gained interest as a hardware platform for implementing machine learning algorithms. Of particular interest are artificial neural networks, since matrix-vector multi- plications, which are used heavily in artificial neural networks, can be done efficiently in photonic circuits. The training of an artificial neural network is a crucial step in its application. However, currently on the integrated photonics platform there is no efficient protocol for the training of these networks. In this work, we introduce a method that enables highly efficient, in situ training of a photonic neural network. We use adjoint variable methods to derive the photonic analogue of the backpropagation algorithm, which is the standard method for computing gradients of conventional neural networks. We further show how these gradients may be obtained exactly by performing intensity measurements within the device. As an application, we demonstrate the training of a numerically simulated photonic artificial neural network. Beyond the training of photonic machine learning implementations, our method may also be of broad interest to experimental sensitivity analysis of photonic systems and the optimization of reconfigurable optics platforms.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Unidirectional light transport in dynamically modulated waveguides

One-way edge states at the surface of photonic topological insulators are of significant interest for communications, nonlinear and quantum optics. Moreover, when reciprocity is broken in a photonic topological insulator, these states provide protection against disorder, which is of particular importance for slow light applications. Achieving such a one-way edge state, however, requires the construction of a two-dimensional structure. Here, we show how unidiriectional Floquet bands can arise in purely one-dimensional, adiabatically-modulated dynamic systems, in contrasts with the higher dimensionality needed in topological insulators. We also show that, using realistic experimental parameters, the concept can be implemented using both a coupled-resonator optical waveguide and a photonic crystal waveguide. Furthermore, we illustrate the associated protection against disorder, and find it to be of a novel nature when compared to Floquet topological insulators.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Localization and time-reversal of light through dynamic modulation

We study the dynamics of a waveguide made of coupled resonators with a sinusoidal modulation of the resonance frequencies. We present a modulation scheme that achieves complete dynamic localization and is experimentally suitable for optical cavities. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of the way the modulation is turned on and off. One striking consequence is that, while a state returns to its starting amplitude at the end of every cycle, it can also be fully time-reversed if the modulation is turned off mid-cycle. Finally, we show that localization is always achieved when the modulation envelope is adiabatic with respect to the oscillation frequency. The results are experimentally feasible using existing integrated photonic technologies, and are relevant to applications like tunable delay lines, dispersion compensation, and imaging.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

A Photonic Crystal Slab Laplace Differentiator

We introduce an implementation of a Laplace differentiator based on a photonic crystal slab that operates at transmission mode. We show that the Laplace differentiator can be implemented provided that the guided resonances near the $Γ$ point exhibit an isotropic band structure. Such a device may facilitate nanophotonics-based optical analog computing for image processing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Ultra-wide-band slow light in photonic crystal coupled-cavity waveguides

Slow light propagation in structured materials is a highly promising approach for realizing on-chip integrated photonic devices based on enhanced optical nonlinearities. One of the most successful research avenues consists in engineering the band dispersion of light-guiding photonic crystal (PC) structures. The primary goal of such devices is to achieve slow-light operation over the largest possible bandwidth, with large group index, minimal index dispersion, and constant transmission spectrum. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of to date record high GBP in silicon-based coupled-cavity waveguides (CCWs) operating at telecom wavelengths. Our results rely on novel CCW designs, optimized using a genetic algorithm, and refined nanofabrication processes.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Exact solution to the steady-state dynamics of a periodically-modulated resonator

We provide an analytic solution to the coupled-mode equations describing the steady-state of a single periodically-modulated optical resonator driven by a monochromatic input. The phenomenology of this system was qualitatively understood only in the adiabatic limit, i.e. for low modulation speed. However, both in and out of this regime, we find highly non-trivial effects for specific parameters of the modulation. For example, we show complete suppression of the transmission even with zero detuning between the input and the static resonator frequency. We also demonstrate the possibility for complete, lossless frequency conversion of the input into the side-band frequencies, as well as for optimizing the transmitted signal towards a given target temporal waveform. The analytic results are validated by first-principle simulations.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Efficient continuous-wave nonlinear frequency conversion in high-Q Gallium Nitride photonic crystal cavities on Silicon

We report on nonlinear frequency conversion from the telecom range via second harmonic generation (SHG) and third harmonic generation (THG) in suspended gallium nitride slab photonic crystal (PhC) cavities on silicon, under continuous-wave resonant excitation. Optimized two-dimensional PhC cavities with augmented far-field coupling have been characterized with quality factors as high as 4.4$\times10^{4}$, approaching the computed theoretical values. The strong enhancement in light confinement has enabled efficient SHG, achieving normalized conversion efficiency of 2.4$\times10^{-3}$ $W^{-1}$, as well as simultaneous THG. SHG emission power of up to 0.74 nW has been detected without saturation. The results herein validate the suitability of gallium nitride for integrated nonlinear optical processing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

A compact, integrated silicon device for the generation of spectrally-filtered, pair-correlated photons

The third-order non-linearity of silicon gives rise to a spontaneous four-wave mixing process in which correlated photon pairs are generated. Sources based on this effect can be used for quantum computation and cryptography, and can in principle be integrated with standard CMOS fabrication technology and components. However, one of the major challenges is the on-chip demultiplexing of the photons, and in particular the filtering of the pump power, which is many orders of magnitude larger than that of the signal and idler photons. Here, we propose a photonic crystal coupled-cavity system designed so that the coupling of the pump mode to the output channel is strictly zero due to symmetry. We further analyze this effect in presence of fabrication disorder and find that, even then, a pump suppression of close to 40 dB can be achieved in state-of-the art systems. Due to the small mode volumes and high quality factors, our system is also expected to have a generation efficiency much higher than in standard micro-ring systems. Those two considerations make a strong case for the integration of our proposed design in future on-chip quantum technologies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Haldane Quantum Hall Effect for Light in a Dynamically Modulated Array of Resonators

Topological insulators have attracted abundant attention for a variety of reasons -- notably, the possibility for lossless energy transport through edge states `protected' against disorder. Topological effects like the Quantum Hall state can be induced through a gauge field, which is however hard to create in practice, especially for charge-neutral particles. One way to induce an effective gauge potential is through a dynamic, time-periodic modulation of the lattice confining such particles. In this way, the Haldane Quantum Hall effect was recently observed in a cold atom system. Here, we show how this same effect can be induced for light confined to a lattice of identical optical resonators, using an on-site modulation of the resonant frequencies. We further demonstrate the existence of one-directional edge states immune to back-scattering losses, and discuss the possibilities for a practical implementation, which would enable slow-light devices of unprecedented quality.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Numerical treatment of disorder in PHC slabs

This work concentrates on numerical simulations of Photonic Crystal structures using basis-expansion methods, with a main focus on simulating disorder. The plane-wave and guided-mode expansions are outlined as tools to compute the Bloch modes of a structure, on the basis of which the Bloch-mode expansion formalism is outlined - the latter allowing for simulations of large structures in presence of disorder. As a first illustration of the method, we apply it to three gentle-confinement cavities, to obtain results for their quality factors similar to the theoretically predicted in the literature. Furthermore, we compute that random disorder can drive those factors down to the experimentally measured values. As a second application, we study the effect of irregular hole shapes in a PHC waveguide, and find that the correlation length of the irregularity (i.e. the typical scale of the roughness of the features) matters: for higher correlation lengths, the computed modes show both higher band broadening and higher loss rates.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Gallium nitride L3 photonic crystal cavities with an average quality factor of 16,900 in the near infrared

Photonic crystal point-defect cavities were fabricated in a GaN free-standing photonic crystal slab. The cavities are based on the popular L3 design, which was optimized using an automated process based on a genetic algorithm, in order to maximize the quality factor. Optical characterization of several individual cavity replicas resulted in an average unloaded quality factor Q = 16,900 at the resonant wavelength λ $\sim 1.3$ μm, with a maximal measured Q value of 22,500. The statistics of both the quality factor and the resonant wavelength are well explained by first-principles simulations including fabrication disorder and background optical absorption.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

High-Q silicon photonic crystal cavity for enhanced optical nonlinearities

We fabricate and experimentally characterize a $H0$ photonic crystal slab nanocavity with a design optimized for maximal quality factor, $Q = 1.7$ million. The cavity, fabricated from a silicon slab, has a resonant mode at $λ= 1.59 \mathrm{μm}$ and a measured $Q$-factor of $400,000$. It displays nonlinear effects, including high-contrast optical bistability, at a threshold power among the lowest ever reported for a silicon device. With a theoretical modal volume as small as $V = 0.34(λ/n)^3$, this cavity ranks among those with the highest $Q/V$ ratios ever demonstrated, while having a small footprint suited for integration in photonic circuits.

physics.optics↗