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Shanhui Fan

Publications and source records attributed to Shanhui Fan.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2024

Nanoscale optical nonreciprocity with nonlinear metasurfaces

Optical nonreciprocity is manifested as a difference in the transmission of light for the opposite directions of excitation. Nonreciprocal optics is traditionally realized with relatively bulky components such as optical isolators based on the Faraday rotation, hindering the miniaturization and integration of optical systems. Here we demonstrate free-space nonreciprocal transmission through a metasurface comprised of a two-dimensional array of nanoresonators made of silicon hybridized with vanadium dioxide (VO2). This effect arises from the magneto-electric coupling between Mie modes supported by the resonator. Nonreciprocal response of the nanoresonators occurs without the need for external bias; instead, reciprocity is broken by the incident light triggering the VO2 phase transition for only one direction of incidence. Nonreciprocal transmission is broadband covering over 100 nm in the telecommunication range in the vicinity of λ=1.5 um. Each nanoresonator unit cell occupies only about 0.1 λ^3 in volume, with the metasurface thickness measuring about half-a-micron. Our self-biased nanoresonators exhibit nonreciprocity down to very low levels of intensity on the order of 150 W/cm^2 or a uW per nanoresonator. We estimate picosecond-scale transmission fall times and sub-microsecond scale transmission rise. Our demonstration brings low-power, broadband and bias-free optical nonreciprocity to the nanoscale.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2024

Measuring, processing, and generating partially coherent light with self-configuring optics

Optical phenomena always display some degree of partial coherence between their respective degrees of freedom. Partial coherence is of particular interest in multimodal systems, where classical and quantum correlations between spatial, polarization, and spectral degrees of freedom can lead to fascinating phenomena (e.g., entanglement) and be leveraged for advanced imaging and sensing modalities (e.g., in hyperspectral, polarization, and ghost imaging). Here, we present a universal method to analyze, process, and generate spatially partially coherent light in multimode systems by using self-configuring optical networks. Our method relies on cascaded self-configuring layers whose average power outputs are sequentially optimized. Once optimized, the network separates the input light into its mutually incoherent components, which is formally equivalent to a diagonalization of the input density matrix. We illustrate our method with arrays of Mach-Zehnder interferometers and show how this method can be used to perform partially coherent environmental light sensing, generation of multimode partially coherent light with arbitrary coherency matrices, and unscrambling of quantum optical mixtures. We provide guidelines for the experimental realization of this method, paving the way for self-configuring photonic devices that can automatically learn optimal modal representations of partially coherent light fields.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2024

One-dimensional non-Hermitian band structures as Riemann surfaces

We present the viewpoint of treating one-dimensional band structures as Riemann surfaces, linking the unique properties of non-Hermiticity to the geometry and topology of the Riemann surface. Branch cuts and branch points play a significant role when this viewpoint is applied to both the open-boundary spectrum and the braiding structure. An open-boundary spectrum is interpreted as branch cuts connecting certain branch points, and its consistency with the monodromy representation severely limits its possible morphology. A braid word for the Brillouin zone can be read off from its intersections with branch cuts, and its crossing number is given by the winding number of the discriminant. These results open new avenues to generate important insights into the physical behaviors of non-Hermitian systems.

math-ph↗
arXiv2023

On-Chip Multidimensional Dynamic Control of Twisted Moiré Photonic Crystal for Smart Sensing and Imaging

Reconfigurable optics, optical systems that have a dynamically tunable configuration, are emerging as a new frontier in photonics research. Recently, twisted moiré photonic crystal has become a competitive candidate for implementing reconfigurable optics because of its high degree of tunability. However, despite its great potential as versatile optics components, simultaneous and dynamic modulation of multiple degrees of freedom in twisted moiré photonic crystal has remained out of reach, severely limiting its area of application. In this paper, we present a MEMS-integrated twisted moiré photonic crystal sensor that offers precise control over the interlayer gap and twist angle between two photonic crystal layers, and demonstrate an active twisted moiré photonic crystal-based optical sensor that can simultaneously resolve wavelength and polarization. Leveraging twist- and gap-tuned resonance modes, we achieve high-accuracy spectropolarimetric reconstruction of light using an adaptive sensing algorithm over a broad operational bandwidth in the telecom range and full Poincaré sphere. Our research showcases the remarkable capabilities of multidimensional control over emergent degrees of freedom in reconfigurable nanophotonics platforms and establishes a scalable pathway towards creating comprehensive flat-optics devices suitable for versatile light manipulation and information processing tasks.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Three Dimensional Reconfigurable Optical Singularities in Bilayer Photonic Crystals

Metasurfaces and photonic crystals have revolutionized classical and quantum manipulation of light, and opened the door to studying various optical singularities related to phases and polarization states. However, traditional nanophotonic devices lack reconfigurability, hindering the dynamic switching and optimization of optical singularities. This paper delves into the underexplored concept of tunable bilayer photonic crystals (BPhCs), which offer rich interlayer coupling effects. Utilizing silicon nitride-based BPhCs, we demonstrate tunable bidirectional and unidirectional polarization singularities, along with spatiotemporal phase singularities. Leveraging these tunable singularities, we achieve dynamic modulation of bound-state-in-continuum states, unidirectional guided resonances, and both longitudinal and transverse orbital angular momentum. Our work paves the way for multidimensional control over polarization and phase, inspiring new directions in ultrafast optics, optoelectronics, and quantum optics.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Eigenenergy braids in 2D photonic crystals

We consider non-Hermitian energy band theory in two-dimensional systems, and study eigenenergy braids on slices in the two-dimensional Brillouin zone. We show the consequences of reciprocity and geometric symmetry on such eigenenergy braids. The point-gap topology of the energy bands can be found from the projection of the eigenenergy braid onto the complex energy plane. We show that the conjugacy class transitions in the eigenenergy braid results in the changes in the number of bands in a complete point-gap loop. This transition occurs at exceptional points. We numerically demonstrate these concepts using two-dimensional reciprocal and nonreciprocal photonic crystals.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Quantum correlated photons via a passive nonlinear microcavity

Photons, by nature, typically do not exhibit interactions with each other. Creating photon-photon interactions holds immense importance in both fundamental physics and quantum technologies. Currently, such interactions have only been achieved indirectly as mediated by atomic-like quantum emitters with resonant photon-atom interactions. However, the use of these indirect interactions presents substantial fundamental challenges that impede scaling and practical applications. Here we demonstrate creation of non-classical photon correlations, including photon anti-bunching, via a passive InGaP photonic integrated circuit. Our approach employs the quantum interference between uncorrelated light and the two-photon bound state, the latter of which arises from the $χ^{(2)}$-mediated photon interaction. Our work opens a new route in controlling quantum light by harnessing highly-engineerable bulk optical nonlinearities, which has significant implications for nonlinear optical quantum information processing and quantum networking.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Time-modulated near-field radiative heat transfer

We explore near-field radiative heat transfer between two bodies under time modulation by developing a rigorous fluctuational electrodynamics formalism. We demonstrate that time modulation can results in the enhancement, suppression, elimination, or reversal of radiative heat flow between the two bodies, and can be used to create a radiative thermal diode with infinite contrast ratio, as well as a near-field radiative heat engine that pumps heat from the cold to the hot bodies. The formalism reveals a fundamental symmetry relation in the radiative heat transfer coefficients that underlies these effects. Our results indicate the significant capabilities of time modulation for managing nanoscale heat flow.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Mesoscopic non-Hermitian skin effect

We discuss a generalization of the non-Hermitian skin effect to finite-size photonic structures with neither gain nor loss in the bulk and purely real energy spectrum under periodic boundary conditions (PBC). We show that such systems can still have significant portions of eigenmodes concentrated at the edges and that this edge concentration can be linked to the non-trivial point-gap topology of the size-dependent regularized PBC spectrum, accounting for the radiative losses. As an example, we consider the chiral waveguide quantum electrodynamics platform with an array of atoms coupled to the waveguide. The proposed mesoscopic analogue of the non-Hermitian skin effect could be potentially applied to other seemingly lossless photonic structures, such as chiral resonant all-dielectric metamaterials.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Experimentally Realizing Convolution Processing in the Photonic Synthetic Frequency Dimension

Convolution is an essential operation in signal and image processing and consumes most of the computing power in convolutional neural networks. Photonic convolution has the promise of addressing computational bottlenecks and outperforming electronic implementations. Performing photonic convolution in the synthetic frequency dimension, which harnesses the dynamics of light in the spectral degrees of freedom for photons, can lead to highly compact devices. Here we experimentally realize convolution operations in the synthetic frequency dimension. Using a modulated ring resonator, we synthesize arbitrary convolution kernels using a pre-determined modulation waveform with high accuracy. We demonstrate the convolution computation between input frequency combs and synthesized kernels. We also introduce the idea of an additive offset to broaden the kinds of kernels that can be implemented experimentally when the modulation strength is limited. Our work demonstrate the use of synthetic frequency dimension to efficiently encode data and implement computation tasks, leading to a compact and scalable photonic computation architecture.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Topological nature of non-Hermitian degenerate bands in structural parameter space

In photonics, band degeneracies at high-symmetry points in wavevector space have been shown to exhibit rich physical phenomena. However, obtaining degenerate bands away from such points is highly nontrivial. In this work, we achieve complex band degeneracy in a photonic crystal structure over a region of momentum space. We show that this band degeneracy corresponds to polarization-independent transmission, which can be harnessed for nonlocal metasurface design. Moreover, we find that the band degeneracy manifests as a topological singularity in the structural parameter space of the system. Our work highlights the importance of topological concepts in the design of polarization-independent photonic structures.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Tunable Magnetless Optical Isolation with Twisted Weyl Semimetals

Weyl semimetals hold great promise in revolutionizing nonreciprocal optical components due to their unique topological properties. By exhibiting nonreciprocal magneto-optical effects without necessitating an external magnetic field, these materials offer remarkable miniaturization opportunities and reduced energy consumption. However, their intrinsic topological robustness poses a challenge for applications demanding tunability. In this work, we introduce an innovative approach to enhance the tunability of their response, utilizing multilayered configurations of twisted anisotropic Weyl semimetals. Our design enables controlled and reversible isolation by adjusting the twist angle between the anisotropic layers. When implemented in the Faraday geometry within the mid-IR frequency range, our design delivers impressive isolation, exceeding 50 dB, while maintaining a minimal insertion loss of just 0.33 dB. Moreover, the in-plane anisotropy of Weyl semimetals eliminates one or both polarizers of a conventional isolator geometry, significantly reducing the overall dimensions. These results set the stage for creating highly adaptable, ultra-compact optical isolators that can propel the fields of integrated photonics and quantum technology applications to new heights.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Metasurface-Based Realization of Photonic Time Crystals

Photonic time crystals are artificial materials whose electromagnetic properties are uniform in space but periodically vary in time. The synthesis of such materials and experimental observation of their physics remain very challenging due to the stringent requirement for uniform modulation of material properties in volumetric samples. In this work, we extend the concept of photonic time crystals to two-dimensional artificial structures -- metasurfaces. We demonstrate that time-varying metasurfaces not only preserve key physical properties of volumetric photonic time crystals despite their simpler topology but also host common momentum bandgaps shared by both surface and free-space electromagnetic waves. Based on a microwave metasurface design, we experimentally confirmed the exponential wave amplification inside a momentum bandgap as well as the possibility to probe bandgap physics by external (free-space) excitations. The proposed metasurface serves as a straightforward material platform for realizing emerging photonic space-time crystals and as a realistic system for the amplification of surface-wave signals in future wireless communications.

physics.app-ph↗
arXiv2023

Universal and ultrafast quantum computation based on free-electron-polariton blockade

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), wherein a quantum emitter is coupled to electromagnetic cavity modes, is a powerful platform for implementing quantum sensors, memories, and networks. However, due to the fundamental tradeoff between gate fidelity and execution time, as well as limited scalability, the use of cavity-QED for quantum computation was overtaken by other architectures. Here, we introduce a new element into cavity-QED - a free charged particle, acting as a flying qubit. Using free electrons as a specific example, we demonstrate that our approach enables ultrafast, deterministic and universal discrete-variable quantum computation in a cavity-QED-based architecture, with potentially improved scalability. Our proposal hinges on a novel excitation blockade mechanism in a resonant interaction between a free-electron and a cavity polariton. This nonlinear interaction is faster by several orders of magnitude with respect to current photon-based cavity-QED gates, enjoys wide tunability and can demonstrate fidelities close to unity. Furthermore, our scheme is ubiquitous to any cavity nonlinearity, either due to light-matter coupling as in the Jaynes-Cummings model or due to photon-photon interactions as in a Kerr-type many-body system. In addition to promising advancements in cavity-QED quantum computation, our approach paves the way towards ultrafast and deterministic generation of highly-entangled photonic graph states and is applicable to other quantum technologies involving cavity-QED.

quant-ph↗
arXiv2023

Multi-dimensional band structure spectroscopy in the synthetic frequency dimension

The concept of synthetic dimensions in photonics provides a versatile platform in exploring multi-dimensional physics. Many of these physics are characterized by band structures in more than one dimensions. Existing efforts on band structure measurements in the photonic synthetic frequency dimension however are limited to either one-dimensional Brillouin zones or one-dimensional subsets of multi-dimensional Brillouin zones. Here we theoretically propose and experimentally demonstrate a method to fully measure multi-dimensional band structures in the synthetic frequency dimension. We use a single photonic resonator under dynamical modulation to create a multi-dimensional synthetic frequency lattice. We show that the band structure of such a lattice over the entire multi-dimensional Brillouin zone can be measured by introducing a gauge potential into the lattice Hamiltonian. Using this method, we perform experimental measurements of two-dimensional band structures of a Hermitian and a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. The measurements reveal some of the general properties of point-gap topology of the non-Hermitian Hamiltonian in more than one dimensions. Our results demonstrate experimental capabilities to fully characterize high-dimensional physical phenomena in the photonic synthetic frequency dimension.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

On-chip optical twisted bilayer photonic crystal

Recently, moiré engineering has been extensively employed for creating and studying novel electronic materials in two dimensions. However, its application in nanophotonic systems has not been widely explored so far. Here, we demonstrate that twisted bilayer photonic crystals provide a new photonic platform with twist-angle-tunable optical dispersion. Compared to twisted two-dimensional materials, twisted bilayer photonic crystals host a rich set of physics and provide a much larger number of degrees of freedom choice of material, lattice symmetry, feature size, twist angle, and interlayer gap, which promises an unprecedented toolbox for tailoring optical properties. We directly visualize the dispersion throughout the optical frequency range and show that the measured optical response is in good quantitative agreement with numerical and analytical results. Our results reveal a highly tunable band structure of twisted bilayer photonic crystals due to moiré scattering. This work opens the door to exploring unconventional physics and novel applications in photonics.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Manipulating coherence of near-field thermal radiation in time-modulated systems

We show that the spatial coherence of thermal radiation can be manipulated in time-modulated photonic systems supporting surface polaritons. We develop a fluctuational electrodynamics formalism for such systems to calculate the cross-spectral density tensor of the emitted thermal electromagnetic fields in the near-field regime. Our calculations indicate that, due to time-modulation, spatial coherence can be transferred between different frequencies, and correlations between different frequency components become possible. All these effects are unique to time-modulated systems. We also show that the decay rate of optical emitters can be controlled in the proximity of such time-modulated structure. Our findings open a promising avenue toward coherence control in thermal radiation, dynamical thermal imaging, manipulating energy transfer among thermal or optical emitters, efficient near-field radiative cooling, and engineering spontaneous emission rates of molecules.

physics.optics↗