Design and manufacture of all-dielectric nonpolarizing beam splitters

Past research on all-dielectric nonpolarizing beam splitters is reviewed. It is shown that, for a 50-nm spectral region, it is possible to design and manufacture a two-material nonpolarizing plate beam splitter for use at an angle of 45 degrees (with a measured rms reflectance of 0.50 +/- 0.01 for both s- and p-polarized incident light).     

Quantum-well enhancement of the Goos-Hänchen shift for p-polarized beams in a two-prism configuration

It is predicted that the Goos-H?nchen effect can be resonantly enhanced by placing a metallic quantum well (ultrathin film) at the dielectric-vacuum (air) interface. We study the enhancement of the phenomenon, as it appears in frustrated total internal reflection with p-polarized light, both theoretically and numerically. Starting from boundary conditions for the electromagnetic field, which in a self-consistent manner take into account the quantum-well dynamics, we derive new expressions for the amplitude reflection and transmission coefficients of light, and from these the stationary phase approximation to the Goos-H?nchen shifts is obtained. It is shown that large peaks appear in the Goos-H?nchen shift below the critical angle in reflection, and these are located at the minima for the energy reflection coefficient. Both positive and negative shifts may occur, and the number of peaks depends on the gap width. To determine the accuracy of the simple stationary phase approximation, we carry out a rigorous stationary energy-transport calculation of the Goos-H?nchen shift. Although the overall agreement between the two approaches is good, the stationary phase approach mostly overestimates the peak heights. For a Gaussian incident beam, the resonance displacement of the reflected beam can be as large as the Gaussian width parameter. It is suggested that the possible relation between the Goos-H?nchen effect and the optical tunneling phenomenon in the two-prism configuration should be reinvestigated by depositing quantum wells on the glass-vacuum interfaces to obtain a better spatial photon localization.     

Three polarization reflectometry methods for determination of optical anisotropy

Three novel methods for the determination of optical anisotropy are proposed and tested. The first, the special points method, may be applied to any uniaxially anisotropic medium and is based on the measurement of s- and p-polarized light reflectances under near-normal or grazing angles (or both) and of the Brewster angle. The second method is based on the use of the Azzam universal relationship between the Fresnel s- and p-reflection coefficients. For a flat surface and an isotropic medium, the Azzam combination of coefficients becomes zero and thus is independent of the incidence angle, whereas for a uniaxial or biaxial anisotropic sample it acquires a certain angular dependence, which may be used to determine the anisotropy of the sample. Finally, for those cases in which the anisotropy of the material of a film deposited on an isotropic substrate is itself of interest, a third method, the interference method, is suggested. This technique makes use of the different dependences of s- and p-polarized beam optical path-length changes on the variation of the angle of incidence.     

Small-angle measurement by use of a single prism

A new method of angle measurement based on the internal reflection effect is proposed that uses a single right-angle prism. We measure the angular displacement between a laser beam and the prism by detecting the changes in reflectance as a function of the angle of incidence. We achieve high linearity of measurement by taking the inverse of reflectance as the output. The inverse of reflectance is obtained from the intensities of the reflected and the transmitted beams measured by two photodiodes. Experiments with a prototype device have demonstrated that angle measurement with a range of ?500 arc sec, a nonlinearity error of ?0.1%, and a resolution of 0.1 arc sec can be readily achieved. The measurement range can be further increased with some sacrifice of linearity.     

An interferometric method for simultaneously determination the phase retardation and fast-axis azimuth angle of a wave plate

In this study, an interferometric method was proposed for the simultaneous measurement of phase retardation and fast-axis azimuth angle of a wave plate by using a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The wave plate to be tested is placed in one of the light passages in the interferometer, and two analyzers with transmission axes at horizontal and vertical orientations are arranged at the two output regions. When a linearly polarized laser light beam is passed through the interferometer, two interference light beams are simultaneously generated. Through an analysis of the intensities of the two light beams, the phase retardation and fast-axis azimuth angle of the tested wave plate can be simultaneously determined using specially derived equations. The feasibility of the proposed method was demonstrated using measurements of zero-order half-wave and zero-order quarter-wave plates. The proposed method is easy to operate, enables rapid measurement, and has high stability and accuracy.     

Quasi index matching for minimum reflectance at a dielectric-conductor interface for obliquely incident p- and s-polarized light

Conditions for reducing the reflectance of a dielectric-conductor interface for p- and s-polarized light to a minimum at any angle of incidence phi are determined. The refractive indices of a transparent immersion medium (liquid) that achieve minimum reflectance at normal incidence, phi=0, and at phi=45 degrees are independent of polarization. These indices provide sufficient data to determine the real and imaginary parts of the complex refractive index of an absorbing substrate. Reflection at a dielectric-Au interface at 500 nm wavelength is considered as an example. It is shown that the lowest possible reflectance is attained for p-polarized light at phi=45 degrees and that the associated p-reflection phase shift is also minimum at that angle. For phi> or =65 degrees the lowest reflectance of p-polarized light occurs when the ambient is vacuum or air. However, this lowest reflectance at the air-Au interface is not a true minimum in a mathematical sense.     

Second-order optical effects in seed-mediated grown palladium nanoparticles

Palladium nanoparticles deposited on SnO₂-doped In₂O₃ substrate show substantial optical second harmonic generation (SHG) in the spectral range (λ?=?120–160?nm) which is a part of the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectrum. A single crystalline Li₂ B₄ O₇ optical parametric generator (OPG) pumped by nanosecond xenon–fluorine excimer laser (EMG 500/218 (Lambda Physics)) with the wavelength 218?nm, pulse duration about 6–8?ns; pulse rate about 80?hz, average pulse power about 0.2?MW and beam diameter varying within the 1.3–7.5?nm was used to form the fundamental beam. The OPG Li₂ B₄ O₇ single crystal was cut in the XZ optical plane. We have tuned the fundamental wavelengths within the 250–320?nm spectral range varying the angle of the plane with respect to the incident pumping beam. Maximal SHG output (in the reflected SHG geometry) is observed for the incident angles 75^○–80^○ with respect to the surface normal and p-polarized incident fundamental ultraviolet beams. Spectral separation between the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) SHG intensities and the fundamental beams was performed using a VUV Seya-Numioka vacuum monochromator with spectral resolution 6?nm in the investigated spectral range. We have found that decreasing mean average palladium nanoparticle sizes favour substantial enhancement of the output SHG within the 120–160?nm spectral range. A layer of platinum nanoparticles coated on a layer of palladium nanoparticles suppresses the SHG effect indicating a quenching of the surface plasmon excitation originating from the palladium nanoparticles. The observed effect allows utilizing the palladium nanoparticles as an efficient material for frequency transformation of the UV nanosecond pulses (spectral range 240–310?nm) into the nanosecond laser pulses with wavelengths 120–160?nm.     

Optical temperature sensing based on the Goos-Hänchen effect

The possibility of constructing an optical sensor for temperature monitoring based on the Goos-H?nchen (GH) effect is explored using a theoretical model. This model considers the lateral shift of the incident beam upon reflection from a metal-dielectric interface, with the shift becoming a function of temperature due mainly to the temperature dependence of the optical properties of the metal. It is found that such a sensor can be most effective by using long wavelength p-polarized incident light at almost grazing incidence onto the metal, where significant variation of negative GH shifts can be observed as a function of the temperature.     

Variation on Zernike's phase-contrast microscope

We describe the design, construction, and testing of a variant of Zernike's phase-contrast microscope. The sample is illuminated with a white-light source through an annular aperture, which is projected onto the entrance pupil of the objective lens. In the return path the light diffracted by the sample and appearing in the interior of the objective's aperture (i.e., the test beam) is separated from the light returning in the annular region near the rim of the objective (i.e., the reference beam). The separated beams are relatively phase shifted and then combined to create an interferogram of the sample's surface on a CCD camera. It is fairly straightforward to use this system as a conventional bright-field or dark-field microscope, but its most interesting application is as a Zernike phase-contrast microscope with adjustable amplitude ratio and phase shift between test and reference beams. The ability to continuously adjust the phase of the reference beam also enables quantitative measurement of the phase imparted by the sample to the incident beam.     

Low-loss deflection prism for a laser beam with Brewster angle

A low-loss deflection prism for a laser beam is proposed, and its various characteristics such as beam quality, transmittance, deflection angle, and polarization state are presented. The prism having a trapezoidal form is made from BK7 glass and is designed for a He-Ne laser beam. When a p-polarized beam is incident on the slant surface of the prism at the Brewster angle, the totally reflected and transmitted beam is deflected by 90 degrees, and the measured transmittance is nearly 98%. The theoretical transmittances of the proposed prism are compared with those of a Pellin-Broca prism.     

Oblique incidence and observation electronic speckle-pattern interferometry

In this paper we discuss an oblique incidence and observation electronic speckle-pattern interferometer, in which we use an anamorphic prism in front of the object. A collimated beam traveling through the prism is partly reflected at the base of the prism. The reflected light is the reference beam and the transmitted light illuminates the diffuse object, thereby generating the object beam. In this scheme the object and the reference beams are collinear. A new scheme that uses two prisms and permits phase stepping is also presented.     

Significant deformations and propagation variations of Laguerre-Gaussian beams reflected and transmitted at a dielectric interface

We observe TM and TE Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) light beams reflected and transmitted at a dielectric interface near critical incidence. The intensity distribution of the reflected beam is transversely deformed near the beam waist, and that of the transmitted beam is similar to that of a diagonal Hermite-Gaussian beam. The former rotates around the optical axis by approximately pi/2 with propagation, and the latter returns to that of the incident LG beam. These observations agree well with numerical calculations based on an angular spectral analysis and are attributable to the helical wavefront of the LG beams, the sharp incidence-angle dependence of the Fresnel reflection and transmission coefficients, and the Gouy phase.     

Amplitude modulation and beam-steering properties of active binary phase gratings with reconfigurable absorption areas

By combining a binary phase grating and materials with a controllable absorption, it is shown theoretically that it is possible to modulate the light in a zero-order diffraction beam and that a high contrast level for the beam modulation can be obtained. The intensity of higher diffraction orders also changes, but it is calculated that high contrasts cannot be achieved for these higher-order beams with the active gratings that we examine. This specific modulator design that we use can be applied both for transmitted and for reflected light. Using the same ideas, one may build a beam-deflection device by varying the period of the grating by selectively changing the absorption levels in the grating. The deflection efficiency of the device can be improved compared with other designs by use of a grating with a reduced intensity of the nondeflected zero-order beam.     

Opaque optics thickness measurement using a cyclic path optical configuration setup and polarization phase shifting interferometry

Thickness measurement of an opaque optics using a cyclic path optical configuration (CPOC) setup and polarization phase shifting interferometry (PPSI) is presented. The CPOC setup is used to simultaneously focus two orthogonally polarized counterpropagating converging beams at its hypotenuse arm. The opaque optics is placed at the hypotenuse arm of the CPOC setup such that one of its surfaces reflects back one of the counterpropagating focusing beams. Because of the thickness of the opaque optics, the other focusing beam suffers a longitudinal shift in the beam focus. Applying PPSI, the longitudinal shift in the beam focus which is twice the thickness of the opaque optics is determined. The results obtained for a silicon plate of thickness 0.660 mm with a measurement uncertainty of 0.013 mm are presented.     

基于铁木辛柯梁理论的工字梁剪切变形计算方法研究

飞机机翼通常采用工字梁作为支撑结构,然而由于工字梁的几何参数改变,理论计算会受到影响,梁理论的选择会直接影响计算结果。目前,现有的工字梁挠度计算主要基于欧拉-伯努利梁理论,未充分考虑梁弯曲时存在的剪切变形。因此,本文提出了一种基于铁木辛柯梁理论的考虑剪切作用的工字梁计算方法,用于针对受集中力影响的工字梁进行计算。通过表征剪切变形对梁变形的影响,获得了剪切变形对梁的作用规律,并解释了剪切变形在梁中的变形机制。研究表明,当工字悬臂梁靠近固定端一定范围内以及梁的跨高比小于5时,计算时应考虑剪切变形的影响。该计算方法得出的内力计算理论结果与仿真及电测法结果基本一致,可以应用于实际工程计算中。     

Rapidly convergent phase-retrieval strategy for use with reflected laser light

An approach for wave-front sensing using reflected laserlight from a rough object is proposed. Light from a single laser beam is split into two beams, and the beams are launched from spatially separated apertures to illuminate an object. The reflected laser light is measured in the pupil plane of a receive telescope and in a plane conjugate to the object. By modulation of one of the two illuminator beams, the intensity pattern associated with each beam, as well as the field cross product of the two beams, is measured in each plane. A phase-retrieval algorithm is formulated by using projections onto constraint sets to recover the complex field associated with each illuminator. The algorithm is found to converge rapidly to the correct solution, particularly when compared with the convergence rates of more conventional phase-retrieval approaches. The new algorithm exhibits excellent performance in strong scintillation and is very tolerant to noise, exhibiting only a very small noise gain.     

Measurement of longitudinal displacement using lateral shearing cyclic path optical configuration setup and phase shifting interferometry

We present a technique for the measurement of longitudinal displacement using a lateral shearing cyclic path optical configuration (CPOC) setup and phase shifting interferometry. In the technique, a plane mirror mounted on a linear translation stage, placed slightly away from the focal plane of a lens, introduces a longitudinal focal shift to the incident focusing beam. The resulting spherical wavefront emerging from the lens is sheared into two orthogonally polarized beams using the CPOC setup. By applying polarization phase shifting interferometry (PPSI), the longitudinal focal shift of the beam focus is calculated by determining the slope of the optical path difference variation between the sheared beams. Similarly, the additional focal shift introduced due to longitudinal translation of the mirror, by an unknown amount, is determined using PPSI. Half of the difference between the two longitudinal focal shifts measured gives the longitudinal displacement of the mirror. The technique can be used for an extended range of distance measurement. The novelty of the technique is the introduction of CPOC for the distance measurement. The advantages of the technique compared to other related methods are discussed.     

Polarization-dependent angular-optical reflectance in solar-selective SnOx:F/Al2O3/Al reflector surfaces

Polarization-dependent angular-optical properties of spectrally selective reflector surfaces of fluorine-doped tin oxide (SnOx:F) deposited pyrolytically on anodized aluminum are reported. The angular-reflectance measurements, for which both s- and p-polarized light are used in the solar wavelength range 0.3-2.5 microm, reveal strong spectral selectivity, and the angular behavior is highly dependent on the polarizing component of the incident beam, the total film thickness, and the individual thickness of the Al2O3 and the SnO2:F layers. The anodic A12O3 layers were produced electrochemically and varied between 100 and 205 nm in thickness. The SnOx:F films were grown pyrolytically at a temperature of 400 degrees C with film thicknesses varying in the range 180-320 nm. The reflectors were aimed at silicon solar cells, and good spectrally selective reflector characteristics were achieved with these thinly preanodized, SnOx:F/Al samples; that is, high cell reflectance was obtained for wavelengths below 1.1 microm and low thermal reflectance for wavelengths above 1.1 microm, with the best samples having values of 0.80 and 0.42, respectively, at near-normal angles of incidence. This corresponds to an anodic layer thickness of 155 nm. Both the angular calculations and the experimental measurements show that the cell reflectance is relatively insensitive to the incidence angle, and a low thermal reflectance is maintained up to an angle of approximately 60 degrees.     

A novel pressure sensor based on series-coupled double microring resonators with a simple beam

We propose and analyse a novel optical pressure sensor based on series-coupled double microring resonators (SDMRRs) on a simple beam. The pressure applied on the sensor is measured through the change of the optical transmission spectrum at the output port. The optical transmission performances of the SDMRRs have been analysed and compared with the single and paralleled-coupled structures by the method of finite element analysis and numerical simulation. The simulation results showed that the stress sensitivity is 0.0225?kPa^–1 and linear measurement range of the sensor is 30?kPa. Furthermore, the influence of the amplitude transmission coefficient, half round phase shift and microring radius on the sensitivity have been investigated to optimize the sensor performance. This proposed sensor can be used for the smaller pressure detection in automotive, aerospace, oil/logging equipment and other harsh environmental application.     

长距离同轴度测量方法及实验

本文介绍了一种新型的自适应双频激光同轴度测量系统，该系统利用两个完全对称的渥拉斯顿棱镜，一个作为测量元件，另一个作为补偿元件，采用比相技术处理测量信号，因而测量元件可以暂时移出光路，能够进行同轴度的测量，系统的光学设计使激光光束的平衡和角漂不影响测量结果，对激光的漂移有自适应性，两束干涉光基本符合共光路原则，因而对大气湍流，空气扰动的影响具有更强的适应性，可用于长距离直线度，同轴度的测量。该系统与