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Group velocity dispersion and self phase modulation in silicon nitride waveguides

D. T. H. Tan, K. Ikeda, P. C. Sun, and Y. Fainman
The group velocity dispersion (GVD) of silicon nitride waveguides, prepared using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, is studied and characterized experimentally in support of nonlinear optics applications. We show that the dispersion may be engineered by varying the geometry of the waveguide … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 061101 (2010)] published Mon Feb 8, 2010.

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Gyrotropic photonic crystal waveguide switches

Z. Wu, Miguel Levy, V. J. Fratello, and A. M. Merzlikin
Functional photonic crystals fabricated in iron garnet films are shown to provide magnetically-controllable optical switching. Transverse-electric and transverse-magnetic stop band separation in conjunction with optical gyrotropy are utilized to selectively block and transmit near-infrared light in … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051125 (2010)] published Fri Feb 5, 2010.

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High-efficiency, large-bandwidth silicon-on-insulator grating coupler based on a fully-etched photonic crystal structure

Liu Liu (刘柳), Minhao Pu (蒲敏皓), Kresten Yvind, and Jorn M. Hvam
A grating coupler for interfacing between single-mode fibers and photonic circuits on silicon-on-insulator is demonstrated. It consists of columns of fully etched photonic crystal holes, which are made in the same lithography and etching processes used for making the silicon-on-insulator wire wavegu … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051126 (2010)] published Fri Feb 5, 2010.

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Demonstration of an air-slot mode-gap confined photonic crystal slab nanocavity with ultrasmall mode volumes

Jie Gao, James F. McMillan, Ming-Chung Wu, Jiangjun Zheng, Solomon Assefa et al.
We demonstrate experimentally an air-slot mode-gap photonic crystal cavity with quality factor of 10 and modal volume of 0.02 cubic wavelengths, based on the design of an air-slot in a width-modulated line-defect in a photonic crystal slab. The origin of the high Q air-slot cavity mode is the mode-g … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051123 (2010)] published Fri Feb 5, 2010.

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Graphene mode-lockers for fiber lasers functioned with evanescent field interaction

Yong-Won Song, Sung-Yeon Jang, Won-Suk Han, and Mi-Kyung Bae
Employing graphene as an intracavity passive power modulating element, we demonstrate the efficient laser pulsation in high pulse-energy regime with evanescent field interaction between the propagating light and graphene layer. Graphene is prepared by the solution based reduction of graphene oxide, … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051122 (2010)] published Fri Feb 5, 2010.

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Enhanced optical power and low forward voltage of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with Ga-doped ZnO transparent conducting layer

Tae-Young Park, Yong-Seok Choi, Jang-Won Kang, Jae-Ho Jeong, Seong-Ju Park et al.
Ga-doped ZnO (ZnO:Ga) films were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition as transparent conducting layers for GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The forward voltage of LEDs with ZnO:Ga was 3.3 V at 20 mA. The low forward voltage was attributed to the removal of a resistive ZnGaO phase, decrea … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051124 (2010)] published Fri Feb 5, 2010.

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Space charge limited electron emission from a Cu surface under ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation

W. Wendelen, D. Autrique, and A. Bogaerts
In this theoretical study, the electron emission from a copper surface under ultrashort pulsed laser irradiation is investigated using a one-dimensional particle in cell model. Thermionic emission as well as multiphoton photoelectron emission were taken into account. The emitted electrons create a n … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051121 (2010)] published Fri Feb 5, 2010.

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Dual wavelength emission from a terahertz quantum cascade laser

Joshua R. Freeman, Julien Madeo, Anthony Brewer, Sukhdeep Dhillon, Owen P. Marshall et al.
We describe a heterogeneous terahertz (THz) quantum cascade laser that is composed of two different active region designs. This device emits simultaneously at around 2.5 and 2.9 THz with certain frequency tunability by applied current. We also investigate the spectral gain in the structure by THz ti … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051120 (2010)] published Thu Feb 4, 2010.

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Surface plasmon excitation in silver nanowires directly deposited on a laser diode chip

Zhe Ma, Xining Zhang, Xin Guo, Qing Yang, Yaoguang Ma et al.
We demonstrate surface plasmon (SP) excitation in silver nanowires directly deposited on the emission facet of a laser diode (LD) chip. Evident light output from the silver nanowires is observed. The output is linear-polarized and is strongly dependent on the nanowire orientation. SP excitation at t … [Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 051119 (2010)] published Thu Feb 4, 2010.

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Launch of NASA’s shuttle Endeavour sparks early Monday sunrise

The shuttle began a 13-day flight to the International Space Station and the final year of shuttle operations.

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