Silica optical fiber integrated with two-dimensional materials: towards opto-electro-mechanical technology

Anisotropic van der Waals Tellurene-Based Multifunctional, Polarization-Sensitive, In-Line Optical Device

Polarization plays a paramount role in scaling the optical network capacity. Anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) materials offer opportunities to exploit optical polarization-sensitive responses in various photonic and optoelectronic applications. However, the exploration of optical anisotropy in fiber in-line devices, critical for ultrafast pulse generation and modulation, remains limited. In this study, we present a fiber-integrated device based on a single-crystalline tellurene nanosheet. Benefiting from the chiral-chain crystal lattice and distinct optical dichroism of tellurene, multifunctional optical devices possessing diverse excellent properties can be achieved. By inserting the in-line device into a 1.5 μm fiber laser cavity, we generated both linearly polarized and dual-wavelength mode-locking pulses with a degree of polarization of 98% and exceptional long-term stability. Through a twisted configuration of two tellurene nanosheets, we realized an all-optical switching operation with a fast response. The multifunctional device also serves as a broadband photodetector. Notably, bipolar polarization encoding communication at 1550 nm can be achieved without any external voltage. The device's multifunctionality and stability in ambient environments established a promising prototype for integrating polarization as an additional physical dimension in fiber optical networks, encompassing diverse applications in light generation, modulation, and detection.

MXene Supported Surface Plasmon Polaritons for Optical Microfiber Ammonia Sensing

The properties of surface plasmons are notoriously dependent on the supporting materials system. However, new capabilities cannot be obtained until the technique of surface plasmon enabled by advanced two-dimensional materials is well understood. Herein, we present the experimental demonstration of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) supported by single-layered MXene flakes (Ti3C2Tx) coating on an optical microfiber and its application as an ammonia gas sensor. Enabled by its high controllability of chemical composition, unique atomistically thin layered structure, and metallic-level conductivity, MXene is capable of supporting not only plasmon resonances across a wide range of wavelengths but also a selective sensing mechanism through frequency modulation. Theoretical modeling and optics experiments reveal that, upon adsorbing ammonia molecules, the free electron motion at the interface between the SiO2 microfiber and the MXene coating is modulated (i.e., the modulation of the SPPs under applied light), thus inducing a variation in the evanescent field. Consequently, a wavelength shift is produced, effectively realizing a selective and highly sensitive ammonia sensor with a 100 ppm detection limit. The MXene supported SPPs open a promising path for the application of advanced optical techniques toward gas and chemical analysis.

Operando Decoding of Surface Chemical and Thermal Events in Photoelectrocatalysis via a Lab-Around-Microfiber Sensor

Operando decoding of the key parameters of photo-electric catalysis provides reliable information for catalytic effect evaluation and catalytic mechanism exploration. However, to capture the details of surface-localized and rapid chemical and thermal events at the nanoscale in real-time is highly challenging. A promising approach based on a lab-around-microfiber sensor capable of simulating photo-electric catalytic reactions on the surface of optical fibers as well as monitoring reactant concentration changes and catalytic heat generation processes is demonstrated. Due to the penetration depth of submicron size and the fast response ability of the evanescent field, the lab-around-microfiber sensor overcame the difficulty of reading instantaneous surface parameters in the submicron range. This sensor operando dismantled the changes in reactant concentration and temperature on the catalyst surface induced by light and voltage, respectively. It also decoded the impact of catalyst composition on the adsorption efficiency and catalytic efficiency across various wavelengths and determined the synchronized occurrence of pollutant degradation and catalytic thermal effects. Stable correlations between the real-time parameters and catalytic activities are obtained, helping to provide a basic understanding of the catalytic process and mechanism. This approach fills an important gap in the current monitoring methods of catalytic processes and heat production.

Single-fiber probes for combined sensing and imaging in biological tissue: recent developments and prospects

Single-fiber-based sensing and imaging probes enable the co-located and simultaneous observation and measurement (i.e., 'sense' and 'see') of intricate biological processes within deep anatomical structures. This innovation opens new opportunities for investigating complex physiological phenomena and potentially allows more accurate diagnosis and monitoring of disease. This prospective review starts with presenting recent studies of single-fiber-based probes for concurrent and co-located fluorescence-based sensing and imaging. Notwithstanding the successful initial demonstration of integrated sensing and imaging within single-fiber-based miniaturized devices, the realization of these devices with enhanced sensing sensitivity and imaging resolution poses notable challenges. These challenges, in turn, present opportunities for future research, including the design and fabrication of complex lens systems and fiber architectures, the integration of novel materials and other sensing and imaging techniques.

Dynamical control of nanoscale light-matter interactions in low-dimensional quantum materials

Tip-enhanced nano-spectroscopy and -imaging have significantly advanced our understanding of low-dimensional quantum materials and their interactions with light, providing a rich insight into the underlying physics at their natural length scale. Recently, various functionalities of the plasmonic tip expand the capabilities of the nanoscopy, enabling dynamic manipulation of light-matter interactions at the nanoscale. In this review, we focus on a new paradigm of the nanoscopy, shifting from the conventional role of imaging and spectroscopy to the dynamical control approach of the tip-induced light-matter interactions. We present three different approaches of tip-induced control of light-matter interactions, such as cavity-gap control, pressure control, and near-field polarization control. Specifically, we discuss the nanoscale modifications of radiative emissions for various emitters from weak to strong coupling regime, achieved by the precise engineering of the cavity-gap. Furthermore, we introduce recent works on light-matter interactions controlled by tip-pressure and near-field polarization, especially tunability of the bandgap, crystal structure, photoluminescence quantum yield, exciton density, and energy transfer in a wide range of quantum materials. We envision that this comprehensive review not only contributes to a deeper understanding of the physics of nanoscale light-matter interactions but also offers a valuable resource to nanophotonics, plasmonics, and materials science for future technological advancements.

Label-Free Biochemical Sensing Using Processed Optical Fiber Interferometry: A Review

Over the last 20 years, optical fiber-based devices have been exploited extensively in the field of biochemical sensing, with applications in many specific areas such as the food processing industry, environmental monitoring, health diagnosis, bioengineering, disease diagnosis, and the drug industry due to their compact, label-free, and highly sensitive detection. The selective and accurate detection of biochemicals is an essential part of biosensing devices, which is to be done through effective functionalization of highly specific recognition agents, such as enzymes, DNA, receptors, etc., over the transducing surface. Among many optical fiber-based sensing technologies, optical fiber interferometry-based biosensors are one of the broadly used methods with the advantages of biocompatibility, compact size, high sensitivity, high-resolution sensing, lower detection limits, operating wavelength tunability, etc. This Review provides a comprehensive review of the fundamentals as well as the current advances in developing optical fiber interferometry-based biochemical sensors. In the beginning, a generic biosensor and its several components are introduced, followed by the fundamentals and state-of-art technology behind developing a variety of interferometry-based fiber optic sensors. These include the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, the Michelson interferometer, the Fabry-Perot interferometer, the Sagnac interferometer, and biolayer interferometry (BLI). Further, several technical reports are comprehensively reviewed and compared in a tabulated form for better comparison along with their advantages and disadvantages. Further, the limitations and possible solutions for these sensors are discussed to transform these in-lab devices into commercial industry applications. At the end, in conclusion, comments on the prospects of field development toward the commercialization of sensor technology are also provided. The Review targets a broad range of audiences including beginners and also motivates the experts helping to solve the real issues for developing an industry-oriented sensing device.

Geometric Phase in Twisted Topological Complementary Pair

Geometric phase enabled by spin-orbit coupling has attracted enormous interest in optics over the past few decades. However, it is only applicable to circularly-polarized light and encounters substantial challenges when applied to wave fields lacking the intrinsic spin degree of freedom. Here, a new paradigm is presented for achieving geometric phase by elucidating the concept of topological complementary pair (TCP), which arises from the combination of two compact phase elements possessing opposite intrinsic topological charge. Twisting the TCP leads to the generation of a linearly-varying geometric phase of arbitrary order, which is quantified by the intrinsic topological charge. Notably distinct from the conventional spin-orbit coupling-based theories, the proposed geometric phase is the direct result of the cyclic evolution of orbital-angular-momentum transformation in mode space, thereby exhibiting universality across classical wave systems. As a proof of concept, the existence of this geometric phase is experimentally demonstrated using scalar acoustic waves, showcasing the remarkable ability in the precise manipulation of acoustic waves at subwavelength scales. These findings engender a fresh understanding of wave-matter interaction in compact structures and establish a promising platform for exploring geometric phase, offering significant opportunities for diverse applications in wave systems.

Functionalizing nanophotonic structures with 2D van der Waals materials

The integration of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials with nanostructures has triggered a wide spectrum of optical and optoelectronic applications. Photonic structures of conventional materials typically lack efficient reconfigurability or multifunctionality. Atomically thin 2D materials can thus generate new functionality and reconfigurability for a well-established library of photonic structures such as integrated waveguides, optical fibers, photonic crystals, and metasurfaces, to name a few. Meanwhile, the interaction between light and van der Waals materials can be drastically enhanced as well by leveraging micro-cavities or resonators with high optical confinement. The unique van der Waals surfaces of the 2D materials enable handiness in transfer and mixing with various prefabricated photonic templates with high degrees of freedom, functionalizing as the optical gain, modulation, sensing, or plasmonic media for diverse applications. Here, we review recent advances in synergizing 2D materials to nanophotonic structures for prototyping novel functionality or performance enhancements. Challenges in scalable 2D materials preparations and transfer, as well as emerging opportunities in integrating van der Waals building blocks beyond 2D materials are also discussed.

Fiber chemistry and technology: their contributions to shaping Society 5.0

Society 5.0 establishes innovations and innovativeness as the basic platforms for accelerating the development of solution-based strategies for the sustainability problems every society is facing. It features an interactive cycle operating at a society-wide level through which data are collected, analyzed and transformed into applicable technology for the real world. Transforming the current society into a super smart society requires in-depth knowledge of the Internet of Things, robotics and artificial intelligence. Being a member of the 4th industrial revolution is significant; however, it is equally important to alleviate the socioeconomic challenges associated with it and to maintain sustainability. From cellulose to carbon, fibers have utmost importance in technological applications, industrial developments and sustainability. Fibers are identified as useful energy resources, water treatment mediums, supercapacitors in electronic devices and wearable e-textiles. Therefore, knowing the chemistry behind fiber manipulation for advanced applications for Society 5.0 is beneficial. In this paper, we highlight the contributions of fibers to shaping Society 5.0 and their modifications and role in providing a sustainable environment. We highlight the chemical aspects behind tailoring fibers to provide state-of-the-art information on fiber-based products. We also provide background information on fiber technology and the sustainable development goals for a fiber-oriented Society 5.0. Scientists, researchers and specialists in this field should understand the impact of tailoring and influencing society as a whole.

Optical heating-induced spectral tuning of supercontinuum generation in liquid core fibers using multiwall carbon nanotubes

In this work, we demonstrate the optical heating modulation of soliton-based supercontinuum generation through the employment of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MW-CNTs) acting as fast and efficient heat generators. By utilizing highly dispersion-sensitive liquid-core fibers in combination with MW-CNTs coated to the outer wall of the fiber, spectral tuning of dispersive waves with response times below one second via exploiting the strong thermo-optic response of the core liquid was achieved. Local illumination of the MW-CNTs coated fiber at selected points allowed modulation of the waveguide dispersion, thus controlling the soliton fission process. Experimentally, a spectral shift of the two dispersive waves towards the region of anomalous dispersion was observed at increasing temperatures. The presented tuning concept shows great potential in the context of nonlinear photonics, as complex and dynamically reconfigurable dispersion profiles can be generated by using structured light fields. This allows investigating nonlinear frequency conversion processes under unconventional conditions, and realizing nonlinear light sources that are reconfigurable quickly.

Plasmonic metafibers electro-optic modulators

Digitalizing optical signals through electric driving signals, electro-optic modulators (EOMs) are one of the cardinal elements in modern optical communications. Most of current EOM devices are targeting on-chip integrations, which routinely suffer from high coupling losses, complex optical alignments and single-band operations. In this study, we for the first time integrate a lumped EOM device on the endfaces of a single-mode optical fiber jumper for fast amplitude modulations. Profiting from ultrathin and high quality-factor plasmonic metasurfaces, nanofabrication-friendly and highly efficient EO polymers and coupling-free connections with fiber networks, our EOM is demonstrated to allow dual-band operations (telecom O band and S band) and high-speed modulations (~1 GHz at a bias voltage of ±9 V). This work offers an avenue to 'plug-and-play' implementations of EO devices and ultracompact "all-in-fibers" optical systems for communications, imaging, sensing and many others.

Application of optical switching technology in a lunar laser ranging system based on a superconducting detector

The TianQin laser ranging station has successfully obtained the effective echo signals of the all five corner-cube reflectors on the lunar surface by using a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser with 100 Hz repetition frequency and a 2×2 array of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). The application of the SNSPD in the lunar laser ranging system (LLRS) has demonstrated its detection ability, but it loses its superconducting state and cannot work under strong stray light conditions. In this paper, a high-speed optical switch experimental device based on 100 Hz is developed to solve the application problem of the SNSPD in the LLRS, and its main technical parameters are tested. The results show that the maximum running distance of the switch is 200 µm; the switching time is better than 2 ms; and the extinction ratio is better than 57 dB. Moreover, the application of the high-speed optical switch experimental device in the lunar laser ranging system is designed, and the effective detection time between two laser pulses (10 ms) is determined to be 6.1 ms.

Microfluidic Biosensor Based on Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2) Modified Thin-Core Microfiber for Immune Detection of Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a zoonotic parasite that is widely distributed and seriously endangers public health and human health. Therefore, accurate and effective detection of T. gondii is crucial. This study proposes a microfluidic biosensor using a thin-core microfiber (TCMF) coated with molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) for immune detection of T. gondii. The single-mode fiber was fused with the thin-core fiber, and the TCMF was obtained by arc discharging and flame heating. In order to avoid interference and protect the sensing structure, the TCMF was encapsulated in the microfluidic chip. MoS₂ and T. gondii antigen were modified on the surface of TCMF for the immune detection of T. gondii. Experimental results showed that the detection range of the proposed biosensor for T. gondii monoclonal antibody solutions was 1 pg/mL to 10 ng/mL with sensitivity of 3.358 nm/log(mg/mL); the detection of limit was calculated to be 87 fg/mL through the Langmuir model; the dissociation constant and the affinity constant were calculated to be about 5.79 × 10^-13 M and 1.727 × 10¹⁴ M^-1, respectively. The specificity and clinical characteristics of the biosensor was explored. The rabies virus, pseudorabies virus, and T. gondii serum were used to confirm the excellent specificity and clinical characteristics of the biosensor, indicating that the proposed biosensor has great application potential in the biomedical field.

Three-Dimensional Displacement Measurement of Micro-Milling Tool Based on Fiber Array Encoding

The vibration of the micro-milling tool presents a significant chaotic vibration phenomenon, which has a great influence on the tool life and part machining precision, and is one of the basic problems restricting the improvement of machining efficiency and machining accuracy in micro-milling. To overcome the difficulty of the traditional vibration measurement method with the online measurement of micro-milling tool multi-dimensional vibration, a three-dimensional (3D) measurement method of the micro-milling tool is proposed based on multi-fiber array coding, which converts the tool space motion into a decoding process of the optical coding array employing the tool modulating the multi-fiber array encoding. A 6 × 6 optical fiber array was designed, and a 3D motion platform for micro-milling tools was built to verify the characteristics of the optical fiber measurement system. The measurement results show that the measuring accuracy of the system reached 1 µm, and the maximum linear error in x-, y-, and z-direction are 1.5%, 2.58%, and 2.43%, respectively; the tool space motion position measurement results show that the maximum measurement error of the measuring system was 3.4%. The designed system has unique coding characteristics for the tool position in the space of 100 µm³. It provides a new idea and realization means for the online vibration measurement of micro-milling tools.

Optical microfibers integrated with evanescent field triggered self-growing polymer nanofilms

Hybrid optical fibers have been widely investigated in different architectures to build integrated fiber photonic devices and achieve various applications. Here we proposed and fabricated hybrid microfiber waveguides with self-growing polymer nanofilms on the surfaces of microfibers triggered by evanescent field of light for the first time. We have demonstrated the polymer nanofilm of ∼50 nm can be grown on the microfiber with length up to 15 mm. In addition, the roughness of nanofilm can be optimized by controlling the triggering laser power and exposure duration, and the total transmission loss of the fabricated hybrid microfiber is less than 2 dB within a wide wavelength range. The hybrid polymer nanofilm microfiber waveguides have been characterized and their relative humidity (RH) responses have also been tested, indicating a potential for RH sensing. Our fabrication method may also be extended to construct the hybrid microfibers with different functional photopolymer materials.

Optical meta-waveguides for integrated photonics and beyond

The growing maturity of nanofabrication has ushered massive sophisticated optical structures available on a photonic chip. The integration of subwavelength-structured metasurfaces and metamaterials on the canonical building block of optical waveguides is gradually reshaping the landscape of photonic integrated circuits, giving rise to numerous meta-waveguides with unprecedented strength in controlling guided electromagnetic waves. Here, we review recent advances in meta-structured waveguides that synergize various functional subwavelength photonic architectures with diverse waveguide platforms, such as dielectric or plasmonic waveguides and optical fibers. Foundational results and representative applications are comprehensively summarized. Brief physical models with explicit design tutorials, either physical intuition-based design methods or computer algorithms-based inverse designs, are cataloged as well. We highlight how meta-optics can infuse new degrees of freedom to waveguide-based devices and systems, by enhancing light-matter interaction strength to drastically boost device performance, or offering a versatile designer media for manipulating light in nanoscale to enable novel functionalities. We further discuss current challenges and outline emerging opportunities of this vibrant field for various applications in photonic integrated circuits, biomedical sensing, artificial intelligence and beyond.

Guided mode meta-optics: metasurface-dressed waveguides for arbitrary mode couplers and on-chip OAM emitters with a configurable topological charge

Metasurface has achieved fruitful results in tailoring optical fields in free space. However, a systematic investigation on applying meta-optics to completely control waveguide modes is still elusive. Here we present a comprehensive catalog to selectively and exclusively couple free space light into arbitrary high-order waveguide modes of interest, leveraging silicon metasurface-patterned silicon nitride waveguides. By simultaneously engineering the matched phase gradient of the nanoantennas and the vectorial spatial modal overlap between the antenna near-field and target waveguide mode profile, either single or multiple high-order modes are successfully launched with high purity reaching 98%. Moreover, on-chip twisted light generators are theoretically proposed with configurable OAM topological charge ℓ from -3 to +2. This work may serve as a comprehensive framework for guided mode meta-optics and motivates further applications such as versatile integrated couplers, multiplexers, and mode-division multiplexing-based communication systems.

Surface Plasmonic Sensors: Sensing Mechanism and Recent Applications

Surface plasmonic sensors have been widely used in biology, chemistry, and environment monitoring. These sensors exhibit extraordinary sensitivity based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) or localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effects, and they have found commercial applications. In this review, we present recent progress in the field of surface plasmonic sensors, mainly in the configurations of planar metastructures and optical-fiber waveguides. In the metastructure platform, the optical sensors based on LSPR, hyperbolic dispersion, Fano resonance, and two-dimensional (2D) materials integration are introduced. The optical-fiber sensors integrated with LSPR/SPR structures and 2D materials are summarized. We also introduce the recent advances in quantum plasmonic sensing beyond the classical shot noise limit. The challenges and opportunities in this field are discussed.