Lithium niobate (LN) thin film has received much attention as an integrated photonic platform, due to its rich and great photoelectric characteristics, based on which various functional photonic devices, such as electro-optic modulators and nonlinear wavelength converters, have been demonstrated with impressive performance. As an important part of the integrated photonic system, the long-awaited laser and amplifier on the LN thin-film platform have made a series of breakthroughs and important progress recently. In this review paper, the research progress of lasers and amplifiers realized on lithium niobate thin film platforms is reviewed comprehensively. Specifically, the research progress on optically pumped lasers and amplifiers based on rare-earth ions doping of LN thin films is introduced. Some important parameters and existing limitations of the current development are discussed. In addition, the implementation scheme and research progress of electrically pumped lasers and amplifiers on LN thin-film platforms are summarized. The advantages and disadvantages of optically and electrically pumped LN thin film light sources are analyzed. Finally, the applications of LN thin film lasers and amplifiers and other on-chip functional devices are envisaged.
Microresonators with high quality factors have recently attracted much attention due to their ability to dramatically enhance light intensity by confining light within a small mode volume for a long period of time. They provide a versatile platform for researching on fundamental physics and practical applications ranging from nonlinear and quantum optics to ultrasensitive sensing. Lithium niobate (LN) is a artificial crystalline material with large electro-optical coefficients and high second-order nonlinearity, therefore, it is a good candidate for active photonic devices. Here, we report on our recent progresses on the mass fabrication of monocrystalline LN microdisk resonators with Q factors higher than 1e6 and LN-silica hybrid microdisk resonators with Q factors of the order of 1e5. The active tunable characteristics of the resonance wavelengths of the fabricated LN microdisk resonators and its based transmission modulations were demonstrated based on the electro-optic and thermo-optic effects of LN crystal.
Transverse localization of light in one-dimensional waveguide arrays with width disorder has been studied in
both linear and nonlinear regimes. Defect mode is generated in the bandgap of the disordered waveguide array
when introducing refractive index modulation into a single waveguide, and its localization strength depends on
the width disorder level of the waveguide array. The evolution of the nonlinear disordered modes with either the
self-focusing or the self-defocusing optical nonlinearities has been studied. The results show that the nonlinear
disordered modes may be delocalized significantly due to the resonant interaction with the nearby eigen modes
in the width-disordered waveguide array.
In this paper, we reviewed the theoretical and experimental studies on the manipulation of the group delay of
light based on the transverse phase modulation effect induced by a Gaussian beam. We introduced the basic
theory of slow and fast lights in a thin nonlinear material based on the transverse phase modulation effect.
We introduced a simple but effective technique to actively and chromatically control the group velocity of light
at arbitrary wavelength, therefore, eliminating the requirements on the optical nonlinearity and the photonic
resonance at the signal wavelength. Furthermore, a technique to improve the transverse-modulation-induced
relative delay of light in nonlinear media through the combination of an optical nonlinearity and a resonant
Fabry-Perot cavity was introduced and theoretically demonstrated in ruby as an example. The introduction of
a resonant Fabry-Perot cavity can improve the relative delay by orders of magnitude. The techniques of active
chromatic manipulation and resonant improvement of the group delay of light may have potential applications
in optical information processing and optical communication network.
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