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Aperiodic volume optics

Nature Photonics volume 4, pages 188–193 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Volumetric integrated optical micro- and nanosystems are becoming the new frontier in photonics. Fine control over the material structure within a volume enables novel physical phenomena and previously unthinkable design freedom for spatial, spectral and temporal functions. For instance, materials have been tailored to control light through the use of metamaterials, disordered media and photonic crystals. Although periodic structures have been thoroughly investigated, volumetric aperiodic structures remain largely unexplored. The design of higher dimensional structures is of interest for controlling the multidimensional coherence function (which describes light fields) through diffraction, refraction, radiation and scattering. This report presents a three-dimensional scattering approach to the design of aperiodic volume optical elements and explores new functionalities making use of the now available three-dimensional degrees of freedom. Aperiodic volume elements that multiplex spatial and spectral information are numerically designed and experimentally demonstrated for the first time, hence expanding the traditional capabilities of volume holography, photonic crystals and diffractive optics.

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Figure 1: Relation between a 3D scattering potential and the far-field waves.
Figure 2: Ewald spheres for three different illumination conditions.
Figure 3: Projection optimization algorithm applied to volume optics design.
Figure 4: Far-field and near-field wave propagation in volume optics.
Figure 5: Performance of volume optics designs as a function of index contrast.
Figure 6: Experimental demonstration of angular and wavelength multiplexing.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thankfully acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation through the NIRT and IGERT programs (awards DMI-0304650 and DGE-0801680).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, 80309-0425, Colorado, USA

    Tim D. Gerke & Rafael Piestun

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  1. Tim D. Gerke
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  2. Rafael Piestun
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Contributions

R.P. conceived the idea and supervised the project. T.G. and R.P developed the model, algorithm and experimental plans. T.G. performed the designs, experimental fabrication, and characterization. R.P. and T.G. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Rafael Piestun.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Gerke, T., Piestun, R. Aperiodic volume optics. Nature Photon 4, 188–193 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2009.290

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