Integrated optics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Universal cluster states for quantum computing can be assembled without feed-forward by fusing n-photon clusters with linear optics if the fusion success probability is above a threshold p. The authors bound p in terms of n and provide protocols for n = 3 clusters requiring lower fusion probability than before.

    • Mihir Pant
    • , Don Towsley
    •  & Saikat Guha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors fabricate a device that integrates multiple computer-generated holograms into a single colour print. Under white light, a colour image is seen, whereas illumination with a red, green, or blue beam from a handheld laser pointer projects three different holograms onto a distant screen.

    • Kevin T. P. Lim
    • , Hailong Liu
    •  & Joel K. W. Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controlling complex properties of optical systems, like the output of nonlinear light sources, is increasingly important for applications. Here, Wetzel et al. use an actively-controlled photonic chip to prepare patterns of femtosecond laser pulses used for tailoring supercontinuum generation.

    • Benjamin Wetzel
    • , Michael Kues
    •  & Roberto Morandotti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors introduce the folded metasurface optics architecture by demonstrating a compact high-resolution optical spectrometer made from a 1-mm-thick glass slab. The spectrometer has a resolution of 1.2 nm, resolving more than 80 spectral points in a 100-nm bandwidth centered at 810 nm.

    • MohammadSadegh Faraji-Dana
    • , Ehsan Arbabi
    •  & Andrei Faraon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Active devices such as modulators made of silicon nitride still lack performance. Here, the authors demonstrate electro-optic modulators based on ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate films on silicon nitride, in both the O- and the C-band with a modulation bandwidth beyond 33 GHz and with data rates of 40 Gbps.

    • Koen Alexander
    • , John P. George
    •  & Jeroen Beeckman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical filters are an integral part of many optical devices and circuits. Here, Magden et al. use a design based on mode evolution to demonstrate CMOS-compatible dichroic filters with more than an octave bandwidth, sharp roll-off and transmissive short- and long-wavelength outputs

    • Emir Salih Magden
    • , Nanxi Li
    •  & Michael R. Watts

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The utility of nanowires for all-optical operation has been limited by a lack of coupling scheme with band selectivity. Here, the authors introduce a nanowire geometric superlattice that allows controlled, narrow-band guiding in silicon nanowires through direct coupling of a Mie resonance with a bound guided state.

    • Seokhyoung Kim
    • , Kyoung-Ho Kim
    •  & James F. Cahoon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) beams have great potential for multiplexing signals in optical communication, but creating a compact source is challenging. The authors integrate a chip-scale optical vortex emitter and DFB laser into a single monolithic device for direct electrically pumped production of OAM beams.

    • Juan Zhang
    • , Changzheng Sun
    •  & Siyuan Yu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advanced photonic probes are important for the development of non-contact wafer-scale testing of photonic chips. Here, Vynck et al. develop a quantitative technique based on mapping of transmittance variations by ultrafast perturbations to analyze arbitrary linear multi-port photonic devices.

    • Kevin Vynck
    • , Nicholas J. Dinsdale
    •  & Otto L. Muskens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To circumvent the limitations of electronic computers, moving to hybrid optical-electronic or all-optical devices may be useful. Here, Babaeian et al. present an all-optical implementation of the probabilistic graphical model using nonlinear optics in thin films to implement mathematical functions.

    • Masoud Babaeian
    • , Pierre-A. Blanche
    •  & N. Peyghambarian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bragg gratings are versatile elements used to perform spectral filtering in optical circuits. Here, the authors develop a scalable, reconfigurable grating device which can be electrically tuned to actively change its behaviour and control of optical pathways, for use in photonic signal processing.

    • Weifeng Zhang
    •  & Jianping Yao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional refractive elements are bulky, thick and offer limited active tunability. Here, the authors demonstrate MEMS-based tunable metasurface doublets with more than 60 diopters change in the optical power upon a 1-micron movement of a membrane with one of the metasurface elements.

    • Ehsan Arbabi
    • , Amir Arbabi
    •  & Andrei Faraon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diffusive light propagation represents a valuable additional tool for integrated photonic technologies. As an example, here the authors experimentally demonstrate optical equalisation of coherent light propagating in a femtosecond laser written circuit which simulates a dissipatively-coupled quantum chain.

    • Sebabrata Mukherjee
    • , Dmitri Mogilevtsev
    •  & Natalia Korolkova

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Frequency-stable laser systems are important for many applications, like optical communications, that require high precision and low noise. Here, Idjadi and Aflatouni demonstrate that the widely used Pound-Drever-Hall technique can be fully integrated on-chip, miniaturizing the stabilization setup.

    • Mohamad Hossein Idjadi
    •  & Firooz Aflatouni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase-matching and quasi-phase-matching in periodically poled ferroelectrics ensure efficient harmonic generation, but only statically. Here, Billat et al. demonstrate all-optically reconfigurable second harmonic generation by inscribing a stable grating in CMOS-compatible nonlinear waveguides.

    • Adrien Billat
    • , Davide Grassani
    •  & Camille-Sophie Brès

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nonreciprocal optical elements often require magnetic materials in order to break time-reversal symmetry. Here, Barzanjeh et al. demonstrate a magnetic-free on-chip microwave circulator that utilizes the interference from six electro-mechanical signal paths.

    • S. Barzanjeh
    • , M. Wulf
    •  & J. M. Fink

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integrated optical circuits today are typically designed for a few special functionalities and require complex design and development procedures. Here, the authors demonstrate a reconfigurable but simple silicon waveguide mesh with different functionalities.

    • Daniel Pérez
    • , Ivana Gasulla
    •  & José Capmany

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical storage implementations based on optomechanical resonator are limited to one wavelength. Here, exploiting stimulated Brillouin scattering, the authors demonstrate a coherent optical memory based on a planar integrated waveguide, which can operate at different wavelengths without cross-talk.

    • Moritz Merklein
    • , Birgit Stiller
    •  & Benjamin J. Eggleton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Combining different integration platforms on the same chip is currently one of the main challenges for quantum technologies. Here, Elshaari et al. show III-V Quantum Dots embedded in nanowires operating in a CMOS compatible circuit, with controlled on-chip filtering and tunable routing.

    • Ali W. Elshaari
    • , Iman Esmaeil Zadeh
    •  & Klaus D. Jöns

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, Kittlauset al. demonstrate stimulated inter-modal Brillouin scattering on-chip. Through this process, a Brillouin interaction couples light fields that propagate in distinct spatial modes of a Brillouin-active silicon waveguide, which may allow a variety of new processes in silicon photonics.

    • Eric A. Kittlaus
    • , Nils T. Otterstrom
    •  & Peter T. Rakich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a challenge. Here, Chen et al. integrate free-standing nanowires into silicon waveguides and show all-optical modulation and light generation on silicon photonic chips.

    • Bigeng Chen
    • , Hao Wu
    •  & Limin Tong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The breaking of parity-time symmetric gain and loss profiles can be used to achieve single-mode lasing in coupled microring resonators. Here, Liuet al. show that this effect can be electrically controlled with a tunable lasing wavelength and strong sidemode suppression.

    • Weilin Liu
    • , Ming Li
    •  & Jianping Yao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum key distribution has not been widely adopted in part due to technical hurdles preventing it being fully integrated in classical communication networks. Here the authors report quantum key distribution between two photonic chips manufactured with state-of-the-art telecoms industry processes.

    • P. Sibson
    • , C. Erven
    •  & M. G. Thompson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Practical implementations of quantum photonic circuits consist primarily of large waveguide networks to path-encode information. Here, Mohantyet al. demonstrate quantum interference between transverse spatial modes in a single silicon nitride waveguide, enabling robust quantum information processing.

    • Aseema Mohanty
    • , Mian Zhang
    •  & Michal Lipson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metasurfaces have the potential to be used in imaging systems since they can modify optical wavefronts at subwavelength spatial resolution. Here, Arbabi et al. demonstrate a metasurface lens doublet corrected for monochromatic aberrations, and integrate it with an image sensor to realize a miniature planar camera.

    • Amir Arbabi
    • , Ehsan Arbabi
    •  & Andrei Faraon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photonic-integrated devices need to be spaced apart to prevent signal crosstalk, which limits their packing density. Here, Shen et al. report the use of nanophotonic cloaking to render neighbouring devices invisible to one another, which allows them to be placed closer together than is otherwise achievable.

    • Bing Shen
    • , Randy Polson
    •  & Rajesh Menon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integrated plasmonic sources are crucial in the development of plasmonic circuitry. Here, McPolin et al. show that vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers can be employed as an on-chip, electrically pumped source or detector of plasmonic signals and also demonstrate waveguiding and frequency conversion on this platform.

    • Cillian P. T. McPolin
    • , Jean-Sebastien Bouillard
    •  & Anatoly V. Zayats

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical communications and quantum operations require active coupling control in closely packed integrated photonic circuits. Here, Mrejen et al.exploit adiabatic elimination to demonstrate active coupling control between two closely packed waveguides by tuning the mode index of an in-between decoupled waveguide.

    • Michael Mrejen
    • , Haim Suchowski
    •  & Xiang Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    On-chip nonlinear optics can be used to manipulate classical or quantum signals but enhancement of competing nonlinear processes can cause signal distortion. Here, Merklein et al. enhance and inhibit nonlinear scattering on a chip by tailoring the optical density-of-states at the edge of a photonic bandgap.

    • Moritz Merklein
    • , Irina V. Kabakova
    •  & Benjamin J. Eggleton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Performing radio-frequency arbitrary waveform generation in the optical domain offers advantages over electronic-based methods but suffers from lack of integration and slow speed. Here, Wang et al. propose a fast-reconfigurable, radio-frequency arbitrary waveform generator fully integrated in a silicon chip.

    • Jian Wang
    • , Hao Shen
    •  & Minghao Qi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One of the main goals of lap-on-a-chip systems is to manipulate single particles with automation of modern-day computer circuits. Lim et al.develop an integrated circuit for transporting magnetic particles with time-varying magnetic fields that can be applied to the parallel analysis of single cells.

    • Byeonghwa Lim
    • , Venu Reddy
    •  & CheolGi Kim

  • Article |

    Whereas the capacity of optical-fibre networks is enhanced by schemes such as mode-division multiplexing, integrated photonics remains based on single-mode operation. Here, Luo et al.demonstrate mode-division multiplexing on a silicon chip by engineering the propagation constants of spatial modes.

    • Lian-Wee Luo
    • , Noam Ophir
    •  & Michal Lipson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photonic circuits are a promising route to developing scalable quantum technologies, if all the necessary components can be built. Using coupled resonator optical waveguides, Takesue et al.present an on-chip single-photon buffer that can delay one photon from a pair for 150 ps while preserving entanglement.

    • Hiroki Takesue
    • , Nobuyuki Matsuda
    •  & Masaya Notomi

  • Article |

    Nonlinear interactions of single photons are important for future quantum technologies, but they are weak and hard to detect. By performing sum-frequency generation between single photons and single-photon level coherent states, Guerreiro et al. show that high-efficiency waveguides can overcome this.

    • T. Guerreiro
    • , E. Pomarico
    •  & N. Gisin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fibre-optic waveguides are used to provide timing delays for different sensing and signal processing applications, but their transfer to on-chip platforms is a challenge. Here low-loss delay lines based on whispering-gallery spiral waveguides up to 27 m long are produced, presenting a scalable alternative.

    • Hansuek Lee
    • , Tong Chen
    •  & Kerry J. Vahala

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As quantum information processing continues to develop apace, the need for integrated photonic devices becomes ever greater for both fundamental measurements and technological applications. To this end, Crespiet al.demonstrate a high-fidelity photonic controlled-NOT gate on a glass chip.

    • Andrea Crespi
    • , Roberta Ramponi
    •  & Paolo Mataloni

  • Article |

    The miniaturization of optical devices is crucial for their on-chip integration with a variety of technological applications. Here, Liuet al. present an ultracompact beam splitter to control the direction of light through the generation of surface plasmon polaritons.

    • John S.Q. Liu
    • , Ragip A. Pala
    •  & Mark L. Brongersma

  • Article |

    Plasmonic nanostructures can be used to manipulate objects larger than the wavelength of light but create thermal heating. In this work, the trapping and controlled rotation of nanoparticles is demonstrated using a plasmonic nanotweezer with a heat sink, predicting a reduction in heating compared with previous designs.

    • Kai Wang
    • , Ethan Schonbrun
    •  & Kenneth B. Crozier

  • Article |

    The development of practical photonic quantum technologies will be aided by the spatial control of entangled photons. Lenget al. achieve on-chip spatial control of entangled photons by using domain engineering, rather than by using external optical elements.

    • H.Y. Leng
    • , X.Q. Yu
    •  & S.N. Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical computing, involving on-chip integrated logic units, could provide improved performance over semiconductor-based computing. Here, a binary NOR gate is developed from cascaded OR and NOT gates in four-terminal plasmonic nanowire networks; the work could lead to new optical computing technologies.

    • Hong Wei
    • , Zhuoxian Wang
    •  & Hongxing Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-qubit operation is an essential part of quantum computation, but implementation has been difficult. Gotoet al.introduce optically controllable internuclear coupling in semiconductors providing a simple way of switching inter-qubit couplings in semiconductor-based quantum computers.

    • Atsushi Goto
    • , Shinobu Ohki
    •  & Tadashi Shimizu

  • Article |

    Nanometallic optical antennas can concentrate light into a deep-subwavelength volume for sensor and photovoltaic applications. Junet al. demonstrate an optical antenna design that achieves a high level of control over fluorescent emission for a wide range of nanoscale optical spectroscopy applications.

    • Young Chul Jun
    • , Kevin C.Y. Huang
    •  & Mark L. Brongersma

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