Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Gaetano Assanto.
We investigate total internal reflection of optical spatial solitons at the interface between two regions of nematic liquid crystals with different optical densities. Due to nonlinear molecular reorientation, the solitons experience a penetration depth, hence, a lateral shift that depends on the excitation, with lateral shifts from 0.7 to 1.2 mm as input powers increased from 1.6 to 9.3 mW.
We theoretically demonstrate how to acquire the full bandgap spectrum of a photonic lattice of arbitrary profile. Focusing on the 1D case in the presence of a linear refractive index acceleration and employing a multiscale analysis, we show that each photonic band can be directly mapped by the light evolution in the lattice, whereas the size of each gap corresponds to the tunneling rate. We verify the analytical results with numerical simulations and discuss experimental realizations of this technique for dispersive spectroscopy.
We analyze phase matching with reference to frequency doubling in nanosized quadratic waveguides encompassing form birefringence and supporting cross-polarized fundamental and second-harmonic modes. In an AlGaAs rod with an air void, we show that phase-matched second-harmonic generation could be achieved in a wide spectral range employing state-of-the-art nanotechnology.
We investigate the interaction between two beams differing in wavelength and the properties of dual-frequency spatial solitons in nonlocal birefringent reorientational media. We report the first experimental observations of anisotropic nonlocal vector solitons in unbiased nematic liquid crystals. Model and simulations, based on the paraxiality along the Poynting vectors, include joint walk-off and breathing.
Intense light propagating in a nonlinear medium can generate an ensemble of interacting filaments of light, or spatial solitons. Using nematic liquid crystals, we demonstrate that the filaments exhibit collective behavior typical of complex systems, including the formation of clusters and soundlike vibrations, as well as the reduction of the configurational entropy, controlled by the degree of nonlocality of the medium.
We investigate the emission of solitons at a nonlinear longitudinal defect. We discuss the basic physics and introduce a novel approach to achieve complete nonlinear control of the process. Theoretical results are confirmed by numerical simulations.
We investigate discrete light dynamics in the presence of a longitudinal defect of arbitrary extension, amplitude and position in a nonlinear waveguide array. We model and discuss the physics of the soliton-defect interaction, showing how to gain complete control over the system outcome for soliton-based data processing. We propose all-optical management in dye-doped liquid crystals.
We investigate Landau-Zener tunneling in one-dimensional liquid crystalline waveguide arrays by all-optical impression of acceleration with an additional beam. We derive the Zener model from the governing equations and demonstrate a novel approach to Floquet-Bloch band tunneling.
By numerically integrating the three-dimensional Maxwell equations in the time domain with reference to a dispersive quadratically nonlinear material, we study second-harmonic generation in planar photonic crystal microresonators. The proposed scheme allows efficient coupling of the pump radiation to the defect resonant mode. The outcoupled generated second harmonic is maximized by impedance matching the photonic crystal cavity to the output waveguide.
With reference to spatially nonlocal nematic liquid crystals, we develop a theory of optical spatial solitons and modulational instability in anisotropic media with arbitrarily large birefringence. Asymmetric spatial profiles and multivalued features are predicted for self-localized light versus walk-off angle. The results hold valid for generic self-focusing birefringent media and apply to large angle steering of individual and multiple self-trapped optical beams.
We model discrete spatial solitons in a periodic nonlinear medium encompassing any degree of transverse nonlocality. Making a convenient reference to a widely used material--nematic liquid crystals--we derive a form of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation and find a family of discrete solitons. Such self-localized solutions in optical lattices can exist with an arbitrary degree of imprinted chirp and have breathing character. We verify numerically that both local and nonlocal discrete light propagation and solitons can be observed in liquid crystalline arrays.
We investigate power-controlled angular steering of light filaments produced by transverse modulational instability in an anisotropic nematic liquid-crystal cell.
We propose a versatile guided-wave geometry encompassing electro-optic control for signal routing. A zero-gap directional coupler in liquid crystal can switch between two output states in the guide plane, permitting signal rerouting with modulation voltages as small as 70 mV. In the absence of an applied bias, no guiding--hence no modal output--is provided by the structure.
Spatial nonlocality has a crucial role in the optical response of bulk liquid crystals. With specific reference to one-dimensional modulation instability, we demonstrate the tuning of transverse nonlocality in the nonlinear response of nematics.
We investigate multiband optical breathers in a voltage-adjustable array of coupled waveguides in nematic liquid crystals. Symmetric breathers resulting from vector composition of modes from two bands are observed over large propagation distances and are described in terms of the Floquet-Bloch theory.
Based on three-dimensional time domain numerical simulations of the nonlinear dispersive Maxwell equations, we find evidence of all optical splitting of defect states in a photonic band gap structure. The result is analogous to the well known Rabi splitting and optical nutation in atomic two-level systems, and can be used for controlled in-gap generation of optical frequencies. Photon-echo-like behavior and third harmonic generation are also investigated.
Using three-dimensional time-domain numerical simulations of the nonlinear dispersive Maxwell equations for a defect microcavity in a photonic crystal wire, we show that the transmission through the bandgap can be all-optically modulated via the generation of transient states associated with the nonlinear splitting of the defect mode. Analytical results based on time-domain coupled-mode theory are derived as well.
In certain materials, the spontaneous spreading of a laser beam (owing to diffraction) can be compensated for by the interplay of optical intensity and material nonlinearity. The resulting non-diffracting beams are called 'spatial solitons' (refs 1-3), and they have been observed in various bulk media. In nematic liquid crystals, solitons can be produced at milliwatt power levels and have been investigated for both practical applications and as a means of exploring fundamental aspects of light interactions with soft matter. Spatial solitons effectively operate as waveguides, and so can be considered as a means of channelling optical information along the self-sustaining filament. But actual steering of these solitons within the medium has proved more problematic, being limited to tilts of just a fraction of a degree. Here we report the results of an experimental and theoretical investigation of voltage-controlled 'walk-off' and steering of self-localized light in nematic liquid crystals. We find not only that the propagation direction of individual spatial solitons can be tuned by several degrees, but also that an array of direction-tunable solitons can be generated by modulation instability. Such control capabilities might find application in reconfigurable optical interconnects, optical tweezers and optical surgical techniques.