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This paper proposes a novel microcone-curved resonant photoacoustic cell (MCR-PAC) for highly sensitive trace gas detection. The MCR-PAC features with microcone-curved resonant region and cylindrical buffer chamber, which dominates the photoacoustic signal amplification. By introducing the hyperbolic eccentricity as a new optimization dimension, the quality factor of the MCR-PAC is remarkably strengthened to enhance the acoustic pressure amplitude. At an eccentricity value of 5, the volume of the photoacoustic resonant cavity is approximately 0.23 cm3. Targeting trace acetylene, the system achieves a minimum detection limit of 1.41 ppb with an integration time of 290 s, corresponding normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient is 1.88×10−9 W·cm−1·Hz−1/2. Compared to the traditional T-type PAC, the overall performance of MCR-PAC has been enhanced nearly fourfold. With its compact millimeter-scale dimensions and high sensitivity, the MCR-PAC demonstrates extensive potential for application in environmental monitoring and breath diagnostics.

Abstract Raman spectroscopy has tremendous potential for material analysis with its molecular fingerprinting capability in many branches of science and technology. It is also an emerging omics technique for metabolic profiling to shape precision medicine. However, precisely attributing vibration peaks coupled with specific environmental, instrumental, and specimen noise is problematic. Intelligent Raman spectral preprocessing to remove statistical bias noise and sample-related errors should provide a powerful tool for valuable information extraction. Here, we propose a novel Raman spectral preprocessing scheme based on self-supervised learning (RSPSSL) with high capacity and spectral fidelity. It can preprocess arbitrary Raman spectra without further training at a speed of ~1 900 spectra per second without human interference. The experimental data preprocessing trial demonstrated its excellent capacity and signal fidelity with an 88% reduction in root mean square error and a 60% reduction in infinite norm ( $${L}_{{\infty }}$$ L ∞ ) compared to established techniques. With this advantage, it remarkably enhanced various biomedical applications with a 400% accuracy elevation (ΔAUC) in cancer diagnosis, an average 38% (few-shot) and 242% accuracy improvement in paraquat concentration prediction, and unsealed the chemical resolution of biomedical hyperspectral images, especially in the spectral fingerprint region. It precisely preprocessed various Raman spectra from different spectroscopy devices, laboratories, and diverse applications. This scheme will enable biomedical mechanism screening with the label-free volumetric molecular imaging tool on organism and disease metabolomics profiling with a scenario of high throughput, cross-device, various analyte complexity, and diverse applications.

Abstract Bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE), a second-order nonlinear optical effect governed by the quantum geometric properties of materials, offers a promising approach to overcome the Shockley-Quiesser limit of traditional photovoltaic effect and further improve the efficiency of energy harvesting. Here, we propose an effective platform, the nano edges embedded in assembled van der Waals (vdW) homo- or hetero-structures with strong symmetry breaking, low dimensionality and abundant species, for BPVE investigations. The BPVE-induced photocurrents strongly depend on the orientation of edge-embedded structures and polarization of incident light. Reversed photocurrent polarity can be observed at left and right edge-embedded structures. Our work not only visualizes the unique optoelectronic effect in vdW nano edges, but also provides an effective strategy for achieving BPVE in engineered vdW structures.

Soliton molecules in optical resonators have attracted remarkable attention in nonlinear dynamics, driven by their compelling analogies with matter molecules. So far, while extensive research has been conducted on their generation, pulsations, and dissociation behaviors, the investigation of their quasi-periodic dynamics has been relatively limited. Here, we present a systematic exploration of the quasi-periodic dynamics of soliton molecules using advanced balanced optical cross-correlation techniques. The incommensurable quasi-period bifurcations constituted of cascaded Hopf bifurcations are found, providing an unambiguous pathway toward chaotic soliton molecules. The chaotic intramolecular dynamics are analyzed by time series, radio frequency spectra, phase portraits, and Lyapunov exponent analysis. In addition, we reveal an intrinsic frequency entrainment phenomenon experimentally. Such frequency entrainment provides a novel perspective on synchronization in optical resonators, encompassing the competition and interaction of oscillations across multiple temporal scales. Our experimental findings offer clear proof that the gain dynamics serve as the origin of the binding forces between solitons within the molecule, which are well supported by the numerical simulations. By advancing the understanding of sub-femtosecond resolved quasi-period dynamics of optical soliton molecules, this study contributes to the broader field of complex nonlinear dynamics, paving the way for future explorations into the intricate behaviors of solitons within optical resonators and relevant fields.

Abstract Self-assembly of particle-like dissipative solitons, in the presence of mutual interactions, emphasizes the vibrant concept of soliton molecules in varieties of laser resonators. Controllable manipulation of the molecular patterns, held by the degrees of freedom of internal motions, still remains challenging to explore more efficient and subtle tailoring approaches for the increasing demands. Here, we report a new phase-tailored quaternary encoding format based on the controllable internal assembly of dissipative soliton molecules. Artificial manipulation of the energy exchange of soliton-molecular elements stimulates the deterministic harnessing of the assemblies of internal dynamics. Self-assembled soliton molecules are tailored into four phase-defined regimes, thus constituting the phase-tailored quaternary encoding format. Such phase-tailored streams are endowed with great robustness and are resistant to significant timing jitter. All these results experimentally demonstrate the programmable phase tailoring and exemplify the application of the phase-tailored quaternary encoding, prospectively promoting high-capacity all-optical storage.

Here the authors report the first experimental observation of topological antichiral surface states by constructing a three-dimensional modified Haldane model in a magnetic Weyl photonic crystal.

Optical fiber technology has changed the world by enabling extraordinary growth in world-wide communications and sensing. The rapid development and wide deployment of optical fiber sensors are driven by their excellent sensing performance with outstanding flexibility, functionality, and versatility. Notably, the research on specialty optical fibers is playing a critical role in enabling and proliferating the optical fiber sensing applications. This paper overviews recent developments in specialty optical fibers and their sensing applications. The specialty optical fibers are reviewed based on their innovations in special structures, special materials, and technologies to realize lab in/on a fiber. An overview of sensing applications in various fields is presented. The prospects and emerging research areas of specialty optical fibers are also discussed.

An ultrasound wave is a kind of acoustic signal with a frequency greater than 20 kHz, which is widely used in diverse fields such as medical imaging diagnosis, nondestructive testing and resource exploration. A variety of ultrasound sensors have been developed for ultrasound detection. Particularly for photoacoustic imaging, specialized ultrasound sensors with high sensitivity, small size, and broad bandwidth are needed. However, achieving such sensor performance still poses a great challenge to the current state-of-the-art in ultrasound sensor technology. A recent work published in Opto-Electronic Advances (DOI: 10.29026/oea.2022.200076) proposes a microfiber-based ultrasound sensor that breaks the limitations of existing ultrasound sensors. Benefiting from the large evanescent field characteristic of microfiber, combined with the coherent detection technology, the proposed sensor realized highly sensitive ultrasound detection and demonstrated excellent performance in high-resolution photoacoustic imaging. The highly sensitive and miniaturized microfiber ultrasound sensor provides a competitive alternative for various applications, such as endoscopic photoacoustic imaging of the intestinal tract and blood vessels in animals.

The rapid development of information and communication technology has driven the demand for higher data transmission rates. Multi-core optical fiber, with its ability to transmit multiple signals simultaneously, has emerged as a promising solution to meet this demand. Additionally, due to its characteristics such as multi-channel transmission, high integration, spatial flexibility, and versatility, multi-core optical fibers hold vast potential in sensing applications. However, the manufacturing technology of multi-core fiber is still in its early stages, facing challenges such as the design and fabrication of high-quality cores, efficient coupling between cores, and the reduction of crosstalk. In this paper, an overview of the current status and future prospects of multi-core fiber manufacturing technology has been presented, and their limitations will be discussed. Some potential solutions to overcome these challenges will be proposed. Their potential applications in optical fiber sensing will also be summarized.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEACAM5), as a broad-spectrum tumor biomarker, plays a crucial role in analyzing the therapeutic efficacy and progression of cancer. Herein, we propose a novel biosensor based on specklegrams of tapered multimode fiber (MMF) and two-dimensional convolutional neural networks (2D-CNNs) for the detection of CEACAM5. The microfiber is modified with CEA antibodies to specifically recognize antigens. The biosensor utilizes the interference effect of tapered MMF to generate highly sensitive specklegrams in response to different CEACAM5 concentrations. A zero mean normalized cross-correlation (ZNCC) function is explored to calculate the image matching degree of the specklegrams. Profiting from the extremely high detection limit of the speckle sensor, variations in the specklegrams of antibody concentrations from 1 to 1000 ng/mL are measured in the experiment. The surface sensitivity of the biosensor is 0.0012 (ng/mL)−1 within a range of 1 to 50 ng/mL. Moreover, a 2D-CNN was introduced to solve the problem of nonlinear detection surface sensitivity variation in a large dynamic range, and in the search for image features to improve evaluation accuracy, achieving more accurate CEACAM5 monitoring, with a maximum detection error of 0.358%. The proposed fiber specklegram biosensing scheme is easy to implement and has great potential in analyzing the postoperative condition of patients.

Abstract Magnetic field sensing plays an important role in many fields of scientific research and engineering applications. Benefiting from the advantages of optical fibers, the optical fiber-based magnetic field sensors demonstrate characteristics of light weight, small size, remote controllability, reliable security, and wide dynamic ranges. This paper provides an overview of the basic principles, development, and applications of optical fiber magnetic field sensors. The sensing mechanisms of fiber grating, interferometric and evanescent field fiber are discussed in detail. Magnetic fluid materials, magneto-strictive materials, and magneto-optical materials used in optical fiber sensing systems are also introduced. The applications of optical fiber magnetic field sensors as current sensors, geomagnetic monitoring, and quasi-distributed magnetic sensors are presented. In addition, challenges and future development directions are analyzed. Graphical Abstract

We have demonstrated spatiotemporal pulses from a Q-switched ytterbium-doped multimode fiber laser, with a pulse energy of up to 16.5 μJ, a pulse repetition rate of 108.7 kHz, and an average output power of 1.80 W. Benefiting from the weakened spectral filtering effect, there is high pulse energy that can be produced from multimode fiber oscillators. We have observed and analyzed the evolution of multimode Q-switching with spatiotemporal correlation. Furthermore, we find that the polarization control in the saturable absorber has a modulation and selective effect on the transverse modes of the multimode fiber laser. Our results help to understand the spatiotemporal characteristics of pulsed fiber lasers and contribute to developing high-pulse energy lasers.

To accurately unwrap the high-order orbital angular momentum (OAM) for multiplexed vortex beams is a challenge. In this work, over ±160 order OAM topological charges have been unwrapped in multiplexed optical links. Optical imaging based discrepancy identification enables the multiplexed OAM modes separating in physics, and the intelligent pattern recognition further promotes its unwrapping in numerical domain. Particularly, the combination of annular phase grating and auxiliary beams features compound spiral stripes, which paves the way for optical intensity recognition with low-complexity and high-commonality. Moreover, the spiral direction characterizes the symbol of the OAM states, which dramatically broadens the amount of multiplexed links. Here, optical separating means assisted by intelligent pattern recognition opens up a new route to high-speed and large-capacity optical communication, which may shed new light on 6G application.

Abstract The integration of functional fibers into wearable devices by traditional methods is commonly completed in weaving. A new post‐weaving method of integrating fiber devices into textiles is needed to address the challenge of incorporating functional fiber into ready‐made garments without tearing down the clothing and re‐weaving. A 3D printing method to simultaneously fabricate and integrate highly stretchable conductive fiber into ready‐made garments with designed patterns is presented. The fabricated sheath–core fiber consists of a styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene (SEBS) shell and a Ga–In–Sn alloy liquid metal core. The SEBS shell guarantees the high stretchability (up to 600%) and flexibility, while the liquid metal core offers a high conductivity maintained at large deformation. It is shown that sophisticated patterns, which have millimeter‐level‐resolution that are difficult to be integrated into textiles by weaving, and even more laborious to be incorporated into ready‐made garments, can now be easily modified and implemented into both textiles and ready‐made garments by a time‐saving and low‐cost 3D printing method. Utilizing the electrical characteristics of the fiber in pre‐designed patterns, on‐clothing soft electronics can be printed directly. A printed on‐clothing strain sensor, bending sensor, wireless charging coil, and a touch‐sensing network are demonstrated to show the potential applications in wearable electronics.

Gaussian processes regression (GPR)-aided nonlinear channel equalizer (CE) is experimentally demonstrated in a multi-level intensity modulation and direct detection fiber link. In this scheme, the GPR model is used to estimate the transmitted symbols or the corresponding nonlinear distortions after pre-processing. The experimental results show that GPR-aided nonlinear CE has better nonlinear tolerance than conventional linear and nonlinear filter-based CE. It is also shown that the GPR model in the nonlinear channel equalization process can be understood as an optimized single-layer neural network model with infinite width. Finally, we reveal the relationship between the key coefficients in GPR model and parameters in fiber link through both experiment and simulation.

Optical fiber sensors are of splendid strength for electrical field intensity sensor due to characteristics including the immunity to electromagnetic interference, lightweight, high sensitivity, and large bandwidth. In this paper, we proposed an electric field intensity sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based liquid crystal (LC) filled photonic crystal fiber (PCF) embedded in optical fiber ring laser (FRL). The air hole of PCF combines the LC and fiber core together. When LC is introduced into air holes, it can maintain the waveguide based on external parameters. The photonic bandgap effect significantly improved the sensitivity between light and external electrical field intensity. Thanks to the FRL demodulation, a high signal to noise ratio (SNR) spectrum about 35 dB is obtained. Besides, in comparison with traditional LC-PCF structures, the sensitivity of ours is as high as 1.1 nm/Vrms which is about twice than traditional sensors. At the same time, the stability of proposed sensor was verified which fluctuation was 0.15 nm around 2.5 hours. Therefore, our structure is expected to practical applications in remote electric field monitor and such electric modulate electro-optical devices.

The self-assembly of optical solitons propagating in nonlinear dissipative systems spreads the concept of soliton molecules. Assisted with the real-time spectral interferometry, plentiful internal dynamics has been probed within the multi-pulse patterns, emphasizing the striking analogies with the matter molecules. Therefrom, these particle-like behaviors would yield more intriguing landscapes toward the extended degrees of freedom considering increased constituents. Here, we transfer the concept of “isomer” to the experimental investigation on the unexplored isomeric dynamics of soliton molecules in parallel. Particularly, two isomers for soliton triplets and four isomers for soliton quadruplets are captured under different self-assembled forms, within each of which the binding separations and relative phases of the constituents are governed by mutual soliton interactions. With the diverse separation-phase evolving trajectories mapped in the interaction plane, detailed insights into the temporal distribution and the transient dynamics are displayed with respect to a panorama of the isomeric dynamics. The perspective of optical isomers shed new light on the analogy with matter molecules, and the underlying isomeric dynamics may stimulate the artificial manipulation of various soliton molecules for ultrafast applications.

Recent advancements in photonic bound states in the continuum (BICs) have opened up exciting new possibilities for the design of optoelectronic devices with improved performance. In this perspective article, we provide an overview of recent progress in photonic BICs based on metamaterials and photonic crystals, focusing on both the underlying physics and their practical applications. The first part of this article introduces 2 different interpretations of BICs, based on far-field interference of multipoles and near-field analysis of topological charges. We then discuss recent research on manipulating the far-field radiation properties of BICs through engineering topological charges. The second part of the article summarizes recent developments in the applications of BICs, including chiral light and vortex beam generation, nonlinear optical frequency conversion, sensors, and nanolasers. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the potential of photonic BICs to advance terahertz applications in areas such as generation and detection, modulation, sensing, and isolation. We believe that continued research in this area will lead to exciting new advancements in optoelectronics, particularly in the field of terahertz devices.

A fiber speckle sensor (FSS) based on a tapered multimode fiber (TMMF) has been developed to measure liquid analyte refractive index (RI) in this work. By the lateral and axial offset of input light into TMMF, several high-order modes are excited in TMMF, and the speckle pattern is spatially modulated, which affects an asymmetrical speckle pattern with a random intensity distribution at the output of TMMF. When the TMMF is immersed in the liquid analyte with RI variation, it influences the guided modes, as well as the mode interference, in TMMF. A digital image correlations method with zero-mean normalized cross-correlation coefficient is explored to digitize the speckle image differences, analyzing the RI variation. It is found that the lateral- and axial-offsets-induced speckle sensor can enhance the RI sensitivity from 6.41 to 19.52 RIU−1 compared to the one without offset. The developed TMMF speckle sensor shows an RI resolution of 5.84 × 10−5 over a linear response range of 1.3164 to 1.3588 at 1550 nm. The experimental results indicate the FSS provides a simple, efficient, and economic approach to RI sensing, which exhibits an enormous potential in the image-based ocean-sensing application.

Anti-resonant hollow core fibers (AR-HCFs) provide a promising solution for photothermal spectroscopy and photoacoustic imaging applications. Here, the AR-HCF serves as a micro platform to induce the photothermal/photoacoustic effect. Since the Bragg structure can induce multiple AR effects compared with the general AR-HCF, we proposed a novel device, the AR-BHCF (AR-HCF with Bragg cladding), to enhance the excitation efficiency. The simulation and experimental results validate that the AR-BHCF dominates in having a stronger ability to confine the optical field in the air core indeed. Then, the acoustic signal stimulated by the photoacoustic effect will propagate along with the fiber axial, and part of it will penetrate out of the AR-BHCF. The results revealed that the transmission bandwidth of the acoustic wave in the AR-BHCF ranges from 1 Hz to 1 MHz, covering infrasound to ultrasound. In particular, a constant coefficient of 0.5 exists in the acoustic wave fading process, related to the propagation frequency and time. The acoustic signal can be monitored in real time, assisted by the ultra-highly sensitive sensor head. Therefore, BHCF-based devices combined with photoacoustic techniques may accelerate their sensing applications. Meanwhile, this scheme shines a light on the theoretical foundation of novel short-haul distributed acoustic sensing.

The Vernier effect created using an incorporated Lyot–Sagnac loop is used to create an ultra-high sensitivity temperature sensor based on a ring laser cavity. Unlike standard double Sagnac loop systems, the proposed sensor is fused into a single Sagnac loop by adjusting the welding angle between two polarization-maintaining fibers (PMFs) to achieve effective temperature sensitivity amplification. The PMFs are separated into two arms of 0.8 m and 1 m in length, with a 45° angle difference between the fast axes. The sensor’s performance is examined both theoretically and experimentally. The experimental results reveal that the Vernier amplification effect can be achieved via PMF rotating shaft welding. The temperature sensitivity in the laser cavity can reach 2.391 nm/°C, which is increased by a factor of more than eight times compared with a single Sagnac loop structure (0.298 nm/°C) with a length of 0.8 m without the Vernier effect at temperatures ranging from 20 °C to 30 °C. Furthermore, unlike traditional optical fiber sensing that uses a broadband light source (BBS) for detection, which causes issues such as low signal-to-noise ratio and broad bandwidth, the Sagnac loop can be employed as a filter by inserting itself into the fiber ring laser (FRL) cavity. When the external parameters change, the laser is offset by the interference general modulation, allowing the external temperature to be monitored. The superior performance of signal-to-noise ratios of up to 50 dB and bandwidths of less than 0.2 nm is achieved. The proposed sensor has a simple structure and high sensitivity and is expected to play a role in biological cell activity monitoring.

Detection of trace tumor markers in blood/serum is essential for the early screening and prognosis of cancer diseases, which requires high sensitivity and specificity of the assays and biosensors. A variety of label-free optical fiber-based biosensors has been developed and yielded great opportunities for Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) of cancer biomarkers. The fiber biosensor, however, suffers from a compromise between the responsivity and stability of the sensing signal, which would deteriorate the sensing performance. In addition, the sophistication of sensor preparation hinders the reproduction and scale-up fabrication. To address these issues, in this study, a straightforward lasso-shaped fiber laser biosensor was proposed for the specific determination of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-related cell adhesion molecules 5 (CEACAM5) protein in serum. Due to the ultra-narrow linewidth of the laser, a very small variation of lasing signal caused by biomolecular bonding can be clearly distinguished via high-resolution spectral analysis. The limit of detection (LOD) of the proposed biosensor could reach 9.6 ng/mL according to the buffer test. The sensing capability was further validated by a human serum-based cancer diagnosis trial, enabling great potential for clinical use. The high reproduction of fabrication allowed the mass production of the sensor and extended its utility to a broader biosensing field.

An optical fiber ring laser (FRL) cavity-based sensitive temperature and salinity sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor consists of a Sagnac loop with a waist of 15 µm and a total length of 30 cm made of tapered polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF). Sagnac loop dual parameter sensing was theoretically modeled and presented. The salinity sensitivity of 0.173 nm/‰ was made possible by the efficient interaction between the tapered PMF cladding mode and the external refractive index. In addition, temperature sensitivity of 0.306 nm/°C was achieved through ultrahigh birefringence of PMF. Apart from that, the previous sensing system used a broadband light source (BBS) as the input light, resulting in a wide bandwidth and a poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The Sagnac loop integrated into the FRL system can achieve a high SNR of approximately 50 dB and a narrow bandwidth of 0.15 nm while serving as the filter and sensor head. Additionally, the developed sensor has the advantages of simple design, low cost, and easy fabrication. It can also extend sensing distance indefinitely within a given range, which is anticipated to have positive effects on the testing of marine environments in laboratories.

In this article, we report robust vector soliton bunches arising in a passively mode-locked fiber laser based on carbon nanotube (CNT). By introducing a polarization-route-assisted module (PRAM) and finely adjusting the cavity birefringence, the soliton bunches can be flexibly manipulated to operate with controllable soliton numbers and positions. Moreover, the potential bandwidth resource provided by the concept of soliton bunches for the ease of breaks a new path for the enhancement of data-carrying capacity. Our research is helpful to extend the theory of vector soliton dynamics in fiber lasers and promotes the promising application in optical communication systems.

It is demonstrated that in this paper a peanut shaped structure cascaded with up-taper fiber structure can realize the inter mode interference between the Erbium doped fiber (EDF) core mode and cladding modes in fiber ring laser (FRL). A simple and inexpensive Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based on this structure is proposed. Shown from experimental results, the optical intensity of the core mode can be coupled into the cladding modes in the first peanut-shaped structure. Then, the light in the cladding modes can be recoupled into the core mode in the up-taper structure. A high-quality interference spectrum with a signal to noise ratio about 50 dB was observed. Besides, the structure exhibits good mechanical stability when compared to MZIs based on taper or offset structure. The temperature sensitivity of the FRL sensor is 301 pm/°C and the RI sensitivity is 156 nm/RIU. This kind of MZI will have potential applications in remote sensing technique and the development of life and health.

Recent research on nonlinear multimode interference (NL-MMI) based mode-locking method provides a new approach for ultrafast all-fiber lasers. Here, we report on the polarization dynamics of group velocity locked vector solitons (GVLVSs) and noise-like vector pulses (NLVPs) in a graded-index multimode fiber (GIMF) based all-fiber laser. Due to the non-polarization sensitive characteristic of the NL-MMI, emitted pulses automatically evolve into the vector multi-pulse complexes constituting two orthogonally polarized components. Beyond the traditional polarization resolved measurement, dispersive Fourier transform (DFT) and polarization beam splitting techniques are jointly adopted to enable insights into the transient polarization dynamics of the vector solitons. It is found in real time that the two orthogonally polarized components oppositely shift their central wavelengths to compensate the polarization dispersion. In addition, stationary and pulsating NLVPs are respectively unfolded by the DFT based polarization resolved measurement. Especially, the pulsating NLVPs before and after polarization resolved measurement are accompanied with the identical periodic spectral breathing process. All these findings reveal the vectorial nature in NL-MMI based ultrafast fiber lasers, as well as highlight the transient polarization dynamics and the long-term pulsation in dissipative systems.

The performance of conventional gas sensors based on light absorption in the mid-infrared are limited by the high-cost and low efficiency of photon detection at these wavelengths. In this paper, cascaded suspended waveguides are proposed and analyzed for mid-infrared gas sensing with enhanced detection limit. The cascaded structure contains two sections in which the first part is optimized for light absorption and the other one is tailored to satisfy the phase matching condition for third harmonic generation toward near-infrared wavelengths. In this configuration, the input mid-infrared light firstly experiences “fingerprint” frequency absorption in the on-chip gas chamber. Consequently, the residuary light produces third harmonic radiation in the second section. Benefiting from the nonlinear relation between pump and harmonic power, the sensitivity of the sensor is significantly improved. Moreover, the signal is up converted from mid-infrared to near-infrared and thus it can be easily detected by efficient near-infrared detectors. The results show that the detection limit can reach the order of nmol/L and the absorption lengths can be reduced to three times shorter comparing to direct mid-infrared detection. The proposed configuration has great potential for high performance on-chip gas sensing.

A novel mechanism of sensitivity enhancement of D-shaped fiber-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors for the optofluidic device has been proposed. The sandwiched structure optofluidic platform is developed with metal-coated D-shaped fiber as the sensing device, while another thin metal layer is situated under the inner wall of the substrate as a second metal layer to construct the sandwiched microchannel. It has been found that the sensitivity of the D-type fiber SPR sensor is enhanced significantly with the sandwiched metal-coated structure of microchannel. In the proposed structure, the measurand analyte is considered as a sandwich channel layer between two thin metal layers. The sensitivity of the proposed structure is dependent on the volume of the measurand and the thickness of the metal layers. The computed sensitivity with a double metal layer and sandwich measurand layer concept is 4085 nm/RIU in the region of 1.33 to 1.36. The sensitivity is enhanced by more than a factor of `2.3' in comparison with the sensitivity of the normal D-shape fiber SPR sensor. It can be enhanced further up to ~12,500 nm/RIU by the deposition of higher RI polymeric overlay just above the second metal layer. The computed resolution of the proposed sensor with standard interrogation technique is ~1 × 10-7 which is quite competitive within the optical fiber sensor domain. A detailed numerical analysis has been accomplished. This structure will be useful in distinct chemical and biological sensing applications where the volume of an analyte is critical. This new concept of enhancement of sensitivity with limited measurand volume will open a new designing methodology for optical fiber biosensors.

Terahertz (THz) waves have exhibited promising applications in imaging, sensing, and communications, especially for the next-generation wireless communications due to the large bandwidth and abundant spectral resources. Modulators and waveguides to manipulate THz waves are becoming key components to develop the relevant technologies where metamaterials have exhibited extraordinary performance to control free-space and on-chip propagation, respectively. In this review, we will give a brief overview of the current progress in active metadevices and topological photonic crystals, for applications of terahertz free-space modulators and on-chip waveguides. In the first part, the most recent research progress of active terahertz metadevices will be discussed by combining metamaterials with various active media. In the second part, fundamentals of photonic topological insulations will be introduced where the topological photonic crystals are an emerging research area that would boost the development of on-chip terahertz communications. It is envisioned that the combination of them would find great potential in more advanced terahertz applications, such as reconfigurable topological waveguides and topologically-protected metadevices.

A novel method for ultra-sensitive and ultra-fast temperature sensing has been successfully implemented by cascading Saganc rings to generate the Vernier effect and doing the same dispersive fibers to achieve the optical time-stretching effect. This is different from the traditional point fiber sensor demodulated by optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) whose demodulation speed is usually at the second level. The designed system maps the wavelength domain to the time domain through the dispersive fiber, which can realize the ultra-fast temperature monitoring at the nanosecond level. The cascaded Sagnac ring is composed of polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) which is significantly affected by the thermal-optical coefficient. When the temperature changes, the variation is as high as −6.228 nm/°C, which is 8.5 times higher than the sensitivity based on the single Sagnac ring system. Furthermore, through the optical time stretching scheme, the corresponding response sensitivity is increased from 0.997 ns/°C to 7.333 ns/°C, and the magnification is increased 7.4 times with a response speed of 50 MHz.

We report an ytterbium (Yb) doped fiber Mach Zehnder interferometer (MZI) based on the up-taper fiber structure in a fiber ring laser (FRL) cavity. Different from the traditional FRL sensing system, in which additional filters are required, the designed structure simultaneously acts as a filter, sensor and gain medium. Furthermore, thanks to the high thermal–optical coefficient of Yb doped fiber, the temperature sensitivity of 0.261 nm/°C can be achieved in the range of 10–50 °C. In addition, benefiting from the unique characteristics of the laser system itself, the designed structure has a narrower linewidth (−0.2 nm) and a higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (−40 dB) than the sensor system based on a broadband light source (BBS). Meanwhile, the refractive index (RI) response and stability of the system are measured. The RI sensitivity is up to 151 nm/RIU, and the wavelength fluctuation range within two hours is less than 0.2 nm. Therefore, the designed structure is expected to play a significant role in human life safety monitoring, aircraft engine temperature monitoring, etc.

This paper presented a new kind of salinity and temperature dual-parameter sensor based on a fiber ring laser (FRL) with tapered side-hole fiber (SHF) embedded in a Sagnac interferometer. The sensing structure is majorly composed of tapered SHF located in the middle of SHF inside the Sagnac interferometer loop structure. The influences of the SHF’s diameters of different tapered in the Sagnac interferometer loop on the FRL sensing system are studied. The presence of air holes in the SHF makes the cladding mode easier to excite, and the interaction between the cladding mode with its surroundings is enhanced, thus having higher salinity sensitivity. Besides, the unique advantages of high resolution, narrower linewidth, and high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of fiber laser make the measurement results more accurate. In this experiment, the SHF with different taper diameters was made, and it was found that reducing the diameter of the taper waist diameter could further improve the salinity sensitivity. When the waist diameter was 9.70 μm, the maximum salinity sensitivity of 0.2867 nm/‰ was achieved. Temperature sensing experiments were also carried out. The maximum temperature sensitivity of the FRL sensing system was −0.3041 nm/°C at the temperature range from 20 to 30 °C. The sensor has the characteristics of easy manufacture, good selectivity, and high sensitivity, proving the feasibility of simultaneous measurement of seawater salinity and temperature.

In this paper, we propose a photonic crystal fiber with broadband ultra-flattened normal dispersion at 2 μm. In this fiber, a subwavelength air hole in the core region and air holes arrangement in the cladding region are used to control the property of dispersion. With optimized design, the dispersion of the proposed ultra-flattened normal dispersion fiber (UNDF) can be kept within -72.4 to -73.15 ps·nm-1km-1 from 1750 to 2350 nm wavelength. Benefiting from this advantage, the fiber shows great potential in the applications of coherent supercontinuum (SC) generation and dissipative soliton resonance (DSR) generation in thulium-doped fiber lasers. According to our investigation, coherent SC with 10-dB bandwidth of 238 nm can be obtained by using 50-cm UNDF. Furthermore, by constructing a UNDF-based nonlinear optical loop mirror as a saturable absorber, we specifically investigate the field evolution from dissipative soliton to DSR in passively mode-locked lasers. The proposed UNDF can be a key component for various laser sources in a 2-μm band.

Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with hybrid guiding mechanisms have undergone substantial development in recent years. Due to the co-existence of index-guiding and photonic bandgap (PBG)-guiding mechanisms in this special class of PCFs, many peculiar properties have been investigated and demonstrated as advantageous and favorable in many applications. This review paper provides a comprehensive review of the recent progress of these hybrid guiding PCFs. The first part explains the principles of the hybrid guiding mechanisms in the PCF structures. The hybrid guiding PCFs are realized in three approaches, including polarization-dependent hybrid guiding PCFs, radial hybrid guiding PCFs, and two-core hybrid guiding PCFs. This is followed by a review of various development and applications for each type of hybrid guiding PCFs in the second part, including tunable filters, high power lasers, nonlinear optics, and polarization optics and sensing applications. Finally, the considerations and challenges on the potential applications of the hybrid guiding PCFs are discussed.

Data storage is a problem that cannot be ignored in the long-term monitoring of a phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR) system. In this paper, we proposed a data-reduction approach for heterodyne Φ-OTDR using an ultra-low sampling resolution and undersampling techniques. The operation principles were demonstrated and experiments with different sensing configurations were carried out to verify the proposed method. The results showed that the vibration signal could be accurately reconstructed from the undersampled 1-bit data. A space saving ratio of 98.75% was achieved by converting 128 MB of data (corresponding to 268.44 ms of sensing time) to 1.6 MB. The proposed method led to a potentially new data-reduction approach for heterodyne Φ-OTDR, which also provided economical guidance for the selection of the data-acquisition device.

This paper proposes a real-time multi-class disturbance detection algorithm based on YOLO for distributed fiber vibration sensing. The algorithm achieves real-time detection of event location and classification on external intrusions sensed by distributed optical fiber sensing system (DOFS) based on phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Φ-OTDR). We conducted data collection under perimeter security scenarios and acquired five types of events with a total of 5787 samples. The data is used as a spatial–temporal sensing image in the training of our proposed YOLO-based model (You Only Look Once-based method). Our scheme uses the Darknet53 network to simplify the traditional two-step object detection into a one-step process, using one network structure for both event localization and classification, thus improving the detection speed to achieve real-time operation. Compared with the traditional Fast-RCNN (Fast Region-CNN) and Faster-RCNN (Faster Region-CNN) algorithms, our scheme can achieve 22.83 frames per second (FPS) while maintaining high accuracy (96.14%), which is 44.90 times faster than Fast-RCNN and 3.79 times faster than Faster-RCNN. It achieves real-time operation for locating and classifying intrusion events with continuously recorded sensing data. Experimental results have demonstrated that this scheme provides a solution to real-time, multi-class external intrusion events detection and classification for the Φ-OTDR-based DOFS in practical applications.

Roton dispersion relations were firstly predicted by Landau and have been extensively explored in correlated quantum systems at low temperatures. Recently, the roton-like dispersion relations were theoretically extended to classical acoustics, which, however, have remained elusive in reality. Here, we report the experimental observation of roton-like dispersions in acoustic metamaterials with beyond-nearest-neighbour interactions at ambient temperatures. The resulting metamaterial supports multiple coexisting modes with different wavevectors and group velocities at the same frequency and broadband backward waves, analogous to the ‘return flow’ termed by Feynman in the context of rotons. By increasing the order of long-range interaction, we observe multiple rotons on a single dispersion band, which have never appeared in Landau’s prediction or any other condensed-matter or classical-wave studies. Moreover, we have also theoretically proposed and experimentally observed multidirectional roton-like dispersion relations in a two-dimensional nonlocal acoustic metamaterial. The realization of roton-like dispersions in metamaterials could pave the way to explore novel physics and applications on quantum-inspired phenomena in classical systems.

Physics phenomena of multipulse compounds have enriched the life of ultrashort pulses beyond traditional pulse singlets in passively mode-locked fiber lasers. By developing a near zero-dispersion fiber laser, we report on the generation of dispersion-managed soliton (DMS) molecules. During propagation in the laser cavity, the broadband DMSs experience a breathing process (i.e., periodic compression and stretch of the pulse width), which facilitates various molecule evolutions from pulse singlets. In particular, tightly bound DMS pairs, loosely bound DMS pairs and three-pulse to eleven-pulse molecules are respectively observed. Apart from the aforementioned DMS molecules with equal pulse separations, unequally spaced DMS molecules with different multipulse structures are also obtained, typically including the (2 + 1)-type molecule and the (2 + 3 + 1)-type molecule. The investigation of DMS molecules characterized by versatile multipulse structures is of both fundamental scientific interests in soliton dynamics and potential applications of ultrahigh-capacity optics communications based on advanced modulation formats.

Long-range surface plasmon resonance (LRSPR), generated from a coupled plasmon polariton in a thin metal slab sandwiched by two dielectrics, has attracted more and more attention due to its merits, such as longer propagation and deeper penetration than conventional single-interface surface plasmon resonance. Many useful applications related to light–medium interaction have been demonstrated based on the LRSPR effect, especially in the sensing area. Here, we propose and demonstrate an LRSPR-based refractive index sensor by using a SiO2-Au-TiO2 heterostructure, in which a D-shaped honeycomb-microstructure optical fiber (MOF) is designed as the silica substrate and then deposited with a gold film and thin-layer titanium dioxide (TiO2). By using the full-vector finite-element method (FEM), this heterostructure is numerically investigated and demonstrated to excite LRSPR without a buffer layer, which is usually necessary in previous LRSPR devices. Through comprehensive discussion about the influence of structural parameters on the resonant wavelength, the excitation of the LRSPR in the proposed heterostructure is revealed to be highly related to the effective refractive index of MOF’s fundamental core mode, which is mainly determined by the MOF’s pitch, the thicknesses of the silica web and the planar-layer silica. Moreover, the thin-layer TiO2 plays an important role in significantly enhancing the resonance and the sensitivity to analyte’s refractive index as well, when it is coated on the top of the Au film rather than between the metal and waveguide. Finally, the proposed LRSPR sensor based on SiO2-Au-TiO2 heterostructure shows an ultra-high wavelength sensitivity of 20,100 nm/RIU and the corresponding minimum resolution is as low as 4.98×10−7 RIU. Thus, the proposed LRSPR device offers considerable potential for sensing applications in biomedical and biochemical areas.

Photoacoustic (PA) spectroscopy techniques enable the detection of trace substances. However, lower threshold detection requirements are increasingly common in practical applications. Thus, we propose a systematic geometry topology optimization approach on a PA cell to enhance the intensity of its detection signal. The model of topology optimization and pressure acoustics in the finite element method was exploited to construct a PA cell and then acquire the optimal structure. In the assessment, a thermo-acoustic model was constructed to properly simulate the frequency response over the range of 0–70 kHz and the temperature field distribution. The simulation results revealed that the acoustic gain of the optimized cell was 2.7 and 1.3 times higher than conventional cells near 25 and 52 kHz, respectively. Moreover, the optimized PA cell achieved a lower threshold detection over a wide frequency range. Ultimately, this study paves a new way for designing and optimizing the geometry of multifarious high-sensitivity PA sensors.

We demonstrate an ultra-dense wavelength-division-multiplexing (UDWDM) passive optical network (PON) in a spatial-division-multiplexing system utilizing our home-made seven-core multicore fiber (MCF) with a self-homodyne coherent detection (SHCD) scheme. In the SHCD system, we transmit 12 channels of 40-Gb/s UDWDM-PON signals using polarization-division-multiplexing quadrature phase-shift keying (PDM-QPSK) with a 12-GHz grid through the six outer cores of the seven-core MCF with the central core used to transmit the pilot tone. An optical frequency comb generator is employed to supply the multi-carriers for cost saving. After 37-km low-crosstalk seven-core MCF long-reach transmission with compact fan-in/fan-out multiplexers, a large transmission capacity of 2.88 Tb/s and a power budget of 26 dB are obtained. At the optical network unit side, a narrow linewidth local oscillator laser is no longer necessary since SHCD is adopted in our system. The complexity of the digital signal processing procedure at the coherent receiver is also greatly reduced as the carrier phase recovery and carrier frequency offset estimation are not needed.

Specialty fibers have enabled a wide range of sensing applications. Particularly, with the recent advancement of anti-resonant effects, specialty fibers with hollow structures offer a unique sensing platform to achieve highly accurate and ultra-compact fiber optic sensors with large measurement ranges. This review presents an overview of recent progress in anti-resonant hollow-core fibers for sensing applications. Both regular and irregular-shaped fibers and their performance in various sensing scenarios are summarized. Finally, the challenges and possible solutions are briefly presented with some perspectives toward the future development of anti-resonant hollow-core fibers for advanced sensing.

A bidirectional transmission and massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) enabled radio over a multicore fiber system with centralized optical carrier delivery is experimentally investigated in this paper. Optical carriers for upstream are delivered from the central office to the remote antenna unit via the inner core for the coreless implementation. In our experiment, as one of the fifth-generation (5G) waveform candidates, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing using offset quadrature amplitude modulation (OFDM/OQAM) is adopted in both uplink and downlink to increase the spectral efficiency and side lobes suppression ratio. An advanced 2 × 2 MIMO-OFDM/OQAM channel estimation algorithm is optimally designed to equalize the hybrid optical and wireless MIMO channels. The experimental results show that bidirectional transmission of 4.46 Gb/s 2 × 2 MIMO-OFDM/16-OQAM could be achieved over a 20-km seven-core fiber and a 0.4-m wireless link. The proposed scheme proves that the multicore fiber can realize the transparent transmission of bidirectional radio signals and effectively simplify the infrastructures in the future 5G cellular systems.

In this paper, in order to achieve low differential mode group delay (DMGD) over the C±L band, we propose the hole-assisted graded-index few mode fiber (FMF) design supporting four nondegenerated linear polarized (LP) modes for a mode division multiplexing system. In order to determine the fiber core parameters, an optimization has been made between the enlargement of the effective area (Aeff) and the reduction of macrobending loss (MBL). The Aeff about 107 μm2 for LP01 mode at the wavelength of 1550 nm and the MBL lower than 0.005 dB/100 turns for LP02 mode at the curvature radius of 30 mm and at the wavelength of 1550 nm are achieved simultaneously. The numerical simulation results prove that the hole-assisted structure can greatly reduce the absolute value of DMGD of the FMF. Particularly, the maximum DMGD less than |35| ps/km within the spectrum range from 1530 to 1630 nm is achieved. A tolerance analysis against manufacturing errors has been discussed, and we further propose a self-managed low DMGD transmission line solution with the controllable air-hole size.

Polarization-maintaining fibers (PMFs) have always received great attention in fiber optic communication systems and components which are sensitive to polarization. Moreover, they are widely applied for high-accuracy detection and sensing devices, such as fiber gyroscope, electric/magnetic sensors, multi-parameter sensors, and so on. Here, we demonstrated the combination of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and Sagnac interference in the same section of a new type of PANDA-structure PMF for the simultaneous measurement of axial strain and temperature. This specialty PMF features two stress-applied parts made of lanthanum-aluminum co-doped silicate (SiO2-Al2O3-La2O3, SAL) glass, which has a higher thermal expansion coefficient than borosilicate glass used commonly in commercial PMFs. Furthermore, the FBG inscribed in this SAL PMF not only aids the device in discriminating strain and temperature, but also calibrates the phase birefringence of the SAL PMF more precisely thanks to the much narrower bandwidth of grating peaks. By analyzing the variation of wavelength interval between two FBG peaks, the underlying mechanism of the phase birefringence responding to temperature and strain is revealed. It explains exactly the sensing behavior of the SAL PMF based Sagnac interference dip. A numerical simulation on the SAL PMF’s internal stress and consequent modal effective refractive indices was performed to double confirm the calibration of fiber’s phase birefringence.

This paper presents the fabrication of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based Fabry−Perot (FP) structure (7 mm total length) in an adiabatic fiber taper, investigates its strain and temperature characteristics, and compares the sensing characteristics with a standard polyimide coated FBG sensor. Firstly, a simulation of the said structure is presented, followed by the fabrication of an adiabatic fiber taper having the outer diameter reduced to 70 μ m (core diameter to 4.7 μ m). Next, the sensing structure, composed of two identical uniform FBG spaced apart by a small gap, is directly inscribed point-by-point using infrared femtosecond laser (fs-laser) micromachining. Lastly, the strain and temperature behavior for a range up to 3400 μ ε and 225 ° C, respectively, are investigated for the fabricated sensor and the FBG, and compared. The fabricated sensor attains a higher strain sensitivity (2.32 pm/ μ ε ) than the FBG (0.73 pm/ μ ε ), while both the sensors experience similar sensitivity to temperature (8.85 pm/ ° C). The potential applications of such sensors include continuous health monitoring where precise strain detection is required.

In this paper, a high-temperature fiber sensor based on an optical fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer is fabricated by splicing a section of simplified hollow-core fiber between two single-mode fibers (SMFs) and cleaving one of the two SMFs to a certain length. With the superposition of three beams of light reflected from two splicing joints and end face of the cleaved SMF, the modified Vernier effect will be generated in the proposed structure and improve the sensitivity of temperature measurement. The envelope of spectrum reflected from the proposed sensor head is modulated by the ambient temperature of the sensor head. By monitoring and measuring the shift of spectrum envelope, the measurement of environment temperature is carried out experimentally, and high temperature sensitivity of 1.019 nm/°C for the envelope of the reflected spectrum was obtained. A temperature measurement as high as 1050 °C has been achieved with excellent repeatability.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an electrically programmable second order optical temporal differentiator (OTD) based on linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (LCFBG) and digital thermal print head (TPH). For the high-speed optical signal with 25-GHz repetition rate, an efficient second-order OTD has been achieved for arbitrary wavelength and bandwidth with the software-defined TPH configurations. By optimizing the thermooptic effect induced optical phase change in the LCFBG, the central wavelength of the differentiator can be reconfigured flexibly from 1543.5 to 1561.7 nm, with a step size of 0.114 nm. By dynamically controlling the heating elements bonded with the LCFBG, optical pulses with 0.55- and 0.8-nm 3-dB bandwidths have been successfully processed with acceptable deviation compared with the theoretical calculations.

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a wavelength-space division multiplexing (WSDM) optical access network architecture with centralized optical carrier delivery utilizing multicore fibers (MCFs) and adaptive modulation based on reflective semiconductor amplifier (RSOA). In our experiment, five of the outer cores are used for undirectional downstream (DS) transmission only, whereas the remaining outer core is utilized as a dedicated channel to transmit upstream (US) signals. Optical carriers for US are delivered from the optical line terminal (OLT) to the optical network unit (ONU) via the inner core and then transmitted back to the OLT after amplification and modulation by the RSOA in the colorless ONU side. The mobile backhaul (MB) service is also supported by the inner core. Wavelengths used in US transmission should be different from that of the MB in order to avoid the Rayleigh backscattering effect in bidirectional transmission. With quadrature phase-shift keying--orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (QPSK-OFDM) modulation format, the aggregation DS capacity reaches 250 Gb/s using five outer cores and ten wavelengths, and it can be further scaled to 1 Tb/s using 20 wavelengths modulated with 16 QAM-OFDM. For US transmission, 2.5 Gb/s QPSK-OFDM transmission can be achieved just using a low-bandwidth RSOA, and adaptive modulation is applied to the RSOA to further enhance the US data rate to 3.12 Gb/s. As an emulation of high-speed MB transmission, 48 Gb/s in-phase and quadrature (IQ) modulated popularization division multiplexing (PDM)-QPSK signal is transmitted in the inner core of MCF and coherently detected in the OLT side. Both DS and US optical signals exhibit acceptable performance with sufficient power budget.

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a programmable optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) monitoring scheme by using linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (LCFBG) and a commercial thermal printer head. For the coherent optical orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) transmission system, the monitor's working wavelength can be flexibly software-controlled from 1530 to 1538 nm to support standard ITU-T grid or flex-grid operation. The linear OSNR monitoring range has been achieved from 9 to 26 dB for a 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) OFDM transmission system with negligible errors, respectively. Neither chromatic dispersion nor polarization mode dispersion affect the monitoring accuracy of our system.