In order to help the public discover the mystery of scientific research, JI has launched a series of mini-workshop to introduce faculty’s research.
At a recent mini-workshop, Professor Wenjie Wan gave a talk titled “Nanoscale Nonlinear Optics,” introducing the magical phenomena to the participating faculty and students.
Nonlinear optical materials can provide the foundation material for future optical computers
Schematic illustration of the optically induced transparency
Nonlinear optics is the mechanism of light manipulation using the interaction between light and material. It has many applications in communications, imaging, material analysis and other fields. One direction of nonlinear optics is to improve the efficiency of the interaction between light and matter. Traditional nonlinear optics requires the use of bulk material as the medium and a peak power of the pulsed laser as a pump stimulant. This poses a challenge to the integration of the original device. Using the peculiar characteristics of light at the nanometer scale, the interaction between light and matter can be effectively enhanced under certain conditions and reduce the volume of the device while improving the efficiency of nonlinear optics. By using a beam of light to manipulate and modulate another optical signal with different wavelengths, the optical switch is fabricated, which provides a new solution for all-optical computing integration. At the same time, this kind of micron-scale optical switch “breaks” through the traditional reversible optical path. In this system, the signal light can only travel in one direction and thereby automatically becomes an integrated optical isolator.
Professor Wan presenting “Nanoscale Nonlinear Optics”
