Single-shot transient optical signals are recorded in a time regime of picoseconds to nanosecond. An auxiliary pump beam is crossed through the signal to sample a diagonal slice of space-time, analogous to a rolling shutter. The slice is then imaged onto an ordinary camera, where the recorded spatial trace is a direct representation of the time content of the signal. The pump samples the signal by optically exciting carriers that modify the refractive index in a conventional semiconductor wafer. Through use of birefringent retarders surrounding the wafer, the integrating response of the rapidly excited but persistent carriers is differentiated by probing with two polarization-encoded time-staggered signal replicas that are recombined to interfere destructively.

An atomic inertial interferometer comprises a laser that emits a CW beam; a modulator that modulates the CW beam; a filter and delay mechanism that receives the modulated beam, and includes a first pathway and a second pathway longer than the first pathway; a comb generator that receives the modulated beam, and produces a frequency comb; and a comb drive coupled to the comb generator to generate a multiple of a comb repetition rate, the comb drive including a HF source coupled to a bandpass filter. A vacuum cell holds a sample of cold atoms. The frequency comb counter-propagates with respect to the modulated beam to provide velocity slicing of the cold atoms such that a given temperature distribution of the cold atoms is sliced into a plurality of narrow temperature distributions that are probed individually and in parallel, to extract an interference signal from the narrow temperature distributions.

Entangled optical outputs are generated using one or more heralded entanglement sources, each comprising: first and second free-running entanglement sources, each providing a first (third) optical output comprising a quantum superposition of a pair of orthogonal optical modes, and a second (fourth) optical output comprising a quantum superposition of a pair of orthogonal optical modes; an optical module configured to perform an interferometric measurement based on optical interference between at least a portion of the first optical output and at least a portion of the third optical output, and to generate one or more detection signals based on the interferometric measurement in a series of time slots; and a trigger module configured to generate a trigger signal based on the one or more detection signals to indicate one or more time slots in which the second optical output and the fourth optical output are entangled with each other.

A diffractive optical element, such as a holographic plasma lens, can be made by direction two laser beams so that they overlap in a nonlinear material, to form an interference pattern in the nonlinear material. The interference pattern can modify the index of refraction in the nonlinear material to produce the diffractive optical element. The interference pattern can modify the distribution of plasma for the nonlinear material, which can adjust the index of refraction. A third laser beam can be directed through the diffractive optical element to modify the third laser beam, such as to focus, defocus, or collimate the third laser beam.

An optical second-harmonic generator (or spontaneous parametric down-converter) includes a microresonator formed of a nonlinear optical medium. The microresonator supports at least two modes that can be phase matched at different frequencies so that light can be converted between them: A first resonant mode having substantially radial polarization and a second resonant mode having substantially vertical polarization. The first and second modes have the same radial order. The thickness of the nonlinear medium is less than one-half the pump wavelength within the medium.

Modelocked fiber laser resonators may be coupled with optical amplifiers. An isolator optionally may separate the resonator from the amplifier. A reflective optical element on one end of the resonator having a relatively low reflectivity may be employed to couple light from the resonator to the amplifier. Enhanced pulse-width control may be provided with concatenated sections of both polarization-maintaining and non-polarization-maintaining fibers. Apodized fiber Bragg gratings and integrated fiber polarizers may also be included in the laser cavity to assist in linearly polarizing the output of the cavity. Very short pulses with a large optical bandwidth may be obtained by matching the dispersion value of the grating to the inverse of the dispersion of the intra-cavity fiber. Frequency comb sources may be constructed from such modelocked fiber oscillators. Low dispersion and an in-line interferometer that provides feedback may assist in controlling the frequency components output from the comb source.

Modelocked fiber laser resonators may be coupled with optical amplifiers. An isolator optionally may separate the resonator from the amplifier. A reflective optical element on one end of the resonator having a relatively low reflectivity may be employed to couple light from the resonator to the amplifier. Enhanced pulse-width control may be provided with concatenated sections of both polarization-maintaining and non-polarization-maintaining fibers. Apodized fiber Bragg gratings and integrated fiber polarizers may also be included in the laser cavity to assist in linearly polarizing the output of the cavity. Very short pulses with a large optical bandwidth may be obtained by matching the dispersion value of the grating to the inverse of the dispersion of the intra-cavity fiber. Frequency comb sources may be constructed from such modelocked fiber oscillators. Low dispersion and an in-line interferometer that provides feedback may assist in controlling the frequency components output from the comb source.

An optoelectronic circuit used with signal light comprises photonic. The photonic devices are configured to condition the signal light and are fabricated with an optical characteristic being electronically tunable. A fabricated performance of the optical characteristic can be varied from a target performance due to a difference (e.g., alteration, change, error, or discrepancy) in the process used to fabricate the device. A ground bus, a power bus, and banks of electronic components are disposed on the platform in electrical communication with the photonic devices. The electronic components in a given bank are selectively configurable to tune the optical characteristic of the associated device so a variance can be diminished between the fabrication and target performances of the device's optical characteristic due to the difference in the fabrication process.

A device and method for high-speed tuning soliton microcomb comprising an on-chip high-Q lithium niobate (LN) microresonator as a comb resonator whose dispersion is engineered for soliton comb generation where a strong electro-optic Pockels effect is used to dynamically tune the soliton repetition rate, with integrating electrooptic tuning and modulation elements directly integrated into the comb resonator.

In this magneto-optical trap device, five laser beams are irradiated in a trap space in which atoms are trapped. Of the five laser beams, three laser beams (laser beams a.sub.1, a.sub.2, a.sub.3) pass through the inside of the same plane (Z plane) and are irradiated in the trap space. The two laser beams that intersect that plane (laser beams a.sub.4, a.sub.5) are irradiated in the trap space. The laser beam a.sub.1 is used together as a slowing laser beam b for Zeeman slower.