Introduction: All-optical storage and signal processing are of intense interest for numerous applications, ranging from true-time delay for antenna remoting to all-optical convolution functions, all-optical signal regeneration, all-optical wavelength conversion, and all-optical buffers. The ability to control the optical group velocity over a wide range with high resolution is critical to enabl...

We present a linear analysis and numerical simulations of the instability of optical vortex solitons (OVSs) of arbitrary topological charge. They show a rich variety of instability scenarios depending on the type of perturbation. The saturation of the nonlinearity is shown to be able to slow down the decay of multiple charged dark beams at an intermediate evolution stage and to prevent their ul...

In this paper, we present a summary of the main properties and difficulties when performing the characterization, the measurement, the identification and the control of systems dedicated to the micro/nano-world.

Projects for the creation of large cartographic data bases and the advent of high volume optical disk technology create a need for structures for static mass data storage. This paper reviews existing approaches for structuring mass storage and proposes a scheme which combines the following concepts: a) separation of "background data" from "geographic object data"; b) use of hierarchical grid st...

Optical data storage is being investigated for use in enterprise archival data storage due to its stability, low energy consumption and low total cost of ownership. Here we present results on a method for manufacturing optical discs with dozens of writable layers using polymer coextrusion. This can greatly increase the capacity with low fabrication cost. Data are written by modulating the uores...

Computer-generated holograms displayed by phase-modulating spatial light modulators have become a well-established tool for beam shaping purposes in holographic optical tweezers. Still, the generation of light intensity patterns with high spatial symmetry and simultaneously without interfering ghost traps is a challenge. We have implemented an iterative Fourier transform algorithm that is capab...

The fore-optics of the present instrument will be installed on a side of the optical Instrument Selector Box. Inside the ISB, a moveable pick-off mirror deviates the light towards the foreoptics, at 90 from the beam coming from M3. When the mirror is off, the light enters the High Throughput Spectrograph, in construction at UNC. An ADC (Atmospheric Dispersion Corrector) and a Calibration Lamps ...

Several chalcogenide alloys exhibit a pronounced contrast between the optical absorption in the metastable rocksalt and in the amorphous phase. This phenomenon is the basis for their application in optical data storage. Here we present ab initio calculations of the optical properties of GeTe and Ge1Sb2Te4 in the two phases. The analysis of our computations and experimental data reveal the corre...

We present the first three-dimensional (3D) data sets recorded using optical coherence elastography (OCE). Uni-axial strain rate was measured on human skin in vivo using a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) system providing >450 times higher line rate than previously reported for in vivo OCE imaging. Mechanical excitation was applied at a frequency of 125 Hz using a ring actuato...

Optical complex fields have attracted increasing interests because of the novel effects and phenomena arising from the spatially inhomogeneous state of polarizations and optical singularities of the light beam. In this work, we propose a spiral blade plasmonic vortex lens (SBPVL) that offers unique opportunities to manipulate these novel fields. The strong interaction between the SBPVL and the ...