The atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology is introduced to enhance the sensitivity of optical fiber cladding mode to surrounding refractive index (SRI) variation. The highly uniform Al2O nanofilm was deposited around the double cladding fiber (DCF) which presents cladding mode resonant feature. With the high refractive index coating, the cladding mode resonant spectrum was tuned. And the sen...

An orientation-dependent displacement sensor based on grating inscription over a fiber core and inner cladding has been demonstrated. The device comprises a short piece of multi-cladding fiber sandwiched between two standard single-mode fibers (SMFs). The grating structure is fabricated by a femtosecond laser side-illumination technique. Two well-defined resonances are achieved by the downstrea...

The United States produces a large amount of cladding material from used nuclear fuel, expected to approach 1,000 MT/year for the next 50 year. This requires a technical route to manage this cladding material. Three approaches (mechanical, thermo-mechanical, chemical) were proposed to manage the radioactive cladding. In the mechanical approach, the cladding is compacted and stored with a cement...

A nanoscale gap between two metal surfaces can confine propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) to very small dimensions, but this geometry makes it inherently difficult to image SPP propagation at high resolution. We demonstrate the near-field probing of these SPPs, propagating within a 50 nm thick Si 3N 4 waveguide with Ag cladding layers for frequencies ranging from the blue to the near...

A new method is proposed for hybrid integration of SiON optical waveguides and standard CMOS photo-detectors based on anisotropic etching of 45° facets in a Si substrate. After removal of anisotropically etched Si structures in cladding SiO2, the fabricated total-internal-reflection mirrors can direct the output of the waveguides to photo-detectors placed on top of the chip. The metal-free fabr...

We report experimental realization of subwavelength slot waveguides that exhibit both micrometer-range propagation and high spatial confinement of light. Attention is given to rectangular waveguides with a Si3N4 core and Ag cladding; core thicknesses of 50-100 nm and widths of 250 nm - 10 microm are explored. Propagation lengths of approximately 5lambda are achieved with light confined to later...

In this investigation, a laser cladding process with a powder feeding was used to deposit stainless steel 410L (high strength, excellent resistance to abrasion and corrosion, and great laser compatibility) onto railhead (higher strength, heat treated hypereutectoid rail grade manufactured in accordance with the requirements of European standard EN 13674 Part 1 for R400HT grade), to investigate ...

We examine the tuning effect a liquid crystal (LC) cladding has on the lateral leakage loss of TM-like modes in shallow-etched waveguides. For such waveguides with an air cladding, the guided TM-like mode and the unguided cladding TE-like mode can only be phase matched at precisely one angle. We find that for an anisotropic cladding such as an LC, this phase matching is now possible for a range...

Microstructured metallic devices will play a vital role in the continuing search to manipulate the passage of electromagnetic radiation relevant to optical, microwave, and communication technologies. Here, we investigate the electromagnetic response of a completely novel and ultrathin (<< wavelength) structure within which is buried a metal-clad waveguiding layer ("core") of subwavelength width...

We propose a compact 1-μm-radius microring resonator sensor based on a hybrid plasmonic waveguide on a silicon-on-insulator substrate. The hybrid waveguide is composed of a metal-gap-silicon structure, where the optical energy is greatly enhanced in the narrow gap. We use the finite element method to numerically analyze the device optical characteristics as a biochemical sensor. As the optical ...