The performance of many optical devices based on frequency conversion critically depends on spatial modulation of the nonlinear optical response of materials. This modulation ensures efficient energy exchange between optical waves at different frequencies via quasi-phase matching.
Now, Australian scientists have developed a new ultra-thin device that potentially turns invisible light into visible and speed-up your internet speed. Its property of changing light alter the device’s frequency and thus enhance the capacity and speed of telecommunication channels that are essential for delivering high-speed internet.
Professor Wieslaw Krolikowski, one of the lead researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) said, “The device, which is a new type of nonlinear photonic crystal that is as thin as a human hair, was a major advance in the field. Our device can produce different types of light and in different colors, simply by changing the angle that we shine a laser beam into the device, and it is reusable for different purposes.”
Scientists conducted numerous experiments by using ultrashort laser pulses to change the internal structure of a nonlinear crystal, which was able to convert an invisible light beam into visible light.
Dr Sheng from the Laser Physics Centre within the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering said, “We provide the first proof that it is possible to engineer nonlinear crystals in three dimensions for the purpose of light conversion.”
