Strategies for improved temporal response of glass-based optical switches

We present an optimization of the dynamics of integrated optical switches based on thermal phase shifters. These devices have been fabricated in the volume of glass substrates by femtosecond laser micromachining and are constituted by an integrated Mach–Zehnder interferometer and a superficial heater. Simulations, surface micromachining and innovative layouts allowed us to improve the temporal response of the optical switches down to a few milliseconds. In addition, taking advantage of an electrical pulse shaping approach where an optimized voltage signal is applied to the heater, we proved a switching time as low as 78 µs, about two orders of magnitude shorter with respect to the current state of the art of thermally-actuated optical switches in glass.

Femtosecond laser micromachining for integrated quantum photonics

Integrated quantum photonics, i.e. the generation, manipulation, and detection of quantum states of light in integrated photonic chips, is revolutionizing the field of quantum information in all applications, from communications to computing. Although many different platforms are being currently developed, from silicon photonics to lithium niobate photonic circuits, none of them has shown the versatility of femtosecond laser micromachining (FLM) in producing all the components of a complete quantum system, encompassing quantum sources, reconfigurable state manipulation, quantum memories, and detection. It is in fact evident that FLM has been a key enabling tool in the first-time demonstration of many quantum devices and functionalities. Although FLM cannot achieve the same level of miniaturization of other platforms, it still has many unique advantages for integrated quantum photonics. In particular, in the last five years, FLM has greatly expanded its range of quantum applications with several scientific breakthroughs achieved. For these reasons, we believe that a review article on this topic is very timely and could further promote the development of this field by convincing end-users of the great potentials of this technological platform and by stimulating more research groups in FLM to direct their efforts to the exciting field of quantum technologies.

Miniature Fabry-Perot Cavity Based on Fiber Bragg Gratings Fabricated by Fs Laser Micromachining Technique

Fabry-Perot cavity (FPC) based on Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) is an excellent candidate for fiber sensing and high-precision measurement. The advancement of the femtosecond laser micromachining technique provides more choices for the fabrication of FBGs-based FPCs. In this paper, we fabricate miniature FBGs-based FPCs, using the femtosecond laser line-by-line scanning writing technique for the first time. By this method, the FBGs can be limited to a specific area in the fiber core region. The grating length, position, and the distance between two successive FBGs can be conveniently controlled to achieve the desired transmission spectrum. For future applications in sensing, the temperature and strain responses of the fabricated FBGs-based FPCs were studied experimentally. This work provides a meaningful guidance for the fabrication and application of miniature FPCs based on FBGs.