Lithium niobate (LN) microdisk resonators on a LN-silica-LN chip were fabricated using only conventional semiconductor fabrication processes. The quality factor of the LN resonator with a 39.6-μm radius and a 0.5-μm thickness is up to 1.19 × 10(6), which doubles the record of the quality factor 4.84 × 10(5) of LN resonators produced by microfabrication methods allowing batch production. Electro-optic modulation with an effective resonance-frequency tuning rate of 3.0 GHz/V was demonstrated in the fabricated LN microdisk resonator.

We presented a method to actualize the optical vortex generation with wavelength tunability via an acoustically-induced fiber grating (AIFG) driven by a radio frequency source. The circular polarization fundamental mode could be converted to the first-order optical vortex through the AIFG, and its topological charges were verified by the spiral pattern of coaxial interference between the first-order optical vortex and a Gaussian-reference beam. A spectral tuning range from 1540 nm to 1560 nm was demonstrated with a wavelength tunability slope of 4.65 nm/kHz. The mode conversion efficiency was 95% within the whole tuning spectral range.

Theoretical analysis and experimental demonstration are presented for the generation of cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) via mode conversion in fiber from HE₁₁ mode to TM₀₁ and TE₀₁ modes, which have radial and azimuthal polarizations, respectively. Intermodal coupling is caused by an acoustic flexural wave applied on the fiber, whereas polarization control is necessary for the mode conversion, i.e. HE11x→TM₀₁ and HE11y→TE₀₁ for acoustic vibration along the x-axis. The frequency of the RF driving signal for actuating the acoustic wave is determined by the phase matching condition that the period of acoustic wave equals the beatlength of two coupled modes. With phase matching condition tunability, this approach can be used to generate different types of CVBs at the same wavelength over a broadband. Experimental demonstration was done in the visible and communication bands.

Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI), regarded as an important candidate platform for optical integration due to its excellent nonlinear, electro-optic, and other physical properties, has become a research hotspot. A light source, as an essential component for an integrated optical system, is urgently needed. In this Letter, we reported the realization of 1550 nm band on-chip LNOI microlasers based on erbium-doped LNOI ring cavities with loaded quality factors higher than 1 million at ∼ 970 n m , which were fabricated by using electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching processes. These microlasers demonstrated a low pump threshold of ∼ 20 µ W and stable performance under the pump of a 980 nm band continuous laser. Comb-like laser spectra spanning from 1510 to 1580 nm were observed in a high pump power regime, which lays the foundation of the realization of pulsed laser and frequency combs on a rare-earth ion-doped LNOI platform. This Letter effectively promotes the development of on-chip integrated active LNOI devices.

Graphene saturable absorbers (GSAs) have been widely applied in ultra-fast mode-locked fiber lasers. Thanks to the broadband advantage of graphene, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate the variation of the modulation depth of GSA by employing the effect of cross absorption modulation. This method provides an easy and efficient way to modulate the characteristics of GSA. By varying the modulation power, we realize an all-fiber fundamental mode-locked fiber laser and a harmonic mode-locked fiber laser with tunable output pulse width. Results show that the output pulse widths of the two fiber lasers can be tuned more than 40%, and the lasers have high wide application potential on nonlinear optical bio-imaging and offer an advantageous front end for extreme-power laser technologies.