Composite structures exhibiting a periodic arrangement of building blocks can be found in natural systems at different length scales. Recreating such systems in artificial composites using the principles of self-assembly has been a great challenge, especially for 1D microscale systems. Here, we present a purposely designed composite material consisting of gold nanoparticles and a nematic liquid crystal matrix that has the ability to self-create a periodic structure in the form of a one-dimensional photonic lattice through a phase separation process occurring in a confined space. Our strategy is based on the use of a thermoswitchable medium that reversibly and quickly responds to both heating and cooling. We find that the period of the structure is strongly related to the size of the confining space. We believe that our findings will allow us to not only better understand the phase separation process in multicomponent soft/colloid mixtures with useful optical properties but also improve our understanding of the precise assembly of advanced materials into one-dimensional periodic systems, with prospective applications in future photonic technologies.

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A novel concept of a Fabry-Perot (F-P) cavity composed of two linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings written in a thermally fused fiber taper is presented. Both chirped gratings are written in counter-directional chirp configuration, where chirps resulting from the optical fiber taper profile and linearly increasing grating periods cancel each other out, forming a high-quality F-P resonator. A new strain-sensing mechanism is proposed in the presented structure, which is based on strain-induced detuning of the F-P resonator. Due to the different strain and temperature responses of the cavity, the resonator can be used for the simultaneous measurement of these physical quantities, or it can be used as a temperature-independent strain sensor.

A versatile numerical model for spectral transmission/reflection, group delay characteristic analysis, and design of tapered fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs) is presented. This approach ensures flexibility with defining both distribution of refractive index change of the gratings (including apodization) and shape of the taper profile. Additionally, sensing and tunable dispersion properties of the TFBGs were fully examined, considering strain-induced effects. The presented numerical approach, together with Pareto optimization, were also used to design the best tanh apodization profiles of the TFBG in terms of maximizing its spectral width with simultaneous minimization of the group delay oscillations. Experimental verification of the model confirms its correctness. The combination of model versatility and possibility to define the other objective functions of Pareto optimization creates a universal tool for TFBG analysis and design.

Abstract-Efficient continuous-wave laser operation at 2.982 µm is achieved with a Dy 3 :fluoride fiber pumped using an inhouse-built 1.1 µm ytterbium (III) fiber laser. The laser output power reached is 554 mW, with a maximum slope efficiency of 18% with respect to the launched pump power. Additionally, the measured spontaneous luminescence within the visible wavelength range, under 1.1 µm pumping, is presented and attributed to excited state absorption (ESA). The influence of the ESA on the laser performance is discussed. The results confirm that high output powers from Dy: fluoride fiber laser pumped at 1.1 µm are possible. Index Terms-Mid infrared fiber laser, Dysprosium doped glass, Mid infrared sources

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