In light science and applications, equally important roles are played by efficient light emitters/detectors and by the optical elements responsible for light extraction and delivery. The latter should be simple, cost effective, broadband, versatile and compatible with other components of widely desired micro-optical systems. Ideally, they should also operate without high-numerical-aperture optics. Here, we demonstrate that all these requirements can be met with elliptical microlenses 3D printed on top of light emitters. Importantly, the microlenses we propose readily form the collected light into an ultra-low divergence beam (half-angle divergence below 1°) perfectly suited for ultra-longworking-distance optical measurements (600 mm with a 1-inch collection lens), which are not accessible to date with other spectroscopic techniques. Our microlenses can be fabricated on a wide variety of samples, including semiconductor quantum dots and fragile van der Waals heterostructures made of novel two-dimensional materials, such as monolayer and few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides.

Simple diffraction structures having the form of a regular grid of pillars can generate a significant range of hues in white light transmission due to color-dependent diffraction into higher orders. We present the fabrication of such submicrometer scale structures by three dimensional laser two-photon photolithography, results of their optical properties measurements and compare the latter with numerical simulations.

We demonstrate a photonic structure, composed of a dielectric quarter-wavelength stack topped with a transmission phase grating, designed to exhibit a significant asymmetry in the near infrared light transmission for waves propagating in opposite directions. The asymmetry, defined as the difference between the intensity transmission coefficients, reaches 0.72 ± 0.06 for a single wavelength and exceeds 0.2 over a spectral range spanning from 700 to 850 nm for one incident polarization and 750-800 nm for both polarizations. The experimental results are consistent with the numerical model of light propagation in the structure.

High temporal resolution measurements of the output of an Yb:KYW femtosecond laser, recorded immediately after opening the laser cavity, give an insight into the transient laser dynamics. The evolution of the light intensity measured with linear and nonlinear detectors, together with the time-resolved laser spectrum were measured and the process of the mode-locking onset was investigated. A phenomenological model of the laser dynamics has been developed that reproduces the experimental results.

Prototyping of fiber-coupled integrated photonic devices requires robust and reliable way of docking optical fibers to other structures, often with sub-micron accuracy. We have developed an optical fiber micro-connector 3D-printed with Direct Laser Writing on a planar substrate. The connector provides fiber core precision positioning better than 120 nm and sustains cryogenic cycling without any signs of degradation. It can be fabricated and used on glass and non-transparent substrates, including photonic integrated circuits, semiconductor samples, and microfluidic systems.