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1. Electro-optic interface for ultrasensitive intracavity electric field measurements at microwave and terahertz frequencies

   https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.384160  

   Benea-Chelmus, Ileana-Cristina ; Salamin, Yannick ; Settembrini, Francesca Fabiana ; Fedoryshyn, Yuriy ; Heni, Wolfgang ; Elder, Delwin L. ; Dalton, Larry R. ; Leuthold, Juerg ; Faist, Jérôme ( May 2020 , Optica)

   Electro-optic quantum coherent interfaces map the amplitude and phase of a quantum signal directly to the phase or intensity of a probe beam. At terahertz frequencies, a fundamental challenge is not only to sense such weak signals (due to a weak coupling with a probe in the near-infrared) but also to resolve them in the time domain. Cavity confinement of both light fields can increase the interaction and achieve strong coupling. Using this approach, current realizations are limited to low microwave frequencies. Alternatively, in bulk crystals, electro-optic sampling was shown to reach quantum-level sensitivity of terahertz waves. Yet, the coupling strength was extremely weak. Here, we propose an on-chip architecture that concomitantly provides subcycle temporal resolution and an extreme sensitivity to sense terahertz intracavity fields below 20 V/m. We use guided femtosecond pulses in the near-infrared and a confinement of the terahertz wave to a volume of$V_{\mathrm{T}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}\sim <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>9}({\mathrm{\lambda <\#comment/>}}_{\mathrm{T}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}/2{)}^3$in combination with ultraperformant organic molecules ($r_{33}=170\mathrm{p}\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{V}$) and accomplish a record-high single-photon electro-optic coupling rate of$g_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{o}}=2\mathrm{\pi <\#comment/>}\times <\#comment/>0.043\mathrm{G}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$, 10,000 times higher than in recent reports of sensing vacuum field fluctuations in bulk media. Via homodyne detection implemented directly on chip, the interaction results into an intensity modulation of the femtosecond pulses. The single-photon cooperativity is$C_0=1.6\times <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>8}$, and the multiphoton cooperativity is$C=0.002$at room temperature. We show$><\#comment/>70\mathrm{d}\mathrm{B}$dynamic range in intensity at 500 ms integration under irradiation with a weak coherent terahertz field. Similar devices could be employed in future measurements of quantum states in the terahertz at the standard quantum limit, or for entanglement of subsystems on subcycle temporal scales, such as terahertz and near-infrared quantum bits.

    

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2. Quasi-monolithic heterodyne laser interferometer for inertial sensing

   https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.473476  

   Zhang, Yanqi ; Guzman, Felipe ( September 2022 , Optics Letters)

   We present a compact heterodyne laser interferometer developed for high-sensitivity displacement sensing applications. This interferometer consists of customized prisms and wave plates assembled as a quasi-monolithic unit to realize a miniaturized system. The interferometer design adopts a common-mode rejection scheme to provide a high rejection ratio to common environmental noise. Experimental tests in vacuum show a displacement sensitivity level of$11\mathrm{p}\mathrm{m}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}$at$100\mathrm{m}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$and as low as$0.6\mathrm{p}\mathrm{m}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}$above$1\mathrm{p}\mathrm{m}$. The prototype unit is$20\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}\times <\#comment/>20\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}\times <\#comment/>10\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}$in size and weighs$4.5\mathrm{g}$, allowing subsequent integration in compact systems.

    

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3. Optomechanical inertial sensors

   https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.393061  

   Hines, Adam ; Richardson, Logan ; Wisniewski, Hayden ; Guzman, Felipe ( June 2020 , Applied Optics)

   We present a performance analysis of compact monolithic optomechanical inertial sensors that describes their key fundamental limits and overall acceleration noise floor. Performance simulations for low-frequency gravity-sensitive inertial sensors show attainable acceleration noise floors on the order of$1\times <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>11}\mathrm{m}/{\mathrm{s}}^2\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}$. Furthermore, from our performance models, we devised an optimization approach for our sensor designs, sensitivity, and bandwidth trade space. We conducted characterization measurements of these compact mechanical resonators, demonstrating$\mathit{\text{mQ}}$-products at levels of 250 kg, which highlight their exquisite acceleration sensitivity.

    

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4. Millisecond exoplanet imaging: I. method and simulation results

   https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.426046  

   Rodack, Alexander T. ; Frazin, Richard A. ; Males, Jared R. ; Guyon, Olivier ( September 2021 , Journal of the Optical Society of America A)

   One of the top priorities in observational astronomy is the direct imaging and characterization of extrasolar planets (exoplanets) and planetary systems. Direct images of rocky exoplanets are of particular interest in the search for life beyond the Earth, but they tend to be rather challenging targets since they are orders-of-magnitude dimmer than their host stars and are separated by small angular distances that are comparable to the classical$\mathrm{\lambda <\#comment/>}/D$diffraction limit, even for the coming generation of 30 m class telescopes. Current and planned efforts for ground-based direct imaging of exoplanets combine high-order adaptive optics (AO) with a stellar coronagraph observing at wavelengths ranging from the visible to the mid-IR. The primary barrier to achieving high contrast with current direct imaging methods is quasi-static speckles, caused largely by non-common path aberrations (NCPAs) in the coronagraph optical train. Recent work has demonstrated that millisecond imaging, which effectively “freezes” the atmosphere’s turbulent phase screens, should allow the wavefront sensor (WFS) telemetry to be used as a probe of the optical system to measure NCPAs. Starting with a realistic model of a telescope with an AO system and a stellar coronagraph, this paper provides simulations of several closely related regression models that take advantage of millisecond telemetry from the WFS and coronagraph’s science camera. The simplest regression model, called the naïve estimator, does not treat the noise and other sources of information loss in the WFS. Despite its flaws, in one of the simulations presented herein, the naïve estimator provides a useful estimate of an NCPA of$\sim <\#comment/>0.5$radian RMS ($\approx <\#comment/>\mathrm{\lambda <\#comment/>}/13$), with an accuracy of$\sim <\#comment/>0.06$radian RMS in 1 min of simulated sky time on a magnitude 8 star. Thebias-corrected estimatorgeneralizes the regression model to account for the noise and information loss in the WFS. A simulation of the bias-corrected estimator with 4 min of sky time included an NCPA of$\sim <\#comment/>0.05$radian RMS ($\approx <\#comment/>\mathrm{\lambda <\#comment/>}/130$) and an extended exoplanet scene. The joint regression of the bias-corrected estimator simultaneously achieved an NCPA estimate with an accuracy of$\sim <\#comment/>5\times <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>3}$radian RMS and an estimate of the exoplanet scene that was free of the self-subtraction artifacts typically associated with differential imaging. The$5\mathrm{\sigma <\#comment/>}$contrast achieved by imaging of the exoplanet scene was$\sim <\#comment/>1.7\times <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>4}$at a distance of$3\mathrm{\lambda <\#comment/>}/D$from the star and$\sim <\#comment/>2.1\times <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>5}$at$10\mathrm{\lambda <\#comment/>}/D$. These contrast values are comparable to the very best on-sky results obtained from multi-wavelength observations that employ both angular differential imaging (ADI) and spectral differential imaging (SDI). This comparable performance is despite the fact that our simulations are quasi-monochromatic, which makes SDI impossible, nor do they have diurnal field rotation, which makes ADI impossible. The error covariance matrix of the joint regression shows substantial correlations in the exoplanet and NCPA estimation errors, indicating that exoplanet intensity and NCPA need to be estimated self-consistently to achieve high contrast.

    

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5. In-vacuum measurements of optical scatter versus annealing temperature for amorphous Ta 2 O 5 and TiO 2 :Ta 2 O 5 thin films

   https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAA.415665  

   Capote, Elenna M. ; Gleckl, Amy ; Guerrero, Jazlyn ; Rezac, Michael ; Wright, Robert ; Smith, Joshua R. ( March 2021 , Journal of the Optical Society of America A)

   Optical coatings formed from amorphous oxide thin films have many applications in precision measurements. The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo use coatings of$\mathrm{S}\mathrm{i}{\mathrm{O}}_2$(silica) and$\mathrm{T}\mathrm{i}{\mathrm{O}}_2:\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{a}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$(titania-doped tantala) and post-deposition annealing to 500°C to achieve low thermal noise and low optical absorption. Optical scattering by these coatings is a key limit to the sensitivity of the detectors. This paper describes optical scattering measurements for single-layer, ion-beam-sputtered thin films on fused silica substrates: two samples of$\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{a}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$and two of$\mathrm{T}\mathrm{i}{\mathrm{O}}_2:\mathrm{T}{\mathrm{a}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$. Using an imaging scatterometer at a fixed scattering angle of 12.8°, in-situ changes in the optical scatter of each sample were assessed during post-deposition annealing to 500°C in vacuum. The scatter of three of the four coated optics was observed to decrease during the annealing process, by 25–30% for tantala and up to 74% for titania-doped tantala, while the scatter from the fourth sample held constant. Angle-resolved scatter measurements performed before and after vacuum annealing suggest some improvement in three of the four samples. These results demonstrate that post-deposition, high-temperature annealing of single-layer tantala and titania-doped tantala thin films in vacuum does not lead to an increase in scatter, and may actually improve their scatter.

    

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