Nondestructive Testing School, Tomsk Polytechnic University, 36 Lenin Avenue, Tomsk, Russia, 634050.
College of Computer Science and Technology, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun, 130012, China.
Sci Rep. 2023 May 12;13(1):7732. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-34946-7.
Tunable optical devices are of great interest as they offer adjustability to their functions. Temporal optics is a fast-evolving field, which may be useful both for revolutionizing basic research of time-dependent phenomena and for developing full optical devices. With increasing focus on ecological compatibility, bio-friendly alternatives are a key subject matter. Water in its various forms can open up new physical phenomena and unique applications in photonics and modern electronics. Water droplets freezing on cold surfaces are ubiquitous in nature. We propose and demonstrate the effectual generation of time domain self-bending photonic hook (time-PH) beams by using mesoscale freezing water droplet. The PH light bends near the shadow surface of the droplet into large curvature and angles superior to a conventional Airy beam. The key properties of the time-PH (length, curvature, beam waist) can be modified flexibly by changing the positions and curvature of the water-ice interface inside the droplet. Due to the modifying internal structure of freezing water droplets in real time, we showcase the dynamical curvature and trajectory control of the time-PH beams. Compared with the traditional methods, our phase-change- based materials (water and ice) of the mesoscale droplet have advantages of easy fabrication, natural materials, compact structure and low cost. Such PHs may have applications in many fields, including temporal optics and optical switching, microscopy, sensors, materials processing, nonlinear optics, biomedicine, and so on.
可调谐光学器件具有很大的吸引力，因为它们可以调整其功能。时域光学是一个快速发展的领域，它可能对彻底改变时间相关现象的基础研究和开发全光学器件都很有用。随着人们越来越关注生态兼容性，生物友好型替代品是一个关键的主题。水的各种形态都可以在光子学和现代电子学中开辟新的物理现象和独特的应用。在冷表面上冻结的水滴在自然界中无处不在。我们提出并演示了通过使用介观尺度冻结的水滴来有效地产生时域自弯曲光子钩（time-PH）光束。PH 光在液滴的阴影表面附近弯曲成大曲率和角度，超过传统的艾里光束。通过改变液滴内冰-水界面的位置和曲率，可以灵活地改变 time-PH（长度、曲率、束腰）的关键特性。由于可以实时修改冻结水滴的内部结构，我们展示了 time-PH 光束的动态曲率和轨迹控制。与传统方法相比，我们的基于相变换的介观液滴材料（水和冰）具有易于制造、天然材料、紧凑结构和低成本的优势。这种 PH 可能在许多领域有应用，包括时域光学和光开关、显微镜、传感器、材料处理、非线性光学、生物医学等。
