Optical spatiotemporal differentiator using a bilayer plasmonic grating

As a key element in wave-based analog computation, optical differentiators have been implemented to directly perform information processing, such as edge detection and pulse shaping, in both spatial and temporal domains. Here, we propose an optical spatiotemporal differentiator, which simultaneously...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2021-09, Vol.46 (17), p.4418-4421
Main Authors: Xu, Chenyuan, Wang, Yilun, Zhang, Cheng, Dagens, Beatrice, Zhang, Xinliang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Data processing
Differentiation
Differentiators
Edge detection
Engineering Sciences
Optics
Photonic
Plasmonics
Signal and Image processing
Signal processing
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:As a key element in wave-based analog computation, optical differentiators have been implemented to directly perform information processing, such as edge detection and pulse shaping, in both spatial and temporal domains. Here, we propose an optical spatiotemporal differentiator, which simultaneously performs first-order spatial and temporal differentiation in transmission by breaking the mirror symmetry of a subwavelength bilayer metal grating. The spatial and temporal performance of the plasmonic differentiator is evaluated numerically using the output field profiles of an optical beam and pulse envelope, showing resolutions of ∼ 2 µ m and ∼ 50 f s , respectively. Moreover, the function of spatiotemporal differentiation is demonstrated with input flat-top pulse fields. The proposed optical differentiator has potential applications in ultra-compact real-time optical multifunctional computing systems and parallel signal processing.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.436033