title: A bidirectional tunable optical diode based on periodically poled LiNbO3.
abstract: We propose a bidirectional tunable optical diode based on a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) with defect. An acoustic wave propagates together with the light beam so that a collinear photon-phonon interaction happens, which affects the nonlinear optical processes in PPLN. The fundamental wave exhibits an optical diode effect, i.e., the light only may travel toward a single direction while the opposite way is isolated. However, the acoustic wave could be used to adjust the contrast of optical isolation from -1 to 1. A direction-optional operation is thus realized. Moreover, the advantages of our tunable PPLN optical diode are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zi-yan
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xiao-shi
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Xi-kui
authors.initials: XK
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yan-qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Hui-Tian
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Wang