IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 45, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2009
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Introduction to the Feature Section on Nonlinear Dynamics in Photonic Systems
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E ARE pleased to introduce this Feature Section of the IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS on Nonlinear Dynamics in Photonic Systems, which is associated with the LEOS Winter Topicals 2009, Nonlinear Dynamics in Photonic Systems topic. Novel sub-wavelength-featured waveguide structures open up a fundamentally new research activity in the modeling and experimental observation of nonlinear light propagation. There is strong recent interest in the study of light localization, spatial solitons and soliton interactions, filamentation and sub-diffractive propagation, nonlinear parametric processes in extended photonic structures as well as in nanoscale materials processing using fast laser pulses. However, the understanding of the interplay between light and nanostructures is still often incomplete, and the commercial utility of such structures will require fundamental advances in understanding how the output of such systems evolves in space and time and how their rich dynamical behavior can, in turn, be made useful. The papers in this Feature Section review worldwide research progress in the above exciting phenomena, devices and applications. In particular, they address such exciting topics as optical pulse generation, spatial wave dynamics, applications of chaotic optical devices, ultrafast nonlinear effects, mode-locked lasers and amplifiers, VCSEL dynamics, etc. Most of papers presented here are based on the contributions—both invited and regular—to the LEOS Winter Topicals 2009, Nonlinear Dynamics in Photonic Systems topic. These are complemented by submissions received from an open call for contributions to the Feature Section. We thank the authors for their valuable contributions. We are grateful for the significant interest from the members of
the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, COST Action MP0702 Towards functional sub-wavelength photonic structures. We also appreciate the help of the international peer reviewers and LEOS Winter Topicals 2009, Nonlinear Dynamics in Photonic Systems Committee Members who helped us with their high expertise relevant to this Feature Section. We were deeply saddened to learn of the untimely death in May 2009 of Prof. Solomon Saltiel from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, one of the co-authors of the paper entitled “Cherenkov-type second-harmonic generation in two-dimensional nonlinear photonic structures”. We lost a great scientist, a friend, and an extremely loyal member of the COST Action MP0702. We value our helpful interactions with the Guest Associate Editors of the accompanying Feature Section on Nonlinear Processing in Optical Fibers—Michel Marhic and Stojan Radic. Finally, we thank the JQE Editor-in-Chief Dr. Robert J. Lang and the JQE Publications Coordinator Yvette Charles for the valuable assistance they provided us.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JQE.2009.2031467
TREVOR M. BENSON, Guest Editor Electrical Systems and Optics Division University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, U.K.
[email protected] MARIAN MARCINIAK, Guest Editor Department of Transmission National Institute of Telecommunications Warsaw, 04-894 Poland
[email protected]
Trevor M. Benson (M’95–SM’01) received a First Class honours degree in physics and the Clark prize in experimental physics from the University of Sheffield in 1979, the Ph.D. degree in electronic and electrical engineering from the same University in 1982, and the D.Sc. degree from the University of Nottingham in 2005. After spending over six years as a Lecturer at University College Cardiff, he moved to the University of Nottingham in 1989. He was promoted to a Chair in Optoelectronics in 1996, having previously been Senior Lecturer (1989) and Reader (1994). He is the author or coauthor of over 500 journal and conference papers and is regularly invited to present his work at conferences and workshops. His present research interests include experimental and numerical studies of electromagnetic fields and waves with particular emphasis on the theory, modelling and simulation of optical waveguides, lasers and amplifiers, and glass-based photonic circuits. Prof. Benson was awarded the IEE Electronic Letters Premium in 1995, the IEE J. J. Thomson Premium in 1996 and the Kanda Technical Paper Prize in 2000. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institute of Physics, and the Electromagnetics Academy. 0018-9197/$26.00 © 2009 IEEE
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IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 45, NO. 11, NOVEMBER 2009
Marian Marciniak (M’93–SM’02) graduated in solid-state physics from Marie Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland, in 1977. From 1985 to 1989, he performed Ph.D. studies in electromagnetic wave theory at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, followed by the Ph.D. degree (with distinction) in optoelectronics. In 1997, he received his Doctor of Sciences degree in physics/optics from Warsaw University of Technology. He is the Head of the Department of Transmission and Optical Technologies, National Institute of Telecommunications, Warsaw, Poland, and a Professor at Kielce University of Technology, Poland. His research interests include optical communications, all-optical switching, and sub-wavelength photonics. He is an author or coauthor of about 300 technical publications, including a number of invited conference presentations, and has authored, co-authored and/or edited over 20 books. In 1999, Prof. Marciniak originated and continues to act as the organizer of the International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks, ICTON. He serves as a Chair of COST Action MP0702 Towards functional sub-wavelength photonic structures (2008–2012). He is a member of IEEE Photonics, Communications, and Computer Societies, and of the Optical Society of America.
