Skip to content

~/NOTEBOOK

Notebook

Papers I’m reading, things I’m trying to understand, and ideas that might turn into experiments.

52 entries

A reading sequence arranged across 2026. These timeline dates are editorial; the initial notes were collected on 12 September. Source publication dates remain separate.

3 notes

  1. Research note

    What does AI model in optics?

    Material properties, optical fields, inverse design or the next experiment?

  2. Idea

    Lattices that shape emission

    Can a large or unusual cavity emit into a useful collective mode?

  3. Paper

    Photonic spiking neural network built with a single VCSEL for high-speed time series prediction

    Can VCSEL spiking dynamics support prediction beyond a classification task?

    Dafydd Owen-Newns, Lina Jaurigue, Joshua Robertson, Andrew Adair, Jonnel Anthony Jaurigue, Kathy Lüdge & Antonio Hurtado · Source: 2025

6 notes

  1. Paper

    treams – a T-matrix-based scattering code for nanophotonics

    How can scattering by particles, clusters and periodic arrays share a computational framework?

    D. Beutel, I. Fernandez-Corbaton & C. Rockstuhl · Source: 2024
  2. Paper

    Use of Fourier series in the analysis of discontinuous periodic structures

    Why do some Fourier formulations converge poorly at material boundaries?

    Lifeng Li · Source: 1996
  3. Idea

    From emitters to quantum systems

    How do cavity design and noise shape usable quantum light?

  4. Idea

    Light with imperfect coherence

    What survives when fields no longer share a fixed phase?

  5. Paper

    Room temperature spin injection into commercial VCSELs at non-resonant wavelengths

    Can a commercial VCSEL accept spin injection through nonresonant optical pumping?

    T. Almabetov, P. Androvitsaneas, Z. Ren, A. Young, R. Oulton & E. Harbord · Source: 2025
  6. Paper

    Shaping the light of VCSELs through cavity geometry design

    How do noncircular VCSEL cavities change emission?

    H. Lu, O. Alkhazragi, H. Lin, T. K. Ng & B. S. Ooi · Source: 2025

6 notes

  1. Paper

    Reconfigurable Millimeter-Wave Generation via Mutually Injected Spin-VCSELs

    Can mutual optical injection tune millimeter-wave oscillations?

    Yichuan Xiong, Yu Huang, Pei Zhou, Kuenyao Lau & Nianqiang Li · Source: 2026
  2. Paper

    Spin vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with linear gain anisotropy: Prediction of exceptional points and nontrivial dynamical regimes

    What changes when linear gain anisotropy is included in a spin-VCSEL model?

    M. Drong, J. Peřina Jr., T. Fördös, H. Y. Jaffrès, K. Postava & H.-J. Drouhin · Source: 2023
  3. Idea

    Periodicity in time

    What changes when the material changes during an optical cycle?

  4. Paper

    Modeling of passive and active optical periodic structures

    How can periodic gratings and active dipole layers share a model that handles incoherent processes?

    Přemysl Ciompa · Source: 2018
  5. Paper

    Spin-polarized lasing in a photonic lattice

    Can a spatially extended photonic lattice support spin-controlled lasing?

    A. Herrero Otermin, N. Carlon Zambon, A. Bieganowska, F. Jabeen, L. Viña & C. Antón-Solanas · Source: 2026
  6. Paper

    Wurtzite spin lasers

    How does microscopic electronic structure affect spin-laser gain?

    P. E. Faria Junior, G. Xu, Y.-F. Chen, G. M. Sipahi & I. Žutić · Source: 2017

6 notes

  1. Paper

    Physics-constrained neural networks for surrogate modeling of lossless periodic structures

    Can a learned RCWA surrogate respect an exact physical constraint?

    E. Prehn & P. Jung · Source: 2026
  2. Paper

    Modeling Self-Heating in High-Power Single-Mode Phase-Coupled Linear VCSEL Arrays

    How does self-heating affect phase-coupled VCSEL-array operation?

    V. Torrelli, M. C. G. Alasio, M. D’Alessandro … P. Debernardi (9 authors) · Source: 2025
  3. Paper

    Large-scale quantum communication networks with integrated photonics

    Can integrated sources serve many quantum-communication clients?

    Y. Zheng, H. Wang, X. Jia … J. Wang (24 authors) · Source: 2026
  4. Idea

    Dynamics that compute

    Can optical nonlinearity, memory and coupling do useful computation?

  5. Paper

    Eigendecomposition-free inverse design of meta-optics devices

    Can repeated metasurface optimization avoid expensive eigenvector calculations?

    Y. Huang, Z. Zhu, Y. Dong, H. Tang, B. Zheng, V. A. Podolskiy & H. Zhang · Source: 2024
  6. Paper

    Predicting VCSEL Emission Properties using Transformer Neural Networks

    Can a learned model accelerate predictions for layered VCSEL structures?

    Aleksei Belonovskii, Elizaveta Girshova, Erkki Lähderanta & Mikhail Kaliteevski · Source: 2025

6 notes

  1. Paper

    Trace formulation for photonic inverse design with incoherent sources

    Can incoherent emission be optimized without an independent solve for every source?

    W. Yao, F. Verdugo, R. E. Christiansen & S. G. Johnson · Source: 2022
  2. Paper

    Before the cycle is over: Subcycle time refraction at optical frequencies

    What happens when a refractive-index change is faster than an optical cycle?

    O. Segal, N. Konforty, O. Schiller … M. Segev (10 authors) · Source: 2026
  3. Paper

    Matrix description of coherent and incoherent light reflection and transmission by anisotropic multilayer structures

    How can thin coherent films and thick incoherent layers be handled together?

    K. Postava, T. Yamaguchi & R. Kantor · Source: 2002
  4. Paper

    Coherent and incoherent phenomena in anisotropic periodic gratings

    How can periodic anisotropic systems describe depolarization without repeated statistical sampling?

    K. Postava, T. Fördös, T. Kohut & L. Halagačka · Source: 2025
  5. Paper

    Efficient First-Principles Inverse Design of Nanolasers

    Can nanolaser optimization include useful output, gain and threshold effects?

    B. Martinez de Aguirre Jokisch, A. Cerjan, R. E. Christiansen, J. Mørk, O. Sigmund & S. G. Johnson · Source: 2026
  6. Paper

    Incoherent phenomena in anisotropic periodic structures: from modeling to experimental demonstration

    How does a thick substrate alter the polarimetric response of a diffraction grating?

    K. Postava, P. Ciompa, T. Kohut, M. Drong, R. Ješko, H. Jaffrès, T. Fördös, L. Kotačka & H.-J. Drouhin · Source: 2024

6 notes

  1. Paper

    Electrically triggered spin–photon devices in silicon

    Can silicon spin–photon interfaces be triggered electrically?

    M. Dobinson, C. Bowness, S. A. Meynell … D. B. Higginbottom (13 authors) · Source: 2025
  2. Idea

    Spin, gain & laser dynamics

    Which polarization lases, and will it remain stable?

  3. Paper

    Steady-state ab initio laser theory: Generalizations and analytic results

    How can open-cavity lasing modes be found with nonlinear mode competition included?

    L. Ge, Y. D. Chong & A. D. Stone · Source: 2010
  4. Paper

    Quasinormal modes in dispersive photonic time crystals

    How can transient resonances of a time-periodic dispersive cavity be described?

    C. M. Hooper, I. R. Hooper & S. A. R. Horsley · Source: 2026
  5. Paper

    Matrix Square Root Based Differentiable RCWA Implementation for High-Performance Parallel Computing

    Can RCWA differentiation and parallel execution improve together?

    F. Van der Ceelen, Y. Shao & W. Coene · Source: 2026
  6. Paper

    VarRCWA: An Adaptive High-Order Rigorous Coupled Wave Analysis Method

    Can a Fourier solver efficiently handle cross-sections that vary along propagation?

    Z. Zhu & C. Zheng · Source: 2022

7 notes

  1. Paper

    Legume: A free implementation of the guided-mode expansion method for photonic crystal slabs

    How can photonic-crystal slab modes and light–matter coupling be computed efficiently?

    S. Zanotti, M. Minkov, D. Nigro, D. Gerace, S. Fan & L. C. Andreani · Source: 2024
  2. Paper

    The spin-dependent semiconductor Bloch equations: a microscopic theory of Bir-Aronov-Pikus spin-relaxation

    How can carrier interactions generate spin relaxation and dephasing microscopically?

    C. Lechner & U. Rössler · Source: 2005
  3. Paper

    Fourier modal method for inverse design of metasurface-enhanced micro-LEDs

    Can emission from many independent dipoles be cheap enough to optimize a micro-LED?

    M. F. Schubert & A. M. Hammond · Source: 2023
  4. Paper

    Dark Lines and Polarization Singularities in Bright Metasurface-Enhanced Fluorescence

    Why can fluorescence from independent emitters contain sharp dark lines and polarization singularities?

    D. Pal & A. F. Koenderink · Source: 2025
  5. Paper

    Differentiable eigendecomposition-free RCWA for full-tensor anisotropic photonics

    How can fully coupled anisotropic layer problems become differentiable and GPU-efficient?

    E. Yang, Q. Song & W. Cai · Source: 2026
  6. Paper

    Dynamical Control of Non-Hermitian Coupling between Subthreshold Nanolasers Enables Q-Switched Pulse Generation

    Can coupled cavities release stored carrier energy through dynamically changing modal losses?

    K. Seegert, R. Gajardo, G. Huyet, F. Raineri & G. Madiot · Source: 2026
  7. Paper

    Ultracompact multibound-state-assisted flat-band lasers

    Can flat-band and bound-state engineering reduce the size of a photonic-crystal laser?

    J. Cui, S. Han, B. Zhu … Q. J. Wang (10 authors) · Source: 2025

5 notes

  1. Paper

    Quantum Quasinormal Mode Theory for Dissipative Nano-Optics and Magnetodielectric Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

    How can leaky magnetodielectric resonances be represented in a quantum theory?

    L. Meschede, D. D. A. Clarke & O. Hess · Source: 2026
  2. Paper

    Fast Multichannel Inverse Design through Augmented Partial Factorization

    How can a design objective involving many incident channels be evaluated efficiently?

    S. Li, H.-C. Lin & C. W. Hsu · Source: 2024
  3. Paper

    Inverse Design of Diffractive Metasurfaces Using Diffusion Models

    Can generative models suggest geometries for a desired diffraction pattern?

    Liav Hen, Erez Yosef, Dan Raviv, Raja Giryes & Jacob Scheuer · Source: 2026
  4. Paper

    Frequency-modulated high-power photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers for long-distance coherent free-space optical communications

    Can a compact PCSEL supply high-power coherent modulation?

    Takuya Inoue, Ryohei Morita, Shota Ishimura … Susumu Noda (10 authors) · Source: 2025
  5. Paper

    Polygon-based unified Fourier-modal approach for diffractive-optics simulations

    How can arbitrary lamellar line profiles be represented for diffraction calculations?

    K. V. Nikolaev, V. Soltwisch, M. A. Botchev, A. Fernández Herrero, P. Hönicke, F. Scholze & S. N. Yakunin · Source: 2025

7 notes

  1. Paper

    RCWA4D: Electromagnetic solver for layered structures with incommensurate periodicities

    How can twisted or incommensurate patterned layers be simulated?

    B. Lou & S. Fan · Source: 2025
  2. Paper

    Exciton polariton condensation in a perovskite moiré flat band at room temperature

    Can moiré flat bands support collective light–matter behaviour at room temperature?

    F. Jin, J. Ren, S. Zanotti … R. Su (13 authors) · Source: 2025
  3. Idea

    From simulation to design

    Can we optimize the optical behaviour we actually need?

  4. Paper

    Electromagnetic propagation in birefringent layered media

    How can polarization and anisotropy be retained through a stratified optical system?

    Pochi Yeh · Source: 1979
  5. Paper

    Method of source terms for dipole emission modification in modes of arbitrary planar structures

    How does a planar optical environment modify dipole emission?

    H. Benisty, R. Stanley & M. Mayer · Source: 1998
  6. Idea

    Hybrid light–matter states

    What emerges when the material excitation and photon become hybrid modes?

  7. Paper

    Field-programmable photonic nonlinearity

    Can photonic programmability include nonlinear input–output functions?

    T. Wu, Y. Li, L. Ge & L. Feng · Source: 2025
Connections between notes

CONNECTIONS

Connections between notes

differentiable solvers↔source statistics

Solver cost and emission objectives

Faster layer algebra and efficient ensemble emission address different costs. Together they make source-aware optimization plausible, while retaining the need to validate the combined model.

Micro-LED FMMTrace formulation
spin & gain↔collective modes

Cavity modes and gain selection

A passive band calculation identifies candidates. Spin-dependent gain and modal competition determine the lasing state. The 2026 photonic-lattice work brings these physical ingredients together.

Spin-polarized lattice lasingExtended spin-flip dynamics
cavity design↔laser-aware optimization

Radiation loss and useful output

Radiation suppression increases confinement, but a source must also emit into a useful channel. SALT-based inverse design makes gain, threshold and output coupling part of the optimization.

BIC / flat-band lasersNanolasers by inverse design
temporal modulation↔open-cavity modes

Time modulation and open cavities

Floquet modes account for periodic driving; quasinormal modes account for open resonances. Their intersection changes how transient growth, phase locking and leakage are described.

Floquet quasinormal modesSubcycle time refraction