{"title":"Spectacle lens design with double aspheric surfaces using differentiable ray tracing.","authors":"Xinghua Pan, Haisong Tang, ZeXin Feng, Huazhong Xiang","doi":"10.1364/AO.569087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.569087","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traditional spectacle lens design methodologies have been hindered by their high complexity and low efficiency, primarily due to their reliance on Coddington equations or classical optimization algorithms. We propose an efficient spectacle lens design method based on differentiable ray tracing (DRT), where the partial derivatives of the merit function with respect to the lens surface parameters are computed through automatic differentiation. A -12<i>D</i> lens design demonstrates that the proposed method outperforms traditional optimization approaches, including simulated annealing (SA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and genetic algorithm (GA), in terms of optimization efficiency, edge thickness, and mean power error, while achieving lower distortion compared to SA and PSO. Additionally, we explored the impact of vertex distance variation on the design results, as well as the spatial distribution of optimized lenses in relation to distortion and mean power error.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7611-7617"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.563969
Tongxin Xu, Youqiang Dong, Bongrae Park, Thomas Koch, Zhibo Wan
{"title":"Missing region recovery for binocular point cloud using monocular-binocular fusion.","authors":"Tongxin Xu, Youqiang Dong, Bongrae Park, Thomas Koch, Zhibo Wan","doi":"10.1364/AO.563969","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.563969","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Binocular structured light technology is widely employed in high-precision 3D reconstruction due to its reliability and accuracy. However, it has inherent limitations, including partial point cloud loss resulting from limited perspectives, occlusions, and uneven illumination. To address this issue, this study proposes a monocular-binocular fusion completion framework. The approach integrates a multi-phase point cloud registration process, as well as adaptive threshold filtering and multi-step point cloud post-processing. The proposed method effectively enhances the completeness of binocular point clouds without requiring additional hardware. The feasibility of the framework is validated through theoretical analysis and empirical testing.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7746-7754"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.561411
Qiyun Liang, Ninghua Zhang, Qiang Wang, Xuewei Wang, Lei Cui
{"title":"Identifying and tracking method for the beacon in intersatellite laser communications based on the fractional Fourier transform.","authors":"Qiyun Liang, Ninghua Zhang, Qiang Wang, Xuewei Wang, Lei Cui","doi":"10.1364/AO.561411","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.561411","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In satellite-to-satellite optical communications, accurate beacon tracking necessitates two optical terminals. However, during tracking, star background light noise in the receiver's charge-coupled device field of view interferes with beacon light identification, impairing system performance and communication stability, and potentially disrupting the laser communication link. The fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm is typically used to differentiate the beacon from starlight based on frequency characteristics. Nonetheless, when the motion trajectories of the beacon and background lights are similar and their light spots overlap, FFT has difficulty distinguishing them, causing incorrect identification of the beacon light, and then disrupting the tracking process. We introduce the fractional Fourier transform segmentation approach, which represents signals in a fractional Fourier field by rotating any angle counterclockwise around the origin in the time-frequency plane, which isolates the beacon from the background light. The method enables effective separation of the beacon light from complex scenarios, so the tracking process will not be interrupted when background light interference occurs at the terminal. This method has great value for improving the tracking performance of laser communication on the beacon light.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7636-7644"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.572043
Kewei Sun, Yinmo Xie, Xiaoyue Zhang, Jun Qiu, Jianyu Tan
{"title":"Influence of the gradient distribution of VO<sub>2</sub> particles on the performance of thermochromic smart window films.","authors":"Kewei Sun, Yinmo Xie, Xiaoyue Zhang, Jun Qiu, Jianyu Tan","doi":"10.1364/AO.572043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.572043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Smart windows play an important role in regulating solar radiation and reducing building energy consumption. Thermochromic smart windows based on <i>V</i><i>O</i><sub>2</sub> nanoparticles offer great potential for large-scale applications. However, non-uniform distributions of particle size and volume fraction along the film thickness direction are often present in <i>V</i><i>O</i><sub>2</sub> films, which not only affect optical modulation but also induce uneven local phase transitions, further impacting thermal regulation and response efficiency. In this study, a multiscale coupled model was developed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and the finite element method (FEM) to investigate how these non-uniformities influence the optical and thermal behavior of <i>V</i><i>O</i><sub>2</sub> nanoparticle films. When the particle size gradient increased from 30-40-50 to 30-50-100 nm, <i>τ</i><sub><i>l</i><i>u</i><i>m</i></sub> dropped by 8.29% and <i>Δ</i><i>τ</i><sub><i>s</i><i>o</i><i>l</i></sub> by 7.43%, with similar trends observed across different film thicknesses. In 15 µm films, the peak temperature of the film with a uniform particle size distribution is 2.31°C higher than that of the non-uniform film, which promotes more complete and more synchronous phase transition. The influence of non-uniform volume fraction on optical performance was limited, but its effect on local temperature response was pronounced. In 5 µm films, a downward-<i>f</i><sub><i>v</i></sub> distribution increased the peak temperature by 0.75°C. When the particle size variation is within 10 nm, a uniform model remains effective; however, with larger gradients or thicker films, fine modeling is required to ensure predictive accuracy. Optimizing particle size and volume fraction distributions can improve the optical-thermal response of <i>V</i><i>O</i><sub>2</sub> films and lower the required transition temperature.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7724-7738"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.571796
Shihong Xu, Xinyi Xu, Run Zhou, Jiahao Zhang, Qun Zhang, Lu Zhang
{"title":"Physics-informed neural networks for deterministic modeling of polarization division multiplexed fiber transmission systems.","authors":"Shihong Xu, Xinyi Xu, Run Zhou, Jiahao Zhang, Qun Zhang, Lu Zhang","doi":"10.1364/AO.571796","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.571796","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equation (CNLSE) governs signal propagation in polarization division multiplexed (PDM) optical fiber systems, yet poses significant numerical challenges. This paper introduces physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) as a novel framework for deterministic modeling of PDM transmission. Through validation across single-pulse evolution, communication sequences, and full PDM systems, PINNs demonstrate deterministic accuracy (<i>R</i><i>M</i><i>S</i><i>E</i>=0.0044∼0.0129 and <i>s</i><i>p</i><i>e</i><i>c</i><i>t</i><i>r</i><i>a</i><i>l</i><i>e</i><i>r</i><i>r</i><i>o</i><i>r</i><i>s</i><4<i>%</i>) while overcoming traditional limitation. They eliminate the split-step Fourier method (SSFM)'s step-size dependencies and data-driven methods' statistical uncertainties. By preserving physical determinism through embedded PDE constraints, PINNs establish a new paradigm, to our knowledge, for reliable fiber-optic system modeling.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7827-7833"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Design of a mid-wave infrared computational microspectrometer based on a nanorod-dielectric metasurface.","authors":"Wei Wu, Jing Zhu, Jianglin Chen, Yuting Zhang, Siqi Xu","doi":"10.1364/AO.567753","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.567753","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Metasurfaces have shown great potential in optical imaging and sensing due to their ability to manipulate light fields at the subwavelength scale, especially in spectral detection. In this study, we propose a computational miniature spectrometer operating in the mid-infrared range by integrating a dielectric metasurface with a gold nanopillar array. A genetic algorithm is introduced for the first time, to our knowledge, to select the optimal combination of structures from 726 candidates to construct a filter array. By combining four conventional reconstruction algorithms with a fine-tuning optimization method, high-precision spectral reconstruction is achieved across the 3-5 µm range, with a resolution of 20 nm. This work provides a practical and scalable solution for the miniaturization and integration of mid-infrared spectrometers, offering significant potential for both research and application.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7685-7691"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145116013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.568213
Ajit Kumar, Nishant Sharan, Vipul Dixit, S K Ghorai, R Karibasappa, K P Ravikumar, Amresh Kumar
{"title":"Minimizing positioning error through strategic LED arrangement: circular layout superiority in ANN-based VLP.","authors":"Ajit Kumar, Nishant Sharan, Vipul Dixit, S K Ghorai, R Karibasappa, K P Ravikumar, Amresh Kumar","doi":"10.1364/AO.568213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.568213","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This research introduces a fingerprint-based artificial neural network approach for visible light positioning systems. The study evaluates four different light emitting diode (LED) configurations-square, rectangular, triangular, and circular-within a 5<i>m</i>×5<i>m</i>×3<i>m</i> indoor environment to determine which arrangement delivers the highest positioning accuracy. The analysis employs a receiver moving in a circular path within the receiver plane for the estimation of positioning accuracy across the entire trajectory. Comprehensive simulation results, including the cumulative distribution function, frequency distribution of positioning errors, and error magnitudes at different receiver locations, demonstrate that the mean positioning errors (in centimeters) are 15.2893, 12.4548, 52.5016, and 9.8749 for square, rectangular, triangular, and circular configurations, respectively. The findings indicate that the circular arrangement yields superior performance with minimal positioning error. This configuration creates consistent signal strength gradients across all directions, eliminating potential \"dead zones\" and maximizing line-of-sight connections between LEDs and the receiver regardless of position. The superior performance of the circular configuration underscores the significant impact of geometric arrangement on positioning accuracy, even when utilizing identical numbers of LEDs and signal processing techniques.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7755-7767"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.572124
Xianhua Yin, Junrong Su, Huo Zhang
{"title":"VO<sub>2</sub>-based reconfigurable metamaterial enabling switchable single-dual-band asymmetric transmission at terahertz frequencies.","authors":"Xianhua Yin, Junrong Su, Huo Zhang","doi":"10.1364/AO.572124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.572124","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To address the challenge of dynamically controlling the operating bands of terahertz wave polarization conversion, we propose a tunable terahertz metamaterial device capable of switching its asymmetric transmission between single-band and dual-band modes. The device consists of a top layer of gold and vanadium dioxide, separated from the bottom layer by a polyimide spacer layer. The bottom layer is a mirror-symmetric and 90°-rotated configuration of the top structure. Leveraging vanadium dioxide's phase transition property from an insulating to a metallic state upon heating enables the tunability of incident terahertz waves. In the metallic state, the structure exhibits pronounced single-band asymmetric transmission, with a transmission coefficient <i>T</i><sub>yx</sub> reaching 0.85 at 1.54 THz, while <i>T</i><sub>xy</sub> remains at 0.06. In the insulating state, dual-band asymmetric transmission is observed, with peak <i>T</i><sub>yx</sub> values of 0.786 at 1.45 THz and 0.783 at 2.0 THz, and corresponding <i>T</i><sub>xy</sub> values of 0.06 and 0.07, respectively. Analysis of the structural surface currents reveals that the structure excites asymmetric dipole current resonance, which enables cross-coupling between the incident electric field and induced magnetic field, resulting in asymmetric transmission. The introduction of the coupled-mode theory abstracts the metamaterial as a coupled dual-resonator system, thereby providing further insights into the physical mechanism of dual-band polarization conversion. This tunable asymmetric transmission device presents a promising approach for expanding the applications of filters and tunable optoelectronic devices.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7807-7816"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.568350
Manuel Petzi, André Liemert, Dominik Reitzle, Alwin Kienle
{"title":"Analytic and numeric study of polarized light propagation in turbid media for lidar applications.","authors":"Manuel Petzi, André Liemert, Dominik Reitzle, Alwin Kienle","doi":"10.1364/AO.568350","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.568350","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In automotive applications, lidar systems are essential both for driver assistance systems and autonomous driving, yet adverse weather conditions like fog can lead to a considerably smaller obstacle detection range. Polarized illumination in combination with polarization-aware detection has been considered as a possibility to counteract. Therefore, we investigated time-dependent light propagation in an infinite homogeneous scattering medium, with an emphasis on polarization. Analytically, we derived solutions of the vectorial radiative transfer equation for the Green's functions of the single and double scattered radiance originating from a unidirectional point source. Moreover, we implemented an electric-field Monte Carlo simulation of a bistatic scanning lidar system and found very good agreement with the analytic results.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7703-7712"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115930","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Applied opticsPub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1364/AO.573953
Ahmed Nady, Pavel Loiko, Abdelmjid Benayad, Alain Braud, Ammar Hideur, Patrice Camy
{"title":"Yb,Tm:LiYF<sub>4</sub> lasers at 1.5 and 2.3 µm pumped by a Yb-fiber laser.","authors":"Ahmed Nady, Pavel Loiko, Abdelmjid Benayad, Alain Braud, Ammar Hideur, Patrice Camy","doi":"10.1364/AO.573953","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.573953","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We demonstrate the viability of pumping <i>Y</i><i>b</i><sup>3+</sup>,<i>T</i><i>m</i><sup>3+</sup> codoped crystals by commercial 976 nm Yb-fiber lasers for achieving low-threshold, efficient and power-scalable operation at 1.5 and 2.3 µm. A <i>Y</i><i>b</i>,<i>T</i><i>m</i>:<i>L</i><i>i</i><i>Y</i><i>F</i><sub>4</sub> laser employing this pumping scheme generated a continuous-wave output power up to 0.70 W at ∼2307<i>n</i><i>m</i> (the <sup>3</sup><i>H</i><sub>4</sub>→<sup>3</sup><i>H</i><sub>5</sub> transition) with a slope efficiency of 26.7%, laser threshold down to 46 mW, and linear polarization (<i>π</i>). It also delivered 0.60 W at 1497 nm (the <sup>3</sup><i>H</i><sub>4</sub>→<sup>3</sup><i>F</i><sub>4</sub> transition) with a slope efficiency of 26.1% and a laser threshold of 78 mW. Polarization switching at 1.5 µm between <i>π</i> and <i>σ</i> states was observed and explained by gain anisotropy. Various approaches for pumping 2.3 µm Tm lasers are discussed and compared.</p>","PeriodicalId":101299,"journal":{"name":"Applied optics","volume":"64 26","pages":"7867-7874"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}