Emerging material systems for integrated optical Kerr frequency combs

Kovach, Andre; Chen, Dongyu; He, Jinghan; Choi, Hyungwoo; Dogan, Adil Han; Ghasemkhani, Mohammadreza; Taheri, Hossein; Armani, Andrea M.

doi:10.1364/aop.376924

Cited by 106 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 419 publications

(594 reference statements)

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“…For integrated nonlinear photonics, in particular soliton microcombs, Si 3 N 4 44 has emerged as a leading material due to its ultralow optical losses, absence of two-photon absorption in the telecommunication bands, strong Kerr nonlinearity, high refractive index, space compatibility 45 and exceptionally high power handling capability 46 , 47 . To date, among all integrated photonic platforms 48 , optical losses near or below 1 dB m −1 have only been demonstrated in Si 3 N 4 PICs. While thin-core waveguides (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-yield, wafer-scale fabrication of ultralow-loss, dispersion-engineered silicon nitride photonic circuits

et al. 2021

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Low-loss photonic integrated circuits and microresonators have enabled a wide range of applications, such as narrow-linewidth lasers and chip-scale frequency combs. To translate these into a widespread technology, attaining ultralow optical losses with established foundry manufacturing is critical. Recent advances in integrated Si3N4 photonics have shown that ultralow-loss, dispersion-engineered microresonators with quality factors Q > 10 × 106 can be attained at die-level throughput. Yet, current fabrication techniques do not have sufficiently high yield and performance for existing and emerging applications, such as integrated travelling-wave parametric amplifiers that require meter-long photonic circuits. Here we demonstrate a fabrication technology that meets all requirements on wafer-level yield, performance and length scale. Photonic microresonators with a mean Q factor exceeding 30 × 106, corresponding to 1.0 dB m−1 optical loss, are obtained over full 4-inch wafers, as determined from a statistical analysis of tens of thousands of optical resonances, and confirmed via cavity ringdown with 19 ns photon storage time. The process operates over large areas with high yield, enabling 1-meter-long spiral waveguides with 2.4 dB m−1 loss in dies of only 5 × 5 mm2 size. Using a response measurement self-calibrated via the Kerr nonlinearity, we reveal that the intrinsic absorption-limited Q factor of our Si3N4 microresonators can exceed 2 × 108. This absorption loss is sufficiently low such that the Kerr nonlinearity dominates the microresonator’s response even in the audio frequency band. Transferring this Si3N4 technology to commercial foundries can significantly improve the performance and capabilities of integrated photonics.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-yield, wafer-scale fabrication of ultralow-loss, dispersion-engineered silicon nitride photonic circuits

et al. 2021

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“…The past several decades has witnessed the convergence of novel nonlinear materials with nanofabrication methods, enabling a plethora of new nonlinear optical (NLO) devices [1][2][3][4]. Originally, the focus was on developing devices operating in the telecommunications wavelength band to improve communications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear nanophotonic devices in the ultraviolet to visible wavelength range

Chen

et al. 2020

Nanophotonics

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AbstractAlthough the first lasers invented operated in the visible, the first on-chip devices were optimized for near-infrared (IR) performance driven by demand in telecommunications. However, as the applications of integrated photonics has broadened, the wavelength demand has as well, and we are now returning to the visible (Vis) and pushing into the ultraviolet (UV). This shift has required innovations in device design and in materials as well as leveraging nonlinear behavior to reach these wavelengths. This review discusses the key nonlinear phenomena that can be used as well as presents several emerging material systems and devices that have reached the UV–Vis wavelength range.

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“…ecent advances in bridging integrated photonics and optical microresonators [1][2][3][4] have highlighted the technological potential of soliton-based microresonator frequency combs ("soliton microcombs") [5][6][7][8][9] in a wide domain of applications, such as coherent communication 10,11 , ultrafast optical ranging 12,13 , dualcomb spectroscopy 14 , astrophysical spectrometer calibration 15,16 , low-noise microwave synthesis 17 , and to build integrated frequency synthesizers 18 and atomic clocks 19 . Likewise, soliton microcombs also are a testbed for studying the rich nonlinear dynamics, arising from a non-equilibrium driven dissipative nonlinear system, governed by the Lugiato-Lefever equation or extensions thereof, that leads to the formation of "localized dissipative structure" 8,[20][21][22][23][24][25] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of soliton self-injection locking in optical microresonators

et al. 2021

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Soliton microcombs constitute chip-scale optical frequency combs, and have the potential to impact a myriad of applications from frequency synthesis and telecommunications to astronomy. The demonstration of soliton formation via self-injection locking of the pump laser to the microresonator has significantly relaxed the requirement on the external driving lasers. Yet to date, the nonlinear dynamics of this process has not been fully understood. Here, we develop an original theoretical model of the laser self-injection locking to a nonlinear microresonator, i.e., nonlinear self-injection locking, and construct state-of-the-art hybrid integrated soliton microcombs with electronically detectable repetition rate of 30 GHz and 35 GHz, consisting of a DFB laser butt-coupled to a silicon nitride microresonator chip. We reveal that the microresonator’s Kerr nonlinearity significantly modifies the laser diode behavior and the locking dynamics, forcing laser emission frequency to be red-detuned. A novel technique to study the soliton formation dynamics as well as the repetition rate evolution in real-time uncover non-trivial features of the soliton self-injection locking, including soliton generation at both directions of the diode current sweep. Our findings provide the guidelines to build electrically driven integrated microcomb devices that employ full control of the rich dynamics of laser self-injection locking, key for future deployment of microcombs for system applications.

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Emerging material systems for integrated optical Kerr frequency combs

Cited by 106 publications

References 419 publications

High-yield, wafer-scale fabrication of ultralow-loss, dispersion-engineered silicon nitride photonic circuits

High-yield, wafer-scale fabrication of ultralow-loss, dispersion-engineered silicon nitride photonic circuits

Nonlinear nanophotonic devices in the ultraviolet to visible wavelength range

Dynamics of soliton self-injection locking in optical microresonators

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