Self-referenced photonic chip soliton Kerr frequency comb

Self-referencing turns pulsed laser systems into self-referenced frequency combs.Such frequency combs allow counting of optical frequencies and have a wide range of applications.The required optical bandwidth to implement self-referencing is typically obtained via nonlinear broadening in optical fibers.Recent advances in the field of Kerr frequency combs have provided a path toward the development of compact frequency comb sources that provide broadband frequency combs,exhibit microwave repetition rates and are compatible with on-chip photonic integration.These devices have the potential to significantly expand the use of frequency combs.Yet to date,self-referencing of such Kerr frequency combs has only been attained by applying conventional,fiber-based broadening techniques.Here we demonstrate external broadening-free self-referencing of a Kerr frequency comb.An optical spectrum spanning two-thirds of an octave is directly synthesized from a continuous wave laser-driven silicon nitride microresonator using temporal dissipative Kerr soliton formation and soliton Cherenkov radiation.Using this coherent bandwidth and two continuous wave transfer lasers in a 2f–3f self-referencing scheme,we are able to detect the offset frequency of the soliton Kerr frequency comb.By stabilizing the repetition rate to a radio frequency reference,the self-referenced frequency comb is used to count and track the continuous wave pump laser’s frequency.This work demonstrates the principal ability of soliton Kerr frequency combs to provide microwave-to-optical clockworks on a chip.

Silicon nitride-based Kerr frequency combs and applications in metrology

Kerr frequency combs have been attracting significant interest due to their rich physics and broad applications in metrology,microwave photonics,and telecommunications.In this review,we first introduce the fundamental physics,master equations,simulation methods,and dynamic process of Kerr frequency combs.We then analyze the most promising material platform for realizing Kerr frequency combs—silicon nitride on insulator(SNOI)in comparison with other material platforms.Moreover,we discuss the fabrication methods,process optimization as well as tuning and measurement schemes of SNOI-based Kerr frequency combs.Furthermore,we highlight several emerging applications of Kerr frequency combs in metrology,including spectroscopy,ranging,and timing.Finally,we summarize this review and envision the future development of chip-scale Kerr frequency combs from the viewpoint of theory,material platforms,and tuning methods.

Kerr frequency combs in large-size,ultra-high-Q toroid microcavities with low repetition rates [Invited]

By overcoming fabrication limitations, we have successfully fabricated silica toroid microcavities with both large diameter(of 1.88 mm) and ultra-high-Q factor(of 3.3 × 10~8) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. By employing these resonators, we have further demonstrated low-threshold Kerr frequency combs on a silicon chip,which allow us to obtain a repetition rate as low as 36 GHz. Such a low repetition rate frequency comb can now bedirectly measured through a commercialized optical-electronic detector.

Comparative study on pump frequency tuning and self-injection locking in Kerr microcomb generation

The optical frequency comb has attracted considerable interest due to its diverse applications in optical atomic clocks,ultra-low-noise microwave generation,dual-comb spectroscopy,and optical communications.The merits of large frequency spacing,high integration,and low power consumption have shown that microresonator-based Kerr optical frequency combs will become mainstream in the future.Two methods of pump frequency tuning and self-injection locking were used to obtain Kerr combs in the same silicon nitride microresonators with free spectral ranges of 50 GHz and 100 GHz.Singlesoliton combs are realized with both methods.Simplicity,pump power,spectrum bandwidth,conversion efficiency,and linewidth are compared and analyzed.Our results show that the advantages of pump frequency tuning are a wider spectrum and higher soliton power while the advantages of self-injection locking are simplicity,compactness,low cost,significant linewidth narrowing,and high conversion efficiency.

Breaking the efficiency limitations of dissipative Kerr solitons using nonlinear couplers

Dissipative Kerr solitons(DKS) have long been suffering from poor power conversion efficiency when driven by continuous-wave lasers. By deriving the critical coupling condition of a multimode nonlinear optics system in a generalized theoretical framework,two efficiency limitations of the conventional pump method of DKS are revealed: the effective coupling rate is too small and is also power-dependent. A general approach is provided to resolve this challenge by introducing two types of nonlinear couplers to couple the soliton cavity and CW input through nonlinear processes. The collective coupler opens multiple coupling channels and the self-adaptive coupler builds a power-independent effective external coupling rate to the DKS for approaching the generalized critical coupling condition, which promises near-unity power conversion efficiencies. For instance, a conversion efficiency exceeding 90% is predicted for aluminum nitride microrings with a nonlinear coupler utilizing second-harmonic generation. The mechanism applies to various nonlinear processes, including Raman and Brillouin scattering, and thus paves the way for micro-solitons toward practical applications.

Second-harmonic-assisted four-wave mixing in chip-based microresonator frequency comb generation

Simultaneous Kerr comb formation and second-harmonic generation with on-chip microresonators can greatly facilitate comb self-referencing for optical clocks and frequency metrology.Moreover,the presence of both second-and third-order nonlinearities results in complex cavity dynamics that is of high scientific interest but is still far from being well-understood.Here,we demonstrate that the interaction between the fundamental and the second-harmonic waves can provide an entirely new way of phase matching for four-wave mixing in optical microresonators,enabling the generation of optical frequency combs in the normal dispersion regime under conditions where comb creation is ordinarily prohibited.We derive new coupled time-domain mean-field equations and obtain simulation results showing good qualitative agreement with our experimental observations.Our findings provide a novel way of overcoming the dispersion limit for simultaneous Kerr comb formation and second-harmonic generation,which might prove to be especially important in the near-visible to visible range where several atomic transitions commonly used for the stabilization of optical clocks are located and where the large normal material dispersion is likely to dominate.