An optical-frequency synthesizer using integrated photonics

Daryl T. Spencer (), Tara Drake, Travis C. Briles, Jordan Stone, Laura C. Sinclair, Connor Fredrick, Qing Li, Daron Westly, B. Robert Ilic, Aaron Bluestone, Nicolas Volet, Tin Komljenovic, Lin Chang, Seung Hoon Lee, Dong Yoon Oh, Myoung-Gyun Suh, Ki Youl Yang, Martin H. P. Pfeiffer, Tobias J. Kippenberg, Erik Norberg, Luke Theogarajan, Kerry Vahala, Nathan R. Newbury, Kartik Srinivasan, John E. Bowers, Scott A. Diddams and Scott B. Papp ()
Additional contact information
Daryl T. Spencer: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Tara Drake: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Travis C. Briles: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Jordan Stone: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Laura C. Sinclair: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Connor Fredrick: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Qing Li: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Daron Westly: National Institute of Standards and Technology
B. Robert Ilic: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Aaron Bluestone: University of California Santa Barbara
Nicolas Volet: University of California Santa Barbara
Tin Komljenovic: University of California Santa Barbara
Lin Chang: University of California Santa Barbara
Seung Hoon Lee: California Institute of Technology
Dong Yoon Oh: California Institute of Technology
Myoung-Gyun Suh: California Institute of Technology
Ki Youl Yang: California Institute of Technology
Martin H. P. Pfeiffer: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Tobias J. Kippenberg: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
Erik Norberg: Aurrion Inc.
Luke Theogarajan: University of California Santa Barbara
Kerry Vahala: California Institute of Technology
Nathan R. Newbury: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Kartik Srinivasan: National Institute of Standards and Technology
John E. Bowers: University of California Santa Barbara
Scott A. Diddams: National Institute of Standards and Technology
Scott B. Papp: National Institute of Standards and Technology

Nature, 2018, vol. 557, issue 7703, 81-85

Abstract: Abstract Optical-frequency synthesizers, which generate frequency-stable light from a single microwave-frequency reference, are revolutionizing ultrafast science and metrology, but their size, power requirement and cost need to be reduced if they are to be more widely used. Integrated-photonics microchips can be used in high-coherence applications, such as data transmission1, highly optimized physical sensors2 and harnessing quantum states3, to lower cost and increase efficiency and portability. Here we describe a method for synthesizing the absolute frequency of a lightwave signal, using integrated photonics to create a phase-coherent microwave-to-optical link. We use a heterogeneously integrated III–V/silicon tunable laser, which is guided by nonlinear frequency combs fabricated on separate silicon chips and pumped by off-chip lasers. The laser frequency output of our optical-frequency synthesizer can be programmed by a microwave clock across 4 terahertz near 1,550 nanometres (the telecommunications C-band) with 1 hertz resolution. Our measurements verify that the output of the synthesizer is exceptionally stable across this region (synthesis error of 7.7 × 10−15 or below). Any application of an optical-frequency source could benefit from the high-precision optical synthesis presented here. Leveraging high-volume semiconductor processing built around advanced materials could allow such low-cost, low-power and compact integrated-photonics devices to be widely used.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0065-7

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