小さなフォトニックチップから高品質のマイクロ波信号を生成(High-Quality Microwave Signals Generated From Tiny Photonic Chip)

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2024-03-15 コロンビア大学

コロンビア工学部の研究者らは、新しいNatureの研究で、たった1つのレーザーだけを使用して、高品質で超低ノイズのマイクロ波信号を生成するフォトニックチップを開発しました。この小型デバイスは、鉛筆の先に収まるほど小さく、統合フォトニクスプラットフォームで観測された中で最も低いマイクロ波ノイズを実現しました。この成果は、高速通信、原子時計、自動車などの応用に向けた小型で超低ノイズのマイクロ波生成への有望な道を提供しています。

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単一レーザーを用いた全光学周波数分割オンチップ All-optical frequency division on-chip using a single laser

Yun Zhao,Jae K. Jang,Garrett J. Beals,Karl J. McNulty,Xingchen Ji,Yoshitomo Okawachi,Michal Lipson & Alexander L. Gaeta
Nature  Published:11 March 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07136-2

小さなフォトニックチップから高品質のマイクロ波信号を生成(High-Quality Microwave Signals Generated From Tiny Photonic Chip)

Abstract

The generation of spectrally pure microwave signals is a critical functionality in fundamental and applied sciences, including metrology and communications. Optical frequency combs enable the powerful technique of optical frequency division (OFD) to produce microwave oscillations of the highest quality1,2. Current implementations of OFD require multiple lasers, with space- and energy-consuming optical stabilization and electronic feedback components, resulting in device footprints incompatible with integration into a compact and robust photonic platform3,4,5. Here we demonstrate all-optical OFD on a photonic chip by synchronizing two distinct dynamical states of Kerr microresonators pumped by a single continuous-wave laser. The inherent stability of the terahertz beat frequency between the signal and idler fields of an optical parametric oscillator is transferred to a microwave frequency of a Kerr soliton comb, and synchronization is achieved via a coupling waveguide without the need for electronic locking. OFD factors of N = 34 and 468 are achieved for 227 GHz and 16 GHz soliton combs, respectively. In particular, OFD enables a 46 dB phase-noise reduction for the 16 GHz soliton comb, resulting in the lowest microwave noise observed in an integrated photonics platform. Our work represents a simple, effective approach for performing OFD and provides a pathway towards chip-scale devices that can generate microwave frequencies comparable to the purest tones produced in metrological laboratories.

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