Laser combs that emit multiple frequencies or colors of light at the same time are a promising technology for a range of applications. The on-chip frequencies are limited by a serious problem. The efficiency problem can be mitigated, but they all suffer from trade-offs. combs can either have high efficiency or broad bandwidth but not both Researchers have been stymied for years by the inability to design an on-chip laser frequency comb that is both efficient and broad.
A team from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has created a comb that is 100 times more efficient than previous state-of-the-art versions.
The senior author of the study said that the device paves the way for practical optical frequencies comb generators. New areas of optical physics are being investigated.
The research is in a journal.
Lonar and his team have done research before.
Lonar's lab demonstrated the first stable, on-chip Frequency comb that could be controlled with microwaves. The comb spanned the entire bandwidth but was limited in its efficiency. A device that can change the color of light with nearly 100% efficiency was demonstrated by the team in 2021.
The efficiency-bandwidth tradeoff is addressed by the two concepts that have been applied.
By combining the two approaches, we were able to improve the efficiency a lot without compromising bandwidth. The first author of the paper said that they improved bandwidth.
When you improve the performance of the comb source to this level, the device starts operating in an entirely new regime that combines the process of electro-optic frequency comb generation with the more traditional approach of a Kerr frequency comb.
Yu is an assistant professor at USC.
At high power, this comb can produce ultrafast femtosecond pulse. This device can be used in astronomy, optical computing, ranging and optical metrology.
The research was co-authored by many people.
More information: Yaowen Hu et al, High-efficiency and broadband on-chip electro-optic frequency comb generators, Nature Photonics (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41566-022-01059-y Journal information: Nature Photonics
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