Integrated frequency-modulated optical parametric oscillator

Hubert S. Stokowski; Devin J. Dean; Alexander Y. Hwang; Taewon Park; Oguz Tolga Celik; Marc Jankowski; Carsten Langrock; Vahid Ansari; Martin M. Fejer; Amir H. Safavi-Naeini

arXiv · 2307.04200

Integrated frequency-modulated optical parametric oscillator

Hubert S. Stokowski·Devin J. Dean·Alexander Y. Hwang·Taewon Park·Oguz Tolga Celik·Marc Jankowski·Carsten Langrock·Vahid Ansari·Martin M. Fejer·Amir H. Safavi-Naeini

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Abstract

Optical frequency combs have revolutionized precision measurement, time-keeping, and molecular spectroscopy. A substantial effort has developed around "microcombs": integrating comb-generating technologies into compact, reliable photonic platforms. Current approaches for generating these microcombs involve either the electro-optic (EO) or Kerr mechanisms. Despite rapid progress, maintaining high efficiency and wide bandwidth remains challenging. Here, we introduce a new class of microcomb -- an integrated optical frequency comb generator that combines electro-optics and parametric amplification to yield a frequency-modulated optical parametric oscillator (FM-OPO). In stark contrast to EO and Kerr combs, the FM-OPO microcomb does not form pulses but maintains operational simplicity and highly efficient pump power utilization with an output resembling a frequency-modulated laser. We outline the working principles of FM-OPO and demonstrate them by fabricating the complete optical system in thin-film lithium niobate (LNOI). We measure pump to comb internal conversion efficiency exceeding 93% (34% out-coupled) over a nearly flat-top spectral distribution spanning approximately 1,000 modes (approximately 6 THz). Compared to an EO comb, the cavity dispersion rather than loss determines the FM-OPO bandwidth, enabling broadband combs with a smaller RF modulation power. The FM-OPO microcomb, with its robust operational dynamics, high efficiency, and large bandwidth, contributes a new approach to the field of microcombs and promises to herald an era of miniaturized precision measurement, and spectroscopy tools to accelerate advancements in metrology, spectroscopy, telecommunications, sensing, and computing.

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Hubert S. Stokowski, Devin J. Dean, Alexander Y. Hwang, Taewon Park, Oguz Tolga Celik, Marc Jankowski, Carsten Langrock, Vahid Ansari, Martin M. Fejer, Amir H. Safavi-Naeini. 2023-07-09. Integrated frequency-modulated optical parametric oscillator. https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.04200

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