arXiv subjects

Fang Bo

Publications and source records attributed to Fang Bo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Nonlinear Nanophotonic Chip-space Interfaces: On-chip Generation of Structured, Topological and Spatiotemporal Lights Via Nonlinear \v{C}erenkov Radiation

Miniaturized and reconfigurable interfaces between confined optical modes within integrated photonic chips and structured light propagating in free space would serve as a cornerstone for fundamental optical science and modern photonic technology. In this work, we exploit the anisotropic nonlinear susceptibility tensors associated with thin-film lithium niobate to construct nanophotonic chip-space interfaces capable of flexibly generating and multi-dimensionally engineering structured light via injections of photons to on-chip waveguides. By harnessing the nonlinear \v{C}erenkov radiation in integrated nonlinear microring resonators, we successfully tailor the spatial profile, polarization state, emission wavelength, topological charge and temporal wave packet of structured optical vortices, exhibiting reconfigurabilities and tuning ranges far beyond the state-of-the-art. To further showcase the capabilities of our platform, we use a single pump to generate tunable optical skyrmions via the spin-orbit coupling and multi-state integrated vortex microcombs in the visible range via synergistic $\chi^{(2)}$ and $\chi^{(3)}$ nonlinear optical processes. Our work bridges the research fields of structured light and integrated nonlinear optics, providing unprecedented opportunities for spatiotemporal light generation and on-chip multidimensional nonlinear optics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Electrically-pumped soliton microcombs on thin-film lithium niobate

Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) has enabled efficient on-chip electro-optic modulation and frequency conversion for information processing and precision measurement. Extending these capabilities with optical frequency combs unlocks massively parallel operations and coherent optical-to-microwave transduction, which are achievable in TFLN microresonators via Kerr microcombs. However, fully integrated Kerr microcombs directly driven by semiconductor lasers remain elusive, which has delayed integration of these technologies. Here we demonstrate electrically pumped TFLN Kerr microcombs without optical amplification. With optimized laser-to-chip coupling and optical quality factors, we generate soliton microcombs at a 200 GHz repetition frequency with an optical span of 180 nm using only 25 mW of pump power. Moreover, self-injection locking enables turnkey initiation and substantially narrows the laser linewidth. Our work provides integrated comb sources for TFLN-based communicational, computational, and metrological applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Photonic chip-based high-efficiency soliton microcombs via electroopitc-Kerr synergy

Temporal soliton mode-locking in coherently pumped microcavities provides a promising platform for miniaturized frequency comb systems. While significant progress has been made, achieving high conversion efficiency in such microcombs remains a critical challenge. Soliton generation through pulse pumping has emerged as an effective strategy to improve conversion efficiency. However, the on-chip integration of pulse generation with dissipative Kerr soliton (DKS) formation within the photonic chip has not yet been realized. In this work, we demonstrate a photonic chip-based soliton microcomb with high conversion efficiency, achieved by integrating on-chip pulse generation and DKS generation. The pulsed laser, fabricated on a lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) platform, delivers a 35.5GHz repetition rate with broadly tunable center frequencies. By coupling these on-chip pulses to a silicon nitride microresonator, we achieve stable DKS generation with a pump-to-soliton conversion efficiency of 43.9% under steady-state conditions. This integrated architecture establishes a viable pathway toward chip-scale soliton microcombs with unprecedented efficiency, opening up new possibilities for optical communications, precision spectroscopy, and photonic sensing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Space compatibility of emerging, wide-bandgap, ultralow-loss integrated photonics

Integrated photonics has revolutionized optical communication, sensing, and computation, offering miniaturized and lightweight solutions for spacecraft with limited size and payload. Novel chip-scale instruments based on ultralow-loss integrated photonic platforms, including lasers, frequency combs and atomic traps, have been developed for space applications. Therefore, quantifying the space compatibility of ultralow-loss photonic integrated circuits (PICs), particularly their radiation resistance, is critical. This study experimentally evaluates the radiation resistance of ultralow-loss Si$_3$N$_4$, 4H-SiC, and LiNbO$_3$ PICs under intense $\gamma$-ray and high-energy proton irradiation. Results show that proton irradiation with $1.1 \times 10^{10}$ $\mathrm{p/cm^2}$ total flux does not significantly increase optical loss or alter the refractive index of these PICs, while $\gamma$-ray irradiation with 1.2 Mrad accumulated dose only marginally increases their optical loss. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the excellent space compatibility of ultralow-loss Si$_3$N$_4$, 4H-SiC, and LiNbO$_3$ PICs, highlighting their potential for compact and lightweight space systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Soliton microcombs in X-cut LiNbO3 microresonators

Chip-scale integration of optical frequency combs, particularly soliton microcombs, enables miniaturized instrumentation for timekeeping, ranging, and spectroscopy. Although soliton microcombs have been demonstrated on various material platforms, realizing complete comb functionality on photonic chips requires the co-integration of high-speed modulators and efficient frequency doublers, features that are available in a monolithic form on X-cut thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN). However, the pronounced Raman nonlinearity associated with extraordinary light in this platform has so far precluded soliton microcomb generation. Here, we report the generation of transverse-electric-polarized soliton microcombs with a 25 GHz repetition rate in high-Q microresonators on X-cut TFLN chips. By precisely orienting the racetrack microresonator relative to the optical axis, we mitigate Raman nonlinearity and enable soliton formation under continuous-wave laser pumping. Moreover, the soliton microcomb spectra are extended to 350 nm with pulsed laser pumping. This work expands the capabilities of TFLN photonics and paves the way for the monolithic integration of fast-tunable, self-referenced microcombs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Local perfect chirality at reflection-zeros away from exceptional points in optical whispering gallery microcavity

Recently, a local and imperfect chirality of the resonant eigenmode at the exceptional point (EP) has been reported in the optical whispering gallery microcavity system perturbed by two strong nanoscatterers [Phys. Rev. A 108, L041501 (2023)]. Here, we discover a local perfect chirality of the resonant eigenmode away from the EP in the parameter space of the strongly perturbed microcavity system. By considering the multiple scattering process of the azimuthally propagating modes (APMs) at the nanoscatterers with a first-principles-based model, the local perfect chirality is predicted to result from the unidirectional reflectionlessness, i.e., the reflection-zero (R-zero) of the APMs at the two nanoscatterers. Numerical results and model predictions consistently show that the structural parameters of the R-zero typically deviate from those of the EP, which means that the pair of split resonant eigenmodes at the R-zero have different complex resonance frequencies and electromagnetic fields. In general, only one of the pair of split eigenmodes exhibits a local perfect chirality within the local azimuthal range divided by the two nanoscatterers. With the decrease of the two nanoscatterers' sizes or their relative azimuthal angle, the R-zero tends to coincide with the EP.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Toward ultimate-efficiency frequency conversion in nonlinear optical microresonators

Integrated nonlinear photonics has emerged as a transformative platform, enabling nanoscale nonlinear optical processes with significant implications for sensing, computation, and metrology. Achieving efficient nonlinear frequency conversion in optical microresonators is paramount to fully unlocking this potential, yet the absolute conversion efficiency (ACE) of many processes, such as second-harmonic generation (SHG), remains fundamentally constrained by dissipative losses and intrinsic nonlinear effects in the device. In this work, we establish a unified theoretical framework for SHG in microresonators, identifying a decisive factor M that predicts the upper limit of ACE under the nonlinear critical coupling (NCC) condition. Using this framework, we fabricate integrated periodically poled lithium niobate microresonators and address the dispersive and dissipative suppression to approach the NCC condition. We achieve a record-high experimental ACE of 61.3% with milliwatt-level pump powers toward the ultimate efficiency, with the potential for even higher efficiency as the M factor increases. These results provide a versatile paradigm for high-efficiency nonlinear optical devices, offering new opportunities for advancements across classical and quantum photonic applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Construction of various time-dependent Hamiltonians on a single photonic chip

Integrated photonics provides an important platform for simulating physical models with high-performance chip-scale devices, where the lattice size and the time-dependence of a model are key ingredients for further enriching the functionality of a photonic chip. Here, we propose and demonstrate the construction of various time-dependent Hamiltonian models using a single microresonator on thin-film lithium niobate chip. Such an integrated microresonator holds high quality factor to 10^6, and supports the construction of the synthetic frequency lattice with effective lattice sites up to 152 under the electro-optic modulation. By further applying a bichromatic modulation composed of two radio-frequency signals oppositely detuned from the resonant frequency in the microresonator, we build different time-dependent Hamiltonians with the time-varying nearest-neighbor coupling strength in synthetic frequency lattice. We measure the temporal features from capturing the dynamic band structures of the lattice and demonstrate a variety of time-dependent synthetic lattice models by engineering the driven pattern of the modulation, highlighting great flexibility of the microresonator. Our work shows a photonic chip for simulating versatile time-dependent Hamiltonians, which pushes forward quantum simulations in integrated photonics with great experimental tunability and reconfigurability.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Self-locked broadband Raman-electro-optic microcomb

Optical frequency combs (OFCs), composed of equally spaced frequency tones, have spurred advancements in communications, spectroscopy, precision measurement and fundamental physics research. A prevalent method for generating OFCs involves the electro-optic (EO) effect, i.e., EO comb, renowned for its rapid tunability via precise microwave field control. Recent advances in integrated lithium niobate (LN) photonics have greatly enhanced the efficiency of EO effect, enabling the generation of broadband combs with reduced microwave power. However, parasitic nonlinear effects, such as Raman scattering and four-wave mixing, often emerge in high quality nonlinear devices, impeding the expansion of comb bandwidth and the minimization of frequency noise. Here, we tame these nonlinear effects and present a novel type of OFC, i.e., the self-locked Raman-electro-optic (REO) microcomb by leveraging the collaboration of EO, Kerr and Raman scattering processes. The spectral width of the REO microcomb benefits from the Raman gain and Kerr effect, encompassing nearly 1400 comb lines spanning over 300 nm with a fine repetition rate of 26.03 GHz, much larger than the pure EO combs. Remarkably, the system can maintain a self-locked low-noise state in the presence of multiple nonlinearities without the need for external active feedback. Our approach points to a direction for improving the performance of microcombs and paves the way for exploring new nonlinear physics, such as new laser locking techniques, through the collaboration of inevitable multiple nonlinear effects in integrated photonics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Broadband microwave-rate dark pulse microcombs in dissipation-engineered LiNbO$_3$ microresonators

Kerr microcombs generated in optical microresonators provide broadband light sources bridging optical and microwave signals. Their translation to thin-film lithium niobate unlocks second-order nonlinear optical interfaces such as electro-optic modulation and frequency doubling for completing comb functionalities. However, the strong Raman response of LiNbO$_3$ has complicated the formation of Kerr microcombs. Until now, dark pulse microcombs, requiring a double balance between Kerr nonlinearity and normal group velocity dispersion as well as gain and loss, have remained elusive in LiNbO$_3$ microresonators. Here, by incorporating dissipation engineering, we demonstrate dark pulse microcombs with 25 GHz repetition frequency and 200 nm span in a high-$Q$ LiNbO$_3$ microresonator. Resonances near the Raman-active wavelengths are strongly damped by controlling phase-matching conditions of a specially designed pulley coupler. The coherence and tunability of the dark pulse microcombs are also investigated. Our work provides a solution to realize high-power microcombs operating at microwave rates on LiNbO$_3$ chips, promising new opportunities for the monolithic integration of applications spanning communication to microwave photonics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Second-harmonic generation with a 440,000% W-1 conversion efficiency in a lithium niobate microcavity without periodic poling

Thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) enables extremely high-efficiency second-order nonlinear optical effects due to large nonlinear coefficient d33 and strong optical field localization. Here, we first designed and fabricated a pulley-waveguide-coupled microring resonator with an intrinsic quality factor above 9.4 x10^5 on the reverse-polarized double-layer X-cut TFLN. In such a TFLN resonator without fine domain structures, second harmonic generation with an absolute (normalized) conversion efficiency of 30% (440,000% W-1), comparable to that in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) microring resonators, was realized with a sub-microwatt continuous pump. This work reduces the dependence of high-efficiency nonlinear frequency conversion on PPLN microcavities that are difficult to prepare.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

High-efficiency edge couplers enabled by vertically tapering on lithium-niobate photonic chips

In the past decade, photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) have advanced in various fields, including optical communication, nonlinear photonics, and quantum optics. A critical component is an efficient edge coupler connecting PICs to light sources or detectors. Here, we propose an innovative edge coupler design with a wedge-shaped TFLN waveguide and a silicon oxynitride (SiON) cladding. Experimental results show that the coupling loss between the TFLN PIC and a 3-{\mu}m mode field diameter (MFD) lensed fiber is low at 1.52 dB/facet, with the potential for improvement to 0.43 dB/facet theoretically. The coupling loss between the edge coupler and a UHNA7 fiber with an MFD of 3.2 {\mu}m is reduced to 0.92 dB/facet. This design maintains robust fabrication and alignment tolerance. Importantly, the minimum linewidth of the TFLN waveguide of the coupler (600 nm) can be easily achieved using foundry-available i-line stepper lithography. This work benefits the development of TFLN integrated platforms, such as on-chip electro-optic modulators, frequency comb generation, and quantum sensors.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Highly efficient on-chip erbium-ytterbium co-doped lithium niobate waveguide amplifiers

The ability to amplify optical signals is of paramount importance in photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Recently, lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) has attracted increasing interests as an emerging PIC platform. However, the shortage of active devices on LNOI platform limits the development of optical amplification. Here, we firstly report an efficient waveguide amplifier based on erbium and ytterbium co-doped LNOI by using electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching process. We have demonstrated that the net internal gain in the communication band is 15.70 dB/cm under the pumping of 974 nm continuous laser. Benefiting from the efficient pumping facilitated by energy transfer between ytterbium and erbium ions, signal amplification can be achieved at a low pump power of 0.1 mW. It is currently the most efficient waveguide amplifier under unidirectional pumping reported on the LNOI platform, with an internal conversion efficiency of 10%. This work proposes a new and efficient active device for LNOI integrated optical systems, which may become an important fundamental component of future lithium niobate photonic integration platforms.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Photorefraction-assisted self-emergence of dissipative Kerr solitons

Generated in high-Q optical microresonators, dissipative Kerr soliton microcombs constitute broadband optical frequency combs with chip sizes and repetition rates in the microwave to millimeter-wave range. For frequency metrology applications such as spectroscopy, optical atomic clocks and frequency synthesizers, octave-spanning soliton microcombs generated in dispersion optimized microresonator are required, which allow self-referencing for full frequency stabilization. In addition, field-deployable applications require the generation of such soliton microcombs simple, deterministic, and reproducible. Here, we demonstrate a novel scheme to generate self-emerging solitons in integrated lithium niobate microresonators. The single soliton features a broadband spectral bandwidth with dual dispersive waves, allowing 2f-3f self-referencing. Via harnessing the photorefractive effect of lithium niobate to significantly extend the soliton existence range, we observe a spontaneous yet deterministic single-soliton formation. The soliton is immune to external perturbation and can operate continuously over 13 hours without active feedback control. Finally, via integration with a pre-programed DFB laser, we demonstrate turnkey soliton generation. With further improvement of microresonator Q and hybrid integration with chip-scale laser chips, compact soliton microcomb devices with electronic actuation can be created, which can become central elements for future LiDAR, microwave photonics and optical telecommunications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Second harmonic and cascaded third harmonic generation in generalized quasi-periodic poled lithium niobate waveguides

Lithium niobate (LN) thin film has recently emerged as an important platform for nonlinear optical investigations for its large $\chi^{(2)}$ nonlinear coefficients and ability of light localization. In this paper, we report the first fabrication of LN on insulator (LNOI) ridge waveguides with generalized quasi-periodic poled superlattices using the electric field polarization technique and microfabrication techniques. Benefiting from the abundant reciprocal vectors, we observed efficient second-harmonic and cascaded third-harmonic signals in the same device, with the normalized conversion efficiency 1735% W$^{-1}$cm$^{-2}$ and 0.41% W$^{-2}$cm$^{-4}$, respectively. This work opens a new direction of nonlinear integrated photonics based on LN thin film.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Imperfect chirality at exceptional points in optical whispering-gallery microcavities

Non-Hermitian systems have attracted considerable attention for their broad impacts on various physical platforms and peculiar applications. In non-Hermitian systems, both eigenvalues and eigenstates simultaneously coalesce at exceptional points (EPs). As one of the remarkable features of EPs, the field chirality is commonly considered perfect, which is utilized as an intriguing feature to control wave propagation and regarded as a criterion of EP. However, in this work, we discover an imperfect chirality of eigenmodes at the EPs in an optical whispering gallery mode (WGM) microcavity perturbed by two strong nanoscatterers. This counterintuitive phenomenon originates from a strong frequency-dependence of the scattering between the counterpropagating waves at an "effective scatterer", which could be explained by a first-principle-based model considering a dynamic multiple-scattering process of the azimuthally propagating modes. We find that the generally imperfect chirality at the EP tends to be globally perfect with the decrease of the scattering effect induced by the nanoscatterers. Furthermore, the chirality also becomes locally perfect with the decrease of the relative azimuthal angle between the two strong nanoscatterers. This work provides a new understanding of the general properties of chirality at EPs. It will benefit the potential applications enabled by the chirality features of non-Hermitian systems at EPs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Integrated LNOI single-mode lasers by Vernier effect

Microcavity lasers based on erbium-doped lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI), which are key devices for LNOI integrated photonics, have attracted much attention recently. In this Letter, we report the realization of a C-band single-mode laser using Vernier effect in two coupled Erbium-doped LNOI microrings with different radii under the pump of a 980-nm continuous laser. The laser, operating stably over a large range of pumping power, has a pump threshold of ~200 {\mu}W and a side-mode suppression ratio exceeding 26 dB. The high-performance LNOI single-mode laser will promote the development of lithium niobate integrated photonics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

On-chip erbium-doped lithium niobate waveguide amplifiers

Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI), as an emerging and promising optical integration platform, faces shortages of on-chip active devices including lasers and amplifiers. Here, we report the fabrication on-chip erbium-doped LNOI waveguide amplifiers based on electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching. A net internal gain of ~30 dB/cm in communication band was achieved in the fabricated waveguide amplifiers under the pump of a 974-nm continuous laser. This work develops new active devices on LNOI and will promote the development of LNOI integrated photonics.

physics.optics↗