Octave-spanning tunable parametric oscillation in crystalline Kerr microresonators

Parametric nonlinear optical processes allow for the generation of new wavelengths of coherent electromagnetic radiation. Their ability to create radiation that is widely tunable in wavelength is particularly appealing, with applications ranging from spectroscopy to quantum information processing. U...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature photonics 2019-10, Vol.13 (10), p.701-706
Main Authors: Sayson, Noel Lito B., Bi, Toby, Ng, Vincent, Pham, Hoan, Trainor, Luke S., Schwefel, Harald G. L., Coen, Stéphane, Erkintalo, Miro, Murdoch, Stuart G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/624/1020
639/624/1075/1082
639/624/399/1097
639/624/400/1113
639/624/400/385
Applied and Technical Physics
Coherent electromagnetic radiation
Crystal structure
Crystallinity
Data processing
Electromagnetic radiation
Fluorides
Information processing
Infrared signatures
Magnesium
Magnesium fluorides
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Quantum phenomena
Quantum Physics
Sidebands
Spectroscopy
Wavelengths
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Summary:Parametric nonlinear optical processes allow for the generation of new wavelengths of coherent electromagnetic radiation. Their ability to create radiation that is widely tunable in wavelength is particularly appealing, with applications ranging from spectroscopy to quantum information processing. Unfortunately, existing tunable parametric sources are marred by deficiencies that obstruct their widespread adoption. Here, we show that ultrahigh- Q crystalline microresonators made of magnesium fluoride can overcome these limitations, enabling compact and power-efficient devices capable of generating clean and widely tunable sidebands. We consider several different resonators with carefully engineered dispersion profiles, achieving hundreds of nanometres of sideband tunability in each device. In addition to direct observations of discrete tunability over an optical octave from 1,083 nm to 2,670 nm, we record signatures of mid-infrared sidebands at almost 4,000 nm. The simplicity of the demonstrated devices—compounded by their remarkable tunability—paves the way for low-cost, widely tunable sources of electromagnetic radiation. Through degenerate Kerr four-wave mixing in ultrahigh- Q crystalline microresonators made of magnesium fluoride, tunable conversion of a compact, low-power telecommunications laser over an entire optical octave from 1,083 nm to 2,670 nm, with signatures of mid-infrared sidebands at almost 4,000 nm, is shown.
ISSN:1749-4885
1749-4893
DOI:10.1038/s41566-019-0485-4