Crystal quartz optical whispering-gallery resonators

Ilchenko, Vladimir S.; Savchenkov, Anatoliy A.; Byrd, Jerry; Solomatine, Iouri; Matsko, Andrey B.; Seidel, D.; Maleki, Lute

doi:10.1364/ol.33.001569

Cited by 35 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The most widespread bulk materials for such resonators are fluoride crystals such as calcium fluoride [25,26], magnesium fluoride [27,28], lithium fluoride [29], barium fluoride [30], and strontium fluoride [31]. Ultra-high-Q resonators have also been manufactured with other materials such as fused [32,33] and crystalline quartz [34], or even diamond [35]. On the one hand, the typical Q-factor for crystalline WGMRs is of the order of 10 9 , which typically corresponds to an intrinsic photon lifetime of ∼1 µs for a resonance at ∼1550 nm.…”

Section: The Experimental Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kerr optical frequency combs: theory, applications and perspectives

Chembo

2016

Nanophotonics

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The optical frequency comb technology is one of the most important breakthrough in photonics in recent years. This concept has revolutionized the science of ultra-stable lightwave and microwave signal generation. These combs were originally generated using ultrafast mode-locked lasers, but in the past decade, a simple and elegant alternative was proposed, which consisted in pumping an ultra-high-Q optical resonator with Kerr nonlinearity using a continuous-wave laser. When optimal conditions are met, the intracavity pump photons are redistributed via four-wave mixing to the neighboring cavity modes, thereby creating the so-called Kerr optical frequency comb. Beyond being energy-efficient, conceptually simple, and structurally robust, Kerr comb generators are very compact devices (millimetric down to micrometric size) which can be integrated on a chip. They are, therefore, considered as very promising candidates to replace femtosecond mode-locked lasers for the generation of broadband and coherent optical frequency combs in the spectral domain, or equivalently, narrow optical pulses in the temporal domain. These combs are, moreover, expected to provide breakthroughs in many technological areas, such as integrated photonics, metrology, optical telecommunications, and aerospace engineering. The purpose of this review article is to present a comprehensive survey of the topic of Kerr optical frequency combs. We provide an overview of the main theoretical and experimental results that have been obtained so far. We also highlight the potential of Kerr combs for current or prospective applications, and discuss as well some of the open challenges that are to be met at the fundamental and applied level.

show abstract

Section: The Experimental Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kerr optical frequency combs: theory, applications and perspectives

Chembo

2016

Nanophotonics

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By virtue of its excellent chemical and physical properties, quartz has been widely used in micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), such as piezoelectric sensors [1], biochips [2], optical sensors [3], etc. Traditional lithographic fabrication on a quartz surface includes a complex process of mask deposition, exposure, etching and mask removal [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maskless and low-destructive nanofabrication on quartz by friction-induced selective etching

Song

Cui

et al. 2013

Nanoscale Res Lett

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A low-destructive friction-induced nanofabrication method is proposed to produce three-dimensional nanostructures on a quartz surface. Without any template, nanofabrication can be achieved by low-destructive scanning on a target area and post-etching in a KOH solution. Various nanostructures, such as slopes, hierarchical stages and chessboard-like patterns, can be fabricated on the quartz surface. Although the rise of etching temperature can improve fabrication efficiency, fabrication depth is dependent only upon contact pressure and scanning cycles. With the increase of contact pressure during scanning, selective etching thickness of the scanned area increases from 0 to 2.9 nm before the yield of the quartz surface and then tends to stabilise after the appearance of a wear. Refabrication on existing nanostructures can be realised to produce deeper structures on the quartz surface. Based on Arrhenius fitting of the etching rate and transmission electron microscopy characterization of the nanostructure, fabrication mechanism could be attributed to the selective etching of the friction-induced amorphous layer on the quartz surface. As a maskless and low-destructive technique, the proposed friction-induced method will open up new possibilities for further nanofabrication.

show abstract

“…RF photonic receivers enable conversion of the RF signals to an intermediate frequency (IF) or to baseband, where subsequent efficient detection is feasible. We recently developed a K a band photonic receiver based on all-resonant interaction of light and RF radiation in solid-state WGM resonators 5,6 (see Figure 4). The core of the receiver, a mixer based on material nonlinearity of the EO WGM resonator, operates well for frequencies ranging from several GHz to 100GHz.…”

Section: Rf Photonic Receiversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crystalline resonators add properties to photonic devices

Ilchenko¹

2010

SPIE Newsroom

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Crystalline whispering-gallery-mode resonators are becoming practical optical tools in radio frequency photonics, enabling novel components.Mainstream broadband applications greater than 1GHz currently dominate radio frequency (RF) photonics, driven by expanding digital communications needs. However, narrowband applications represent important opportunities in analog communications, high-spectral purity RF and microwave signals, photonic front ends, and narrow passband (1-100MHz) RF signal processing. Our work is focused on using the advantages of ultra-high quality factor (Q) crystalline whispering-gallerymode (WGM) resonators in such applications (see Figure 1), and we have made several recent advances in functional device integration.True single-sideband modulators Crystalline WGM resonators fabricated with electro-optic (EO) materials are particularly useful as narrowband modulators (see Figure 2). The extremely high intrinsic optical Q and small mode volume of WGMs provide for both narrow bandwidth and unprecedented effective interaction lengths of optical and RF fields. Modulators operating with saturation powers as low as 26dBm (corresponding to effective V ' 18mV) have been demonstrated in X-and Ka-band modulator prototypes at optoelectronic (OE) waves. Resonator-based modulators can also efficiently operate at any desired wavelength within the transparency window of the EO material. These devices play key roles in micro-optic implementation of microwave photonics functions.We recently introduced a new class of WGM-based single sideband (SSB) modulators that results in a high RF return. They also exhibit center frequency tunability over a very wide range (exceeding an octave). As such, they represent a new class of highly efficient devices that simultaneously provide a narrow modulation bandwidth over a very wide RF range. These properties make them easier to use in current applications and enable new applications such as widely tunable RF photonic receivers and oscillators. Optoelectronic oscillatorsOptoelectronic oscillators (OEOs) are used to generate spectrally pure RF signals using photonics. 1 A generic OEO includes a laser, an amplitude EO modulator (EOM), one or multiple optical delay lines, a fast photodiode, a narrowband RF filter, and an RF amplifier. The EOM modulates the continuous wave light emitted by the laser. The modulated signal passes the optical delay line(s) and is transformed into an RF signal with the photodiode. The RF signal is subsequently filtered, amplified, and fed back to the modulator. As a result, a closed active RF circuit is produced that will generate self-sustained oscillation when the RF amplification exceeds the circuit's integral loss. Some circuit elements can be merged or replaced. For instance, a directly modulatable laser and an optical bandpass filter can be used instead of the RF filter, but the oscillation principles remain intact. High-Q crystalline WGM resonators can be used to replace the EOM or for buffering the RF signal and cleaning the OEO's Continued...

show abstract

Crystal quartz optical whispering-gallery resonators

Cited by 35 publications

References 23 publications

Kerr optical frequency combs: theory, applications and perspectives

Kerr optical frequency combs: theory, applications and perspectives

Maskless and low-destructive nanofabrication on quartz by friction-induced selective etching

Crystalline resonators add properties to photonic devices

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About