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  • Open Access

Nonlinear Networks for Arbitrary Optical Synthesis

Jennifer A. Black1,*, Zachary L. Newman1,2, Su-Peng Yu1,3, David R. Carlson1,2, and Scott B. Papp1,3

  • 1Time and Frequency Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
  • 2Octave Photonics, Louisville, Colorado 80027, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80302, USA

  • *Corresponding author. jennifer.black@nist.gov
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Phys. Rev. X 13, 021027 – Published 19 May, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.021027

Abstract

Nonlinear wavelength conversion is a powerful control of light, especially when implemented at the nanoscale with integrated photonics. However, strict energy conservation and phase-matching requirements constrain the converted output. To overcome these constraints and enable novel functionalities, we introduce nonlinear networks—systems of nonlinear photonic elements that observe a programmable set of conservation rules. We highlight the diverse capabilities of nonlinear networks by demonstrating an optical-frequency synthesizer, which operates at nearly arbitrary output frequency exceeding the state of the art in synthesized conversion bandwidth. Using a codesigned microresonator network, our synthesizer is based on four-wave mixing (FWM) spectral translation of a tunable laser and a frequency comb. Energy conservation in FWM provides deterministic synthesis, and it allows a nearly arbitrary frequency tuning range by the dependence of resonant FWM on group-velocity dispersion, temperature, and input laser frequency. Moreover, we take advantage of efficient parametric amplification intrinsic to nonlinear networks. We operate spectral translation across output ranges up to 200 THz, and we characterize the synthesizer through precise metrology, demonstrating <0.1  Hz absolute accuracy. Our experiments introduce nonlinear networks that perform complex functionalities, including optical synthesis with nearly limitless bandwidth.

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Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Popular Summary

Reconfigurable access to arbitrary wavelengths of light could vastly improve the capabilities of applications as diverse as biological sample characterization, quantum sensors, and optical communications. One promising platform for achieving this access is through nonlinear optical networks, which deliver exceptionally broad wavelength coverage and extreme precision. To explore this concept, we form a nonlinear network that functions as an optical synthesizer, a device that outputs a laser whose wavelength is programmed arbitrarily from an atomic clock.

Existing optical synthesizers use a tunable laser that is phase locked to a frequency comb, a source of light whose spectrum consists of regularly spaced emission lines that provide a broadband optical-frequency reference. However, this approach limits the synthesizer’s operational bandwidth.

We use a new, versatile approach based on four-wave-mixing spectral translation of an optical-frequency comb and a laser. This is a way to take two lasers with different frequencies and generate laser light with a new frequency. Because the optical-frequency comb lets us know the input frequencies very precisely, we can generate new frequencies with high accuracy. The spectral translation process enables optical synthesis at frequencies distinct from merely the laser, overcoming existing synthesizer bandwidths. We unambiguously validate this synthesizer’s absolute accuracy and precision relative to the atomic clock, detecting zero error even with fifteen-digit measurements. Such pristine performance is thanks to the quantum-limited nonlinear processes at work in the network.

These benchmark experiments in the setting of optical-frequency metrology highlight the versatility of nonlinear networks, which could be used for applications as varied as signal processing, quantum sensing, and spectroscopy.

Article Text

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. X 13, 021027– Published 19 May, 2023
  • Received 30 August 2022
  • Revised 8 March 2023
  • Accepted 27 April 2023
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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