Self-aligned optical microcomb emerging between octave separated lasers
Joint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland（联合量子研究所，美国国家标准与技术研究院/马里兰大学）；Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology（微系统与纳米技术部，美国国家标准与技术研究院）；University of Maryland Baltimore County（马里兰大学巴尔的摩县分校）；AV Incorporated（AV公司）；Department of Physics, University of Auckland（奥克兰大学物理系）；The Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies（Dodd-Walls光子与量子技术中心）；Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara（加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校电气与计算机工程系）；Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate（空军研究实验室，航天器管理局）
Grégory Moille, Pradyoth Shandilya, Jordan Stone, River Beard, Shao-Chien Ou, Zongda Li, Mark Harrington, Kaikai Liu, Robert Rockmore, Curtis R. Menyuk, Daniel … 展开作者
Grégory Moille, Pradyoth Shandilya, Jordan Stone, River Beard, Shao-Chien Ou, Zongda Li, Mark Harrington, Kaikai Liu, Robert Rockmore, Curtis R. Menyuk, Daniel J. Blumenthal, Sean P. Krzyzewski, Miro Erkintalo, Kartik Srinivasan
Optical frequency combs (OFCs) are frequency rulers essential for precision metrology, next generation navigation, and testing of fundamental physics. Despite intense efforts, chip-integrated OFCs remain laboratory-bound, unable to fulfill their promise of compact and cost-effective deployment. While improvements in fabrication and integration are important, a conceptual limitation has stymied progress: on-chip OFC architectures have aimed to miniaturize their table-top counterparts and relied on cascading outward from a single pump. In integrated platforms, this approach does not readily generate the strong, low-noise, octave-spaced signals crucial for robust zero-frequency offset detection. Here, we overcome this limitation via an architectural inversion where an optical microcomb fills the spectrum between two octave-separated pumps. The two pumps generate a parametrically driven cavity soliton (PDCS) in an integrated $χ^{(3)}$ resonator, which robustly self-aligns to both pumps across multiple foundry-fabricated devices and operating configurations. This produces a single octave-spanning comb from telecom to visible wavelengths, whose zero-frequency offset is defined by the pumps' harmonic offset and can therefore be reliably detected and stabilized. We showcase our platform's capabilities by executing all of the three core tasks of OFC metrology: optical frequency synthesis, low-noise millimeter-wave generation, and integrated optical clock readout, using the same self-aligned microcomb with only its input locks changed.
Dissipative Kerr Soliton Self-Balancing from Kerr-Induced Synchronization
University of Maryland Baltimore County（马里兰大学巴尔的摩县分校）；Joint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland（量子联合研究所，NIST/马里兰大学）；Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology（微系统与纳米技术部，美国国家标准与技术研究院）
Ultralow noise microwaves with free-running frequency combs and electrical feedforward
National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）；University of Colorado Denver（科罗拉多大学丹佛分校）；University of Colorado Boulder（科罗拉多大学博尔德分校）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；Menhir Photonics AG（Menhir光子股份公司）；Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院喷气推进实验室）；University of California, Santa Barbara（加州大学圣塔芭芭拉分校）
