February 2, 2021

Integrated Nanophotonics with Metamaterials, Microcomb, and Atomic Systems

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Speaker: Sangsik Kim (Texas Tech Univ., USA)

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Abstract:

Integrated nanophotonic chips can miniaturize bulky and complicated tabletop optical systems tiny, making them portable, alignment-free, robust, and low-cost. Furthermore, recent advances in microresonators have realized Kerr frequency combs on a chip (i.e., microcombs), which revolutionized the precision of optical measurements in frequency, time, and motion. Here the integration of photonic chips with atomic, microfluidic, micromechanical, and quantum systems could expand the capabilities of photonic applications, and many recent research activities follow this trend. In this talk, I will overview the integrative research activities in our group at Texas Tech. First, I will introduce the concept of skin-depth engineering in a photonic waveguide using the highly anisotropic metamaterials, which allowed us to find the exceptional coupling phenomenon that can completely cancel out the coupling between closely spaced identical waveguides. Using this phenomenon, we demonstrated the record-high coupling length, which is approximately 500 times longer than the conventional strip waveguides. Next, I will present our unique contribution to dispersion engineering and microcomb generation with concentric microresonators and our current research progress. Finally, I will conclude the talk by presenting our effort for the hybrid integration of photonic and other atomic or microfluidic systems and discussing how such a hybrid system can innovate future technology.