Chip-scale lasers and frequency combs 
based on wideband nonlinear integrated photonics

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Kartik Srinivasan

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National Institute of Standards and Technology
Joint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland

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The ability to generate and connect optical fields across a broad range of wavelengths is important for the development of quantum technologies. Integrated nonlinear nanophotonics enables such light generation and wavelength conversion in a low size, weight, and power format suitable for deployment outside of laboratories.  In this talk, I will discuss the development of such devices in the context of optical atomic clocks, where nonlinear conversion processes can generate the coherent visible and short near-infrared light needed to probe atomic transitions and create a frequency comb that phase-coherently divides a stabilized optical frequency down to a detectable microwave frequency. I will present recent results on microresonator optical parametric oscillators in the visible [1],[2],[3] and octave-spanning microresonator frequency combs suitable for optical clockworks [4],[5], and discuss some of the opportunities and challenges associated with building systems, such as optical atomic clocks, based on these technologies.

[1] J. R. Stone, X. Lu, G. Moille, and K. Srinivasan, “Efficient chip-based optical parametric oscillators from 590 to 1150 nm,” APL Photonics, vol. 7, no. 12, p. 121301, Dec. 2022.
[2] J. R. Stone, X. Lu, G. Moille, D. Westly, T. Rahman, and K. Srinivasan, “Wavelength-accurate nonlinear conversion through wavenumber selectivity in photonic crystal resonators,” Nat. Photonics, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 192–199, Feb. 2024.
[3] Y. Sun, J. Stone, X. Lu, F. Zhou, Z. Shi, and K. Srinivasan, “Advancing on-chip Kerr optical parametric oscillation towards coherent applications covering the green gap.” arXiv: 2401.12823, Jan 2024.
[4] G. Moille et al., “Kerr-induced synchronization of a cavity soliton to an optical reference,” Nature, vol. 624, no. 7991, Art. no. 7991, Dec. 2023.
[5] G. Moille, P. Shandilya, J. Stone, C. Menyuk, and K. Srinivasan, “All-Optical Noise Quenching of An Integrated Frequency Comb.” arXiv: 2405.01238, May 2024.