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arXiv · 2206.10760

Tunable lasers with optical-parametric oscillation in photonic-crystal resonators

Abstract

By design access to laser wavelength, especially with integrated photonics, is critical to advance quantum sensors like optical clocks and quantum-information systems, and open opportunities in optical communication. Semiconductor-laser gain provides exemplary efficiency and integration but merely in developed wavelength bands. Alternatively, nonlinear optics requires control of phase matching, but the principle of nonlinear conversion of a pump laser to a designed wavelength is extensible. We report on laser-wavelength access by versatile customization of optical-parametric oscillation (OPO) with a photonic-crystal resonator (PhCR). By controlling the bandgap of a PhCR, we enable OPO generation across a wavelength range of 1234-2093 nm with a 1550 nm pump and 1016-1110 nm with a 1064 nm pump. Moreover, our tunable laser platform offers pump-to-sideband conversion efficiency of >10% and negligible additive optical-frequency noise across the output range. From laser design to simulation of nonlinear dynamics, we use a Lugiato-Lefever framework that predicts the system characteristics, including bi-directional OPO generation in the PhCR and conversion efficiency in agreement with our observations. Our experiments introduce tunable lasers by design with PhCR OPOs, providing critical functionalities in integrated photonics.

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Jennifer A. Black, Grant Brodnik, Haixin Liu, Su-Peng Yu, David R. Carlson, Jizhao Zang, Travis C. Briles, Scott B. Papp. 2022-06-21. Tunable lasers with optical-parametric oscillation in photonic-crystal resonators. https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.10760

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