On-chip inter-modal Brillouin scattering

Ultra-broadband multimode fiber-to-chip edge coupler based on periodically segmented waveguides

Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) technology demonstrates a bright outlook for enhancing the capacity of chip-scale or fiber-based optical communication. Nevertheless, the fiber-to-chip MDM optical interconnects are hindered by the considerable mode mismatch and inter-modal cross talk between the few-mode fiber (FMF) and on-chip few-mode waveguide (FMW). In this Letter, a new, to the best of our knowledge, multimode coupling solution based on periodically segmented waveguides for the MDM system is proposed, which achieves efficient conversion between LP01, LP11a, and LP11b modes in FMF and E11, E21, and E12 modes in FMW with low refractive index difference. The simulation results show that the coupling loss is less than 0.41, 0.27, and 0.90 dB for the three modes, over the wavelength range of 1100-1800 nm. The fabricated device based on a polymer platform shows low fiber-to-chip coupling losses of less than 1.8, 1.7, and 3.0 dB, respectively, over a 130 nm wavelength. The presented scheme provides a competitive solution for realizing the ultra-efficient integration of prospective fiber-chip optical interconnections and communications.

Unveiling Efficient Acousto-Optic Modulation in Silicon Photonic Devices via Lithium Niobate Using Transfer Printing

Piezo-optomechanics presents a promising route to convert microwave signals to the optical domain, implementing processing tasks that are challenging using conventional electronics. The surge of integrated photonics facilitates the exploitation of localized light-sound interactions toward new technological paradigms. However, efficient acousto-optic interaction has yet to be fully exploited in silicon due to the absence of piezoelectricity, despite its maturity in photonic integrated circuits. Here, we introduce a distinctive acousto-optic scheme to supplement silicon photonic devices through heterogeneous integration with lithium niobate (LN). Utilizing LN as an efficient acoustic pump to harness the inherently exceptional photoelasticity in silicon, we demonstrate efficient microwave-to-acoustic transduction, ultimately achieving a modulation figure-of-merit of VπL ∼ 0.496 V·cm. This efficient modulation scheme is further extended to implement non-reciprocal intermodal modulation. The proposed hybrid integration route opens new possibilities for tailoring photon-phonon interactions in silicon, consolidating acousto-optic technology in multifunctional integrated photonics.

Tunable directional photon scattering from a pair of superconducting qubits

The ability to control the direction of scattered light is crucial to provide flexibility and scalability for a wide range of on-chip applications, such as integrated photonics, quantum information processing, and nonlinear optics. Tunable directionality can be achieved by applying external magnetic fields that modify optical selection rules, by using nonlinear effects, or interactions with vibrations. However, these approaches are less suitable to control microwave photon propagation inside integrated superconducting quantum devices. Here, we demonstrate on-demand tunable directional scattering based on two periodically modulated transmon qubits coupled to a transmission line at a fixed distance. By changing the relative phase between the modulation tones, we realize unidirectional forward or backward photon scattering. Such an in-situ switchable mirror represents a versatile tool for intra- and inter-chip microwave photonic processors. In the future, a lattice of qubits can be used to realize topological circuits that exhibit strong nonreciprocity or chirality.

Enhanced stimulated Brillouin scattering in the unsuspended silicon waveguide assisted with genetic algorithms

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), originating from the coupling between optical and acoustic waves, has been widely applied in many fields. Silicon is the most used and important material in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and integrated photonic circuits. However, strong acoustic-optic interaction in silicon requires mechanical release of the silicon core waveguide to avoid acoustic energy leakage into the substrate. This will not only reduce the mechanical stability and thermal conduction, but also increase the difficulties for fabrication and large-area device integration. In this paper, we propose a silicon-aluminium nitride(AlN)-sapphire platform for realizing large SBS gain without suspending the waveguide. AlN is used as a buffer layer to reduce the phonon leakage. This platform can be fabricated via the wafer bonding between silicon and commercial AlN-sapphire wafer. We adopt a full-vectorial model to simulate the SBS gain. Both the material loss and the anchor loss of the silicon are considered. We also apply the genetic algorithm to optimize the waveguide structure. By limiting the maximum etching step number to two, we obtain a simple structure to achieve the SBS gain of 2462 W^-1m^-1 for forward SBS, which is 8 times larger than the recently reported result in unsuspended silicon waveguide. Our platform can enable Brillouin-related phenomena in centimetre-scale waveguides. Our findings could pave the way toward large-area unreleased opto-mechanics on silicon.

Modeling and characterization of high-power single frequency free-space Brillouin lasers

Free-space Brillouin lasers (BLs) are capable of generating high-power, narrow-linewidth laser outputs at specific wavelengths. Although there have been impressive experimental demonstrations of these lasers, there is an absence of a corresponding theory that describes the dynamic processes that occur within them. This paper presents a time-independent analytical model that describes the generation of the first-order Stokes field within free-space BLs. This model is based on the cavity resonance enhancement theory and coupled wave equations that govern the processes of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). This model is validated using an experimental diamond BL to numerically simulate the influence of the cavity design parameters on the SBS threshold, pump enhancement characteristics, and power of the generated Stokes field. Specifically, the model is used to determine the SBS cavity coupler reflectance to yield the maximum Stokes field output power and efficiency, which is also a function of the pump power and other cavity design parameters. This analysis shows that the appropriate choice of Brillouin cavity coupler reflectance maximizes the Stokes field output power for a given pump power. Furthermore, the onset of higher-order Stokes fields that are undesirable in the context of single-frequency laser operation were inhibited. This study aids in understanding the relationship between the cavity parameters and resultant laser characteristics for the design and optimization of laser systems.

Guided-acoustic stimulated Brillouin scattering in silicon nitride photonic circuits

Coherent optomechanical interaction known as stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) can enable ultrahigh resolution signal processing and narrow-linewidth lasers. SBS has recently been studied extensively in integrated waveguides; however, many implementations rely on complicated fabrication schemes. The absence of SBS in standard and mature fabrication platforms prevents its large-scale circuit integration. Notably, SBS in the emerging silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) photonic integration platform is currently out of reach because of the lack of acoustic guidance. Here, we demonstrate advanced control of backward SBS in multilayer Si₃N₄ waveguides. By optimizing the separation between two Si₃N₄ layers, we unlock acoustic waveguiding in this platform, potentially leading up to 15× higher Brillouin gain coefficient than previously possible in Si₃N₄ waveguides. We use the enhanced SBS gain to demonstrate a high-rejection microwave photonic notch filter. This demonstration opens a path to achieving Brillouin-based photonic circuits in a standard, low-loss Si₃N₄ platform.

Recent Progress in Long-Range Brillouin Optical Correlation Domain Analysis

Distributed optical fiber sensing technology has been widely applied in the areas of infrastructure health monitoring, national defense security, etc. The long-range high-spatial-resolution Brillouin optical correlation domain analysis (BOCDA) has extensive development and application prospects. In this paper, long-range BOCDAs are introduced and summarized. Several creative methods underpinning measurement range enlargement, including the interval enhancement of the adjacent correlation peak (CP), improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio, and the concurrent interrogation of multiple CPs, are discussed and experimentally verified, respectively. The main drawbacks in the present BOCDA schemes and avenues for future research and development have also been prospected.

Tailorable stimulated Brillouin scattering in a partially suspended aluminium nitride waveguide in the visible range

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has been widely applied in narrow line-width laser, microwave filters, optical gyroscopes, and other fields. However, most research is limited within near-infrared to mid-infrared range. This is due to the limited transparent window in most materials, such as silicon and germanium. Aluminium nitride (AlN) is a novel III-V material with a wide transparent window from 200 nm and an appropriate refractive index to confine the light. In this paper, we first validate the full-vectorial formalism to calculate SBS gain based on the measured results from a silicon platform. Compared to previous research, our model achieves higher accuracy in terms of frequency, Q factor, as well as Brillouin gain coefficient without modifying the waveguide width. It also reveals the importance of matching rotation matrix and crystalline coordinate system. Then, we investigate the SBS in a partially suspended AlN waveguide at 450 nm based on the validated method. It shows a wide tunability in frequency from 16 GHz to 32 GHz for forward SBS and a range from 42 GHz to 49 GHz for backward SBS. We numerically obtain the value of Brillouin gain of 1311 W^-1m^-1 when Q factor is dominated by anchor loss for forward SBS of transverse electric mode. We also find out that in the case for forward SBS of transverse-magnetic mode, anchor loss could be greatly suppressed when the node point of the selected acoustic mode matches with the position of pillar anchor. Our findings, to the best of our knowledge, pave a new way to obtain Brillouin-related applications in integrated photonic circuit within the visible range.

Intramode Brillouin Scattering Properties of Single-Crystal Lithium Niobate Optical Fiber

Ordinary step-type fiber usually has only one obvious Brillouin scattering gain peak with a low gain coefficient, resulting in a poor sensing performance. As a promising material for nonlinear photonics, lithium niobate can significantly improve the Brillouin gain due to its higher refractive index when replaced with the core material. Furthermore, the higher-order acoustic modes make the Brillouin gain spectrum exhibit multiple scattering peaks, which could improve the performance of sensors. In this study, we simulated the Brillouin scattering properties of different modes of intramode in step-index lithium niobate core fibers. We analyzed the intramode-stimulated Brillouin scattering properties of different pump–Stokes pairs for nine LP modes (LP01, LP11, LP21, LP02, LP31, LP12, LP41, LP22, and LP03) guided in fiber. The results show that both the effective refractive index and Brillouin scattering frequency shift are decreased with the increase in the nine mode orders, and the values of which are 2.2413 to 2.1963, and 21.17 to 20.73 GHz, respectively. The typical back-stimulated Brillouin scattering gain is obtained at 1.7525 m−1·W−1. These simulation results prove that the Brillouin gain of the LiNbO3 optical fiber structure can be significantly improved, which will pave the way for better distributed Brillouin sensing and for improving the transmission capacity of communication systems.

Metamaterial-enabled arbitrary on-chip spatial mode manipulation

On-chip spatial mode operation, represented as mode-division multiplexing (MDM), can support high-capacity data communications and promise superior performance in various systems and numerous applications from optical sensing to nonlinear and quantum optics. However, the scalability of state-of-the-art mode manipulation techniques is significantly hindered not only by the particular mode-order-oriented design strategy but also by the inherent limitations of possibly achievable mode orders. Recently, metamaterials capable of providing subwavelength-scale control of optical wavefronts have emerged as an attractive alternative to manipulate guided modes with compact footprints and broadband functionalities. Herein, we propose a universal yet efficient design framework based on the topological metamaterial building block (BB), enabling the excitation of arbitrary high-order spatial modes in silicon waveguides. By simply programming the layout of multiple fully etched dielectric metamaterial perturbations with predefined mathematical formulas, arbitrary high-order mode conversion and mode exchange can be simultaneously realized with uniform and competitive performance. The extraordinary scalability of the metamaterial BB frame is experimentally benchmarked by a record high-order mode operator up to the twentieth. As a proof of conceptual application, an 8-mode MDM data transmission of 28-GBaud 16-QAM optical signals is also verified with an aggregate data rate of 813 Gb/s (7% FEC). This user-friendly metamaterial BB concept marks a quintessential breakthrough for comprehensive manipulation of spatial light on-chip by breaking the long-standing shackles on the scalability, which may open up fascinating opportunities for complex photonic functionalities previously inaccessible.

Transverse Mode-Encoded Quantum Gate on a Silicon Photonic Chip

As an important degree of freedom (d.o.f.) in photonic integrated circuits, the orthogonal transverse mode provides a promising and flexible way to increase communication capability, for both classical and quantum information processing. To construct large-scale on-chip multimode multi-d.o.f.s quantum systems, a transverse mode-encoded controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate is necessary. Here, with the help of our new transverse mode-dependent directional coupler and attenuator, we demonstrate the first multimode implementation of a 2-qubit quantum gate. The ability of the gate is demonstrated by entangling two separated transverse mode qubits with an average fidelity of 0.89±0.02 and the achievement of 10 standard deviations of violations in the quantum nonlocality verification. In addition, a fidelity of 0.82±0.01 is obtained from quantum process tomography used to completely characterize the CNOT gate. Our work paves the way for universal transverse mode-encoded quantum operations and large-scale multimode multi-d.o.f.s quantum systems.

Nonreciprocal Frequency Domain Beam Splitter

The canonical beam splitter-a fundamental building block of quantum optical systems-is a reciprocal element. It operates on forward- and backward-propagating modes in the same way, regardless of direction. The concept of nonreciprocal quantum photonic operations, by contrast, could be used to transform quantum states in a momentum- and direction-selective fashion. Here we demonstrate the basis for such a nonreciprocal transformation in the frequency domain through intermodal Bragg scattering four-wave mixing (BSFWM). Since the total number of idler and signal photons is conserved, the process can preserve coherence of quantum optical states, functioning as a nonreciprocal frequency beam splitter. We explore the origin of this nonreciprocity and find that the phase-matching requirements of intermodal BSFWM produce an enormous asymmetry (76×) in the conversion bandwidths for forward and backward configurations, yielding ∼25  dB of nonreciprocal contrast over several hundred GHz. We also outline how the demonstrated efficiencies (∼10^{-4}) may be scaled to near-unity values with readily accessible powers and pumping configurations for applications in integrated quantum photonics.

Designing of strongly confined short-wave Brillouin phonons in silicon waveguide periodic lattices

We propose a feasible waveguide design optimized for harnessing Stimulated Brillouin Scattering with long-lived phonons. The design consists of a fully suspended ridge waveguide surrounded by a 1D phononic crystal that mitigates losses to the substrate while providing the needed homogeneity for the build-up of the optomechanical interaction. The coupling factor of these structures was calculated to be G_B/Q_m = 0.54 (W m)^-1 for intramodal backward Brillouin scattering with its fundamental TE-like mode and G_B/Q_m = 4.5 (W m)^-1 for intramodal forward Brillouin scattering. The addition of the phononic crystal provides a 30 dB attenuation of the mechanical displacement after only five unitary cells, possibly leading to a regime where the acoustic losses are only limited by fabrication. As a result, the total Brillouin gain, which is proportional to the product of the coupling and acoustic quality factors, is nominally equal to the idealized fully suspended waveguide.

Brillouin scattering induced by shear acoustic mode in a step-index fiber

We present the mechanism of backward Brillouin scattering induced by shear acoustic mode (SAM) in a step-index fiber. Unlike a longitudinal acoustic mode with negligible transverse displacement, a SAM has both considerable transverse and longitudinal displacements. During the light-sound coupling process, the fundamental and high-order SAMs can be guided and excited, ultimately generating a Brillouin gain spectrum with multipeak structure in a frequency range around 6 GHz. The interaction characteristics of the optical force with the displacement of all excited SAMs determine a partial cancellation effect, which is of great importance for the coupling coefficient of the optical-acoustic modes. The SAM-induced backward Brillouin scattering would provide a promising new approach for application such as multiparameter sensing.

Quantum theory of scattering of ultrashort electromagnetic field pulses by polyatomic structures

In the theoretical description of the scattering of ultrashort electromagnetic field pulses (USP), the semiclassical approach is usually used, where the electromagnetic field is classical and the atomic system is quantum. This article shows the need to take into account the quantum properties of scattered photons, it is that if we take into account the interaction of an USP with a system of atoms, then with the scattering of the pulse it is possible to generate a given number of n photons with a probability P _n. The main equations for the probability P _n of the production of n photons and their average energy E _n are found in an analytical form. It is shown that only for a certain number of atoms in the system can multiphoton scattering of ultrashort electromagnetic field pulses occur, where it is necessary to take into account the obtained basic equations for P _n and E _n. Various biomolecules, nanosystems and polyatomic structures can consist of such a number of atoms. This is especially important because experiments are currently being conducted with such structures at the present time using high-power ultrashort laser pulses. It is shown that the developed theory in limiting cases turns into well-known approaches of single-photon and multi-photon theories.

Surface acoustic wave photonic devices in silicon on insulator

Opto-mechanical interactions in planar photonic integrated circuits draw great interest in basic research and applications. However, opto-mechanics is practically absent in the most technologically significant photonics platform: silicon on insulator. Previous demonstrations required the under-etching and suspension of silicon structures. Here we present surface acoustic wave-photonic devices in silicon on insulator, up to 8 GHz frequency. Surface waves are launched through absorption of modulated pump light in metallic gratings and thermo-elastic expansion. The surface waves are detected through photo-elastic modulation of an optical probe in standard race-track resonators. Devices do not involve piezo-electric actuation, suspension of waveguides or hybrid material integration. Wavelength conversion of incident microwave signals and acoustic true time delays up to 40 ns are demonstrated on-chip. Lastly, discrete-time microwave-photonic filters with up to six taps and 20 MHz-wide passbands are realized using acoustic delays. The concept is suitable for integrated microwave-photonics signal processing.

The authors implement surface acoustic waves on the silicon photonics platform by exciting a metallic grating with modulated pump light to enable microwave-photonic devices without the need for piezo-electric actuation, complex suspensions or hybrid materials.

Arbitrarily routed mode-division multiplexed photonic circuits for dense integration

On-chip integrated mode-division multiplexing (MDM) is an emerging technique for large-capacity data communications. In the past few years, while several configurations have been developed to realize on-chip MDM circuits, their practical applications are significantly hindered by the large footprint and inter-mode cross talk. Most importantly, the high-speed MDM signal transmission in an arbitrarily routed circuit is still absent. Herein, we demonstrate the MDM circuits based on digitized meta-structures which have extremely compact footprints. 112 Gbit/s signals encoded on each mode are arbitrarily routed through the circuits consisting of many sharp bends and compact crossings with a bit error rate under forward error correction limit. This will significantly improve the integration density and benefit various on-chip multimode optical systems.

On-chip mode-division multiplexing has many challenges including crosstalk, losses, and footprint.  Here the authors use a nanohole metastructure to create multiplexed bends and crossings for photonic data communications circuit routing with high density that combats these challenges.

Analytical wave function of an atomic electron under the action of a powerful ultrashort electromagnetic field pulse

The interaction of atomic systems with high-power ultrashort electromagnetic field pulses (USPs) is currently the subject of many theoretical and experimental studies. However, a wave function has yet to be developed for the atomic electron located in such fields, including relativistic fields. In this Letter, an equation is obtained that is similar to the Schrödinger equation for the fields under consideration, but which takes into the account relativistic effects in powerful spatially inhomogeneous fields of USPs. Using the sudden disturbance approximation, an exact solution of the resulting equation is obtained in the form of an analytical wave function which is suitable for any type and form of ultrashort pulse, and which takes into account its magnetic component. It is shown that the obtained wave function satisfies the necessary completeness condition in quantum mechanics.

Opto-electronic oscillator mediated by acoustic wave in a photonic crystal fiber stimulated in 1 μm band

An opto-electronic oscillator based on guided acoustic wave Brillouin scattering in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) stimulated by a light wave in 1 μm band is proposed and demonstrated. A short length of a homemade PCF stimulated by relatively low pump power leads to strong coupling between the pump and probe waves. The oscillation is realized in a feedback loop, in which the acoustic wave bridges the pump and probe. Oscillation is achieved at 1.237 GHz, which matches the resonance of the acoustic mode, in a single-longitudinal-mode operation of the hybrid cavity. It has a high side mode suppression ratio of over 60 dB.

Brillouin Dynamic Gratings-A Practical Form of Brillouin Enhanced Four Wave Mixing in Waveguides: The First Decade and Beyond

Brillouin-Enhanced Four-Wave-Mixing techniques, which couple four optical beams through Brillouin nonlinearity, have gained popularity in the 1980's largely owing to their phase conjugation properties. Experiments were mainly conducted in liquid cells. The interest in Brillouin-Enhanced Four-Wave-Mixing has reawakened in the 2000's, following the quest for dynamically reconfigurable gratings in optical fibers. Termed Brillouin Dynamic Grating this time around, it is, in fact, an acoustic wave, optically generated by stimulated Brillouin scattering process between two pump waves. The acoustic wave either carries the coherent information encoded by the pump beams, or in the case of sensing applications, its properties are determined by the environmental parameters. This information, in turn, is imparted to the third phase-matched optical probe wave through the elasto-optic effect. Over the last decade, this mechanism allowed for the realization of many all-optical signal processing functions and has proven instrumental in distributed sensing applications. This paper describes the basics, as well as the state of the art, of BDG-based applications in optical fibers. It also surveys the efforts being done to carry over these concepts to the photonic chip level.

Phase-Coded and Noise-Based Brillouin Optical Correlation-Domain Analysis

Correlation-domain analysis has enabled distributed measurements of Brillouin gain spectra along optical fibers with high spatial resolution, up to millimeter-scale. The method relies on the joint modulation of counter-propagating Brillouin pump and signal waves so that their complex envelopes are correlated in select positions only. Brillouin optical correlation-domain analysis was first proposed nearly 20 years ago based on frequency modulation of the two waves. This paper reviews two more recent variants of the concept. In the first, the Brillouin pump and signal waves are co-modulated by high-rate binary phase sequences. The scheme eliminates restricting trade-offs between the spatial resolution and the range of unambiguous measurements, and may also suppress noise due to residual Brillouin interactions outside the correlation peak. Sensor setups based on phase coding addressed 440,000 high-resolution points and showed potential for reaching over 2 million such points. The second approach relies on the amplified spontaneous emission of optical amplifiers, rather than the modulation of an optical carrier, as the source of Brillouin pump and signal waves. Noise-based correlation-domain analysis reaches sub-millimeter spatial resolution. The application of both techniques to tapered micro-fibers and planar waveguides is addressed as well.

Method of Higher-order Operators for Quantum Optomechanics

We demonstrate application of the method of higher-order operators to nonlinear standard optomechanics. It is shown that a symmetry breaking in frequency shifts exists, corresponding to inequivalency of red and blue side-bands. This arises from nonlinear higher-order processes leading to inequal detunings. Similarly, a higher-order resonance shift exists appearing as changes in both of the optical and mechanical resonances. We provide the first known method to explicitly estimate the population of coherent phonons. We also calculate corrections to spring effect due to higher-order interactions and coherent phonons, and show that these corrections can be quite significant in measurement of single-photon optomechanical interaction rate. It is shown that there exists non-unique and various choices for the higher-order operators to solve the optomechanical interaction with different multiplicative noise terms, among which a minimal basis offers exactly linear Langevin equations, while decoupling one Langevin equation and thus leaving the whole standard optomechanical problem exactly solvable by explicit expressions. We finally present a detailed treatment of multiplicative noise as well as nonlinear dynamic stability phases by the method of higher-order operators. Similar approach can be used outside the domain of standard optomechanics to quadratic and all other types of nonlinear interactions in quantum physics.

Highly-coherent stimulated phonon oscillations in a multi-core optical fiber

Opto-mechanical oscillators that generate coherent acoustic waves are drawing much interest, in both fundamental research and applications. Narrowband oscillations can be obtained through the introduction of feedback to the acoustic wave. Most previous realizations of this concept, sometimes referred to as "phonon lasers", relied on radiation pressure and moving boundary effects in micro- or nano-structured media. Demonstrations in bulk crystals required cryogenic temperatures. In this work, stimulated emission of highly-coherent acoustic waves is achieved in a commercially-available multi-core fiber, at room temperature. The fiber is connected within an opto-electronic cavity loop. Pump light in one core is driving acoustic waves via electrostriction, whereas an optical probe wave at a different physical core undergoes photo-elastic modulation by the stimulated acoustic waves. Coupling between pump and probe is based entirely on inter-core, opto-mechanical cross-phase modulation: no direct optical feedback is provided. Single-frequency mechanical oscillations at hundreds of MHz frequencies are obtained, with side-mode suppression that is better than 55 dB. A sharp threshold and rapid collapse of the linewidth above threshold are observed. The linewidths of the acoustic oscillations are on the order of 100 Hz, orders of magnitude narrower than those of the pump and probe light sources. The relative Allan's deviation of the frequency is between 0.1-1 ppm. The frequency may be switched among several values by propagating the pump or probe waves in different cores. The results may be used in sensing, metrology and microwave-photonic information processing applications.

A silicon Brillouin laser

Brillouin laser oscillators offer powerful and flexible dynamics as the basis for mode-locked lasers, microwave oscillators, and optical gyroscopes in a variety of optical systems. However, Brillouin interactions are markedly weak in conventional silicon photonic waveguides, stifling progress toward silicon-based Brillouin lasers. The recent advent of hybrid photonic-phononic waveguides has revealed Brillouin interactions to be one of the strongest and most tailorable nonlinearities in silicon. In this study, we have harnessed these engineered nonlinearities to demonstrate Brillouin lasing in silicon. Moreover, we show that this silicon-based Brillouin laser enters a regime of dynamics in which optical self-oscillation produces phonon linewidth narrowing. Our results provide a platform to develop a range of applications for monolithic integration within silicon photonic circuits.

Synthetic phonons enable nonreciprocal coupling to arbitrary resonator networks

Inducing nonreciprocal wave propagation is a fundamental challenge across a wide range of physical systems in electromagnetics, optics, and acoustics. Recent efforts to create nonreciprocal devices have departed from established magneto-optic methods and instead exploited momentum-based techniques such as coherent spatiotemporal modulation of resonators and waveguides. However, to date, the nonreciprocal frequency responses that these devices can achieve have been limited, mainly to either broadband or Lorentzian-shaped transfer functions. We show that nonreciprocal coupling between waveguides and resonator networks enables the creation of devices with customizable nonreciprocal frequency responses. We create nonreciprocal coupling through the action of synthetic phonons, which emulate propagating phonons and can scatter light between guided and resonant modes that differ in both frequency and momentum. We implement nonreciprocal coupling in microstrip circuits and experimentally demonstrate both elementary nonreciprocal functions such as isolation and gyration, as well as reconfigurable, higher-order nonreciprocal filters. Our results suggest nonreciprocal coupling as a platform for a broad class of customizable nonreciprocal systems, adaptable to all wave phenomena.