Ultra-low loss visible light waveguides for integrated atomic, molecular, and quantum photonics

Anneal-free ultra-low loss silicon nitride integrated photonics

Heterogeneous and monolithic integration of the versatile low-loss silicon nitride platform with low-temperature materials such as silicon electronics and photonics, III-V compound semiconductors, lithium niobate, organics, and glasses has been inhibited by the need for high-temperature annealing as well as the need for different process flows for thin and thick waveguides. New techniques are needed to maintain the state-of-the-art losses, nonlinear properties, and CMOS-compatible processes while enabling this next generation of 3D silicon nitride integration. We report a significant advance in silicon nitride integrated photonics, demonstrating the lowest losses to date for an anneal-free process at a maximum temperature 250 °C, with the same deuterated silane based fabrication flow, for nitride and oxide, for an order of magnitude range in nitride thickness without requiring stress mitigation or polishing. We report record low anneal-free losses for both nitride core and oxide cladding, enabling 1.77 dB m-1 loss and 14.9 million Q for 80 nm nitride core waveguides, more than half an order magnitude lower loss than previously reported sub 300 °C process. For 800 nm-thick nitride, we achieve as good as 8.66 dB m-1 loss and 4.03 million Q, the highest reported Q for a low temperature processed resonator with equivalent device area, with a median of loss and Q of 13.9 dB m-1 and 2.59 million each respectively. We demonstrate laser stabilization with over 4 orders of magnitude frequency noise reduction using a thin nitride reference cavity, and using a thick nitride micro-resonator we demonstrate OPO, over two octave supercontinuum generation, and four-wave mixing and parametric gain with the lowest reported optical parametric oscillation threshold per unit resonator length. These results represent a significant step towards a uniform ultra-low loss silicon nitride homogeneous and heterogeneous platform for both thin and thick waveguides capable of linear and nonlinear photonic circuits and integration with low-temperature materials and processes.

Absorption and scattering limits of silicon nitride integrated photonics in the visible spectrum

Visible-light photonic integrated circuits (PICs) promise scalability for technologies such as quantum information, biosensing, and scanning displays, yet extending large-scale silicon photonics to shorter wavelengths has been challenging due to the higher losses. Silicon nitride (SiN) has stood out as the leading platform for visible photonics, but the propagation losses strongly depend on the film's deposition and fabrication processes. Current loss measurement techniques cannot accurately distinguish between absorption and surface scattering, making it difficult to identify the dominant loss source and reach the platform's fundamental limit. Here we demonstrate an ultra-low loss, high-confinement SiN platform that approaches the limits of absorption and scattering across the visible spectrum. Leveraging the sensitivity of microresonators to loss, we probe and discriminate each loss contribution with unparalleled sensitivity, and derive their fundamental limits and scaling laws as a function of wavelength, film properties and waveguide parameters. Through the design of the waveguide cross-section, we show how to approach the absorption limit of the platform, and demonstrate the lowest propagation losses in high-confinement SiN to date across the visible spectrum. We envision that our techniques for loss characterization and minimization will contribute to the development of large-scale, dense PICs that redefine the loss limits of integrated platforms across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Continuous-wave second-harmonic generation in the far-UVC pumped by a blue laser diode

Far-UVC light in the wavelength range of 200-230 nm has attracted renewed interest because of its safety for human exposure and effectiveness in inactivating pathogens. Here we present a compact solid-state far-UVC laser source based on second-harmonic generation (SHG) using a low-cost commercially-available blue laser diode pump. Leveraging the high intensity of light in a nanophotonic waveguide and heterogeneous integration, our approach achieves Cherenkov phase-matching across a bonded interface consisting of a silicon nitride (SiN) waveguide and a beta barium borate (BBO) nonlinear crystal. Through systematic investigations of waveguide dimensions and pump power, we analyze the dependencies of Cherenkov emission angle, conversion efficiency, and output power. Experimental results confirm the feasibility of generating far-UVC, paving the way for mass production in a compact form factor. This solid-state far-UVC laser source shows significant potential for applications in human-safe disinfection, non-line-of-sight free-space communication, and deep-UV Raman spectroscopy.

Integrated photonic molecule Brillouin laser with a high-power sub-100-mHz fundamental linewidth

Photonic integrated lasers with an ultra-low fundamental linewidth and a high output power are important for precision atomic and quantum applications, high-capacity communications, and fiber sensing, yet wafer-scale solutions have remained elusive. Here we report an integrated stimulated Brillouin laser (SBL), based on a photonic molecule coupled resonator design, that achieves a sub-100-mHz fundamental linewidth with greater than 10-mW output power in the C band, fabricated on a 200-mm silicon nitride (Si3N4) CMOS-foundry compatible wafer-scale platform. The photonic molecule design is used to suppress the second-order Stokes (S2) emission, allowing the primary lasing mode to increase with the pump power without phase noise feedback from higher Stokes orders. The nested waveguide resonators have a 184 million intrinsic and 92 million loaded Q, over an order of magnitude improvement over prior photonic molecules, enabling precision resonance splitting of 198 MHz at the S2 frequency. We demonstrate S2-suppressed single-mode SBL with a minimum fundamental linewidth of 71±18 mHz, corresponding to a 23±6-mHz2/Hz white-frequency-noise floor, over an order of magnitude lower than prior integrated SBLs, with an ∼11-mW output power and 2.3-mW threshold power. The frequency noise reaches the resonator-intrinsic thermo-refractive noise from 2-kHz to 1-MHz offset. The laser phase noise reaches -155 dBc/Hz at 10-MHz offset. The performance of this chip-scale SBL shows promise not only to improve the reliability and reduce size and cost but also to enable new precision experiments that require the high-speed manipulation, control, and interrogation of atoms and qubits. Realization in the silicon nitride ultra-low loss platform is adaptable to a wide range of wavelengths from the visible to infrared and enables integration with other components for systems-on-chip solutions for a wide range of precision scientific and engineering applications including quantum sensing, gravitometers, atom interferometers, precision metrology, optical atomic clocks, and ultra-low noise microwave generation.

High-confinement alumina waveguides with sub-dB/cm propagation losses at 450 nm

Amorphous alumina is highly transparent across the visible spectrum, making it a promising candidate for low-loss waveguiding at short wavelengths. However, previous alumina waveguide demonstrations in the visible region have focused on low- to moderate-confinement waveguides, where the diffuse mode reduces the design flexibility and integration density of photonic integrated circuits. Here, we have developed a high-quality etch mask and a highly selective BCl3 plasma etch, allowing etching of amorphous alumina waveguides up to 800 nm thick. Using this process, we have fabricated waveguides using an alumina film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) which are the lowest-loss high-confinement waveguides for blue light to date: we achieve single-mode propagation losses of 0.8 dB/cm at a propagation wavelength of 450 nm.

Ultra-high Q alumina optical microresonators in the UV and blue bands

UV and visible photonics enable applications ranging from spectroscopic sensing to communication and quantum information processing. Photonics structures in these wavelength regimes, however, tend to experience higher loss than their IR counterpart. Particularly in the near-UV band, on-chip optical microresonators have not yet achieved a quality factor beyond 1 million. Here, we report ultra-low-loss photonic waveguides and resonators patterned from alumina thin films prepared by a highly scalable atomic layer deposition process. We demonstrate ultra high Q factor of 1.5×106 at 390 nm, a record value at UV bands, and 1.9×106 at 488.5 nm.

Photonic integrated beam delivery for a rubidium 3D magneto-optical trap

Cold atoms are important for precision atomic applications including timekeeping and sensing. The 3D magneto-optical trap (3D-MOT), used to produce cold atoms, will benefit from photonic integration to improve reliability and reduce size, weight, and cost. These traps require the delivery of multiple, large area, collimated laser beams to an atomic vacuum cell. Yet, to date, beam delivery using an integrated waveguide approach has remained elusive. Here we report the demonstration of a ⁸⁷Rb 3D-MOT using a fiber-coupled photonic integrated circuit to deliver all beams to cool and trap > 1 ×10⁶ atoms to near 200 μK. The silicon nitride photonic circuit transforms fiber-coupled 780 nm cooling and repump light via waveguides to three mm-width non-diverging free-space cooling and repump beams directly to the rubidium cell. This planar, CMOS foundry-compatible integrated beam delivery is compatible with other components, such as lasers and modulators, promising system-on-chip solutions for cold atom applications.

Integrating planar photonics for multi-beam generation and atomic clock packaging on chip

The commercialization of atomic technologies requires replacing laboratory-scale laser setups with compact and manufacturable optical platforms. Complex arrangements of free-space beams can be generated on chip through a combination of integrated photonics and metasurface optics. In this work, we combine these two technologies using flip-chip bonding and demonstrate an integrated optical architecture for realizing a compact strontium atomic clock. Our planar design includes twelve beams in two co-aligned magneto-optical traps. These beams are directed above the chip to intersect at a central location with diameters as large as 1 cm. Our design also includes two co-propagating beams at lattice and clock wavelengths. These beams emit collinearly and vertically to probe the center of the magneto-optical trap, where they will have diameters of ≈100 µm. With these devices we demonstrate that our integrated photonic platform is scalable to an arbitrary number of beams, each with different wavelengths, geometries, and polarizations.

Lithium niobate photonics: Unlocking the electromagnetic spectrum

Lithium niobate (LN), first synthesized 70 years ago, has been widely used in diverse applications ranging from communications to quantum optics. These high-volume commercial applications have provided the economic means to establish a mature manufacturing and processing industry for high-quality LN crystals and wafers. Breakthrough science demonstrations to commercial products have been achieved owing to the ability of LN to generate and manipulate electromagnetic waves across a broad spectrum, from microwave to ultraviolet frequencies. Here, we provide a high-level Review of the history of LN as an optical material, its different photonic platforms, engineering concepts, spectral coverage, and essential applications before providing an outlook for the future of LN.

Ultra-low loss quantum photonic circuits integrated with single quantum emitters

The scaling of many photonic quantum information processing systems is ultimately limited by the flux of quantum light throughout an integrated photonic circuit. Source brightness and waveguide loss set basic limits on the on-chip photon flux. While substantial progress has been made, separately, towards ultra-low loss chip-scale photonic circuits and high brightness single-photon sources, integration of these technologies has remained elusive. Here, we report the integration of a quantum emitter single-photon source with a wafer-scale, ultra-low loss silicon nitride photonic circuit. We demonstrate triggered and pure single-photon emission into a Si₃N₄ photonic circuit with ≈ 1 dB/m propagation loss at a wavelength of ≈ 930 nm. We also observe resonance fluorescence in the strong drive regime, showing promise towards coherent control of quantum emitters. These results are a step forward towards scaled chip-integrated photonic quantum information systems in which storing, time-demultiplexing or buffering of deterministically generated single-photons is critical.

Silicon nitride stress-optic microresonator modulator for optical control applications

Modulation-based control and locking of lasers, filters and other photonic components is a ubiquitous function across many applications that span the visible to infrared (IR), including atomic, molecular and optical (AMO), quantum sciences, fiber communications, metrology, and microwave photonics. Today, modulators used to realize these control functions consist of high-power bulk-optic components for tuning, sideband modulation, and phase and frequency shifting, while providing low optical insertion loss and operation from DC to 10s of MHz. In order to reduce the size, weight and cost of these applications and improve their scalability and reliability, modulation control functions need to be implemented in a low loss, wafer-scale CMOS-compatible photonic integration platform. The silicon nitride integration platform has been successful at realizing extremely low waveguide losses across the visible to infrared and components including high performance lasers, filters, resonators, stabilization cavities, and optical frequency combs. Yet, progress towards implementing low loss, low power modulators in the silicon nitride platform, while maintaining wafer-scale process compatibility has been limited. Here we report a significant advance in integration of a piezo-electric (PZT, lead zirconate titanate) actuated micro-ring modulation in a fully-planar, wafer-scale silicon nitride platform, that maintains low optical loss (0.03 dB/cm in a 625 µm resonator) at 1550 nm, with an order of magnitude increase in bandwidth (DC - 15 MHz 3-dB and DC - 25 MHz 6-dB) and order of magnitude lower power consumption of 20 nW improvement over prior PZT modulators. The modulator provides a >14 dB extinction ratio (ER) and 7.1 million quality-factor (Q) over the entire 4 GHz tuning range, a tuning efficiency of 162 MHz/V, and delivers the linearity required for control applications with 65.1 dB·Hz^2/3 and 73.8 dB·Hz^2/3 third-order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) at 1 MHz and 10 MHz respectively. We demonstrate two control applications, laser stabilization in a Pound-Drever Hall (PDH) lock loop, reducing laser frequency noise by 40 dB, and as a laser carrier tracking filter. This PZT modulator design can be extended to the visible in the ultra-low loss silicon nitride platform with minor waveguide design changes. This integration of PZT modulation in the ultra-low loss silicon nitride waveguide platform enables modulator control functions in a wide range of visible to IR applications such as atomic and molecular transition locking for cooling, trapping and probing, controllable optical frequency combs, low-power external cavity tunable lasers, quantum computers, sensors and communications, atomic clocks, and tunable ultra-low linewidth lasers and ultra-low phase noise microwave synthesizers.