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Ling J, Gao Z, Xue S, Hu Q, Li M, Zhang K, Javid UA, Lopez-Rios R, Staffa J, Lin Q. Electrically empowered microcomb laser. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4192. [PMID: 38760350 PMCID: PMC11101629 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48544-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Optical microcomb underpins a wide range of applications from communication, metrology, to sensing. Although extensively explored in recent years, challenges remain in key aspects of microcomb such as complex soliton initialization, low power efficiency, and limited comb reconfigurability. Here we present an on-chip microcomb laser to address these key challenges. Realized with integration between III and V gain chip and a thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic integrated circuit (PIC), the laser directly emits mode-locked microcomb on demand with robust turnkey operation inherently built in, with individual comb linewidth down to 600 Hz, whole-comb frequency tuning rate exceeding 2.4 × 1017 Hz/s, and 100% utilization of optical power fully contributing to comb generation. The demonstrated approach unifies architecture and operation simplicity, electro-optic reconfigurability, high-speed tunability, and multifunctional capability enabled by TFLN PIC, opening up a great avenue towards on-demand generation of mode-locked microcomb that is of great potential for broad applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingwei Ling
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Zhengdong Gao
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Shixin Xue
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Qili Hu
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Mingxiao Li
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Kaibo Zhang
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Usman A Javid
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | | | - Jeremy Staffa
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Qiang Lin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
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2
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Li Z, Wang RN, Lihachev G, Zhang J, Tan Z, Churaev M, Kuznetsov N, Siddharth A, Bereyhi MJ, Riemensberger J, Kippenberg TJ. High density lithium niobate photonic integrated circuits. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4856. [PMID: 37563149 PMCID: PMC10415301 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40502-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Photonic integrated circuits have the potential to pervade into multiple applications traditionally limited to bulk optics. Of particular interest for new applications are ferroelectrics such as Lithium Niobate, which exhibit a large Pockels effect, but are difficult to process via dry etching. Here we demonstrate that diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a superior material for the manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits based on ferroelectrics, specifically LiNbO3. Using DLC as a hard mask, we demonstrate the fabrication of deeply etched, tightly confining, low loss waveguides with losses as low as 4 dB/m. In contrast to widely employed ridge waveguides, this approach benefits from a more than one order of magnitude higher area integration density while maintaining efficient electro-optical modulation, low loss, and offering a route for efficient optical fiber interfaces. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate a III-V/LiNbO3 based laser with sub-kHz intrinsic linewidth and tuning rate of 0.7 PHz/s with excellent linearity and CMOS-compatible driving voltage. We also demonstrated a MZM modulator with a 1.73 cm length and a halfwave voltage of 1.94 V.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zihan Li
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Rui Ning Wang
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Grigory Lihachev
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Junyin Zhang
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Zelin Tan
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Mikhail Churaev
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Nikolai Kuznetsov
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Anat Siddharth
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Mohammad J Bereyhi
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Luxtelligence SA, CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Johann Riemensberger
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tobias J Kippenberg
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Center of Quantum Science and Engineering (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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3
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Snigirev V, Riedhauser A, Lihachev G, Churaev M, Riemensberger J, Wang RN, Siddharth A, Huang G, Möhl C, Popoff Y, Drechsler U, Caimi D, Hönl S, Liu J, Seidler P, Kippenberg TJ. Ultrafast tunable lasers using lithium niobate integrated photonics. Nature 2023; 615:411-417. [PMID: 36922611 PMCID: PMC10017507 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05724-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Abstract
Early works1 and recent advances in thin-film lithium niobate (LiNbO3) on insulator have enabled low-loss photonic integrated circuits2,3, modulators with improved half-wave voltage4,5, electro-optic frequency combs6 and on-chip electro-optic devices, with applications ranging from microwave photonics to microwave-to-optical quantum interfaces7. Although recent advances have demonstrated tunable integrated lasers based on LiNbO3 (refs. 8,9), the full potential of this platform to demonstrate frequency-agile, narrow-linewidth integrated lasers has not been achieved. Here we report such a laser with a fast tuning rate based on a hybrid silicon nitride (Si3N4)-LiNbO3 photonic platform and demonstrate its use for coherent laser ranging. Our platform is based on heterogeneous integration of ultralow-loss Si3N4 photonic integrated circuits with thin-film LiNbO3 through direct bonding at the wafer level, in contrast to previously demonstrated chiplet-level integration10, featuring low propagation loss of 8.5 decibels per metre, enabling narrow-linewidth lasing (intrinsic linewidth of 3 kilohertz) by self-injection locking to a laser diode. The hybrid mode of the resonator allows electro-optic laser frequency tuning at a speed of 12 × 1015 hertz per second with high linearity and low hysteresis while retaining the narrow linewidth. Using a hybrid integrated laser, we perform a proof-of-concept coherent optical ranging (FMCW LiDAR) experiment. Endowing Si3N4 photonic integrated circuits with LiNbO3 creates a platform that combines the individual advantages of thin-film LiNbO3 with those of Si3N4, which show precise lithographic control, mature manufacturing and ultralow loss11,12.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viacheslav Snigirev
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Grigory Lihachev
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Mikhail Churaev
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Johann Riemensberger
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Deep Light SA
| | - Rui Ning Wang
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Anat Siddharth
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Guanhao Huang
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Charles Möhl
- IBM Research - Europe, Zurich, Ruschlikon, Switzerland
| | - Youri Popoff
- IBM Research - Europe, Zurich, Ruschlikon, Switzerland
- Integrated Systems Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ute Drechsler
- IBM Research - Europe, Zurich, Ruschlikon, Switzerland
| | - Daniele Caimi
- IBM Research - Europe, Zurich, Ruschlikon, Switzerland
| | - Simon Hönl
- IBM Research - Europe, Zurich, Ruschlikon, Switzerland
| | - Junqiu Liu
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Paul Seidler
- IBM Research - Europe, Zurich, Ruschlikon, Switzerland.
| | - Tobias J Kippenberg
- Institute of Physics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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4
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Zhou J, Huang T, Fang Z, Wu R, Zhou Y, Liu J, Zhang H, Wang Z, Wang M, Cheng Y. Laser diode-pumped compact hybrid lithium niobate microring laser. OPTICS LETTERS 2022; 47:5599-5601. [PMID: 37219280 DOI: 10.1364/ol.474906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate a compact hybrid lithium niobate microring laser by butt coupling a commercial 980-nm pump laser diode chip with a high-quality Er3+-doped lithium niobate microring chip. Single-mode lasing emission at 1531-nm wavelength from the Er3+-doped lithium niobate microring can be observed with the integrated 980-nm laser pumping. The compact hybrid lithium niobate microring laser occupies the chip size of 3 mm × 4 mm × 0.5 mm. The threshold pumping laser power is 6 mW and the threshold current is 0.5 A (operating voltage 1.64 V) at atmospheric temperature. The spectrum featuring single-mode lasing with small linewidth of 0.05 nm is observed. This work explores a robust hybrid lithium niobate microring laser source which has potential applications in coherent optical communication and precision metrology.
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5
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Han Y, Zhang X, Ma R, Xu M, Tan H, Liu J, Wang R, Yu S, Cai X. Widely tunable O-band lithium niobite/III-V transmitter. OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 30:35478-35485. [PMID: 36258498 DOI: 10.1364/oe.471402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The ever-increasing traffic has been driving the demand for compact, high-speed, and low-power-consumption optical transmitters. Thin-film lithium niobite (TFLN) platforms have emerged as promising photonic integrated solutions for next-generation optical transmitters. In this study, we demonstrated the first widely tunable optical transmitter based on a butt-coupling a TFLN modulator with an electrically pumped tunable laser. The tunable laser exhibited a side-mode suppression ratio of > 60 dB, linewidth of 475 kHz, and wavelength-tuning range of over 40 nm. The TFLN modulator presented a voltage-length product of 2.9 V·cm and an electro-optic response of 1.5 dB roll-off at 50 GHz. The optical transmitter support data rate was as high as 160 Gb/s.
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Li M, Chang L, Wu L, Staffa J, Ling J, Javid UA, Xue S, He Y, Lopez-Rios R, Morin TJ, Wang H, Shen B, Zeng S, Zhu L, Vahala KJ, Bowers JE, Lin Q. Integrated Pockels laser. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5344. [PMID: 36097269 PMCID: PMC9467990 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33101-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of integrated semiconductor lasers has miniaturized traditional bulky laser systems, enabling a wide range of photonic applications. A progression from pure III-V based lasers to III-V/external cavity structures has harnessed low-loss waveguides in different material systems, leading to significant improvements in laser coherence and stability. Despite these successes, however, key functions remain absent. In this work, we address a critical missing function by integrating the Pockels effect into a semiconductor laser. Using a hybrid integrated III-V/Lithium Niobate structure, we demonstrate several essential capabilities that have not existed in previous integrated lasers. These include a record-high frequency modulation speed of 2 exahertz/s (2.0 × 1018 Hz/s) and fast switching at 50 MHz, both of which are made possible by integration of the electro-optic effect. Moreover, the device co-lases at infrared and visible frequencies via the second-harmonic frequency conversion process, the first such integrated multi-color laser. Combined with its narrow linewidth and wide tunability, this new type of integrated laser holds promise for many applications including LiDAR, microwave photonics, atomic physics, and AR/VR. On-Chip integration of laser systems led to impressive development in many field of application like LIDAR or AR/VR to cite a few. Here the authors harness Pockels effect in an integrated semiconductor platform achieving fast on-chip configurability of a narrow linewidth laser.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingxiao Li
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | - Lin Chang
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Lue Wu
- T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
| | - Jeremy Staffa
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | - Jingwei Ling
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | - Usman A Javid
- Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | - Shixin Xue
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | - Yang He
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA
| | | | - Theodore J Morin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Heming Wang
- T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
| | - Boqiang Shen
- T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
| | - Siwei Zeng
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA
| | - Lin Zhu
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634, USA
| | - Kerry J Vahala
- T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA.
| | - John E Bowers
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Qiang Lin
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA. .,Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, 14627, USA.
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Zhang X, Liu X, Ma R, Chen Z, Yang Z, Han Y, Wang B, Yu S, Wang R, Cai X. Heterogeneously integrated III-V-on-lithium niobate broadband light sources and photodetectors. OPTICS LETTERS 2022; 47:4564-4567. [PMID: 36048705 DOI: 10.1364/ol.468008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Heterogeneous integration of III-V active devices on lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) photonic circuits enable fully integrated transceivers. Here we present the co-integration of InP-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors on an LNOI photonics platform. Both devices are realized based on the same III-V epitaxial layers stack adhesively bonded on an LNOI waveguide circuit. The light is evanescently coupled between the LNOI and III-V waveguide via a multiple-section adiabatic taper. The waveguide-coupled LEDs have a 3-dB bandwidth of 40 nm. The photodetector features a responsivity of 0.38 A/W in the 1550-nm wavelength range and a dark current of 9 nA at -0.5 V at room temperature.
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