Science, Space and Technology News 2024
A high-level schematic of the photonic integrated chip, developed by the Gaeta lab, for all-optical optical frequency division, or OFD – a method of converting a high-frequency signal to a lower frequency. Credit: Yun Zhao/Columbia Engineeringstudy, Columbia Engineering researchers have built a photonic chip that can produce high-quality, ultra-low-noise microwave signals using only a single laser.
Optical frequency division – a method of converting a high-frequency signal to a lower frequency – is a recent innovation for generating microwaves in which the noise has been strongly suppressed. However, a large table-top-level footprint prevents such systems from being leveraged for miniaturized sensing and communication applications that demand more compact microwave sources and are broadly adopted.
In the current study, his group designed and fabricated an on-chip, all-optical device that generates a 16-GHz microwave signal with the lowest frequency noise that has ever been achieved in an integrated chip platform. The device uses two microresonators made of silicon nitride that are photonically coupled together.
The second microresonator is adjusted to generate an optical frequency comb with a microwave spacing. A small amount of light from the oscillator is then coupled to the comb generator, leading to synchronization of the microwave comb frequency to the terahertz oscillator that automatically results in optical frequency division.The work from Gaeta’s group represents a simple, effective approach for performing optical frequency division within a small, robust, and highly portable package.
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