Emerging applications of integrated optical microcombs for analogue RF and microwave photonic signal processing

We review new applications of integrated microcombs in RF and microwave photonic systems. We demonstrate a wide range of powerful functions including a photonic intensity high order and fractional differentiators, optical true time delays, advanced filters, RF channelizer and other functions, based on a Kerr optical comb generated by a compact integrated microring resonator, or microcomb. The microcomb is CMOS compatible and contains a large number of comb lines, which can serve as a high performance multiwavelength source for the transversal filter, thus greatly reduce the cost, size, and complexity of the system. The operation principle of these functions is theoretically analyzed, and experimental demonstrations are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 136 References. Photonics West 2018 invited paper, expanded version. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1710.00678, arXiv:1710.0861

Integrated design for integrated photonics: from the physical to the circuit level and back

Silicon photonics is maturing rapidly on a technology basis, but design challenges are still prevalent. We discuss these challenges and explain how design of photonic integrated circuits needs to be handled on both the circuit as on the physical level. We also present a number of tools based on the IPKISS design framework

High performance photonic microwave filters based on a 50GHz optical soliton crystal Kerr micro-comb

We demonstrate a photonic radio frequency (RF) transversal filter based on an integrated optical micro-comb source featuring a record low free spectral range of 49 GHz yielding 80 micro-comb lines across the C-band. This record-high number of taps, or wavelengths for the transversal filter results in significantly increased performance including a QRF factor more than four times higher than previous results. Further, by employing both positive and negative taps, an improved out-of-band rejection of up to 48.9 dB is demonstrated using Gaussian apodization, together with a tunable centre frequency covering the RF spectra range, with a widely tunable 3-dB bandwidth and versatile dynamically adjustable filter shapes. Our experimental results match well with theory, showing that our transversal filter is a competitive solution to implement advanced adaptive RF filters with broad operational bandwidths, high frequency selectivity, high reconfigurability, and potentially reduced cost and footprint. This approach is promising for applications in modern radar and communications systems.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, 107 reference

Simple performance evaluation of pulsed spontaneous parametric down-conversion sources for quantum communications

Fast and complete characterization of pulsed spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) sources is important for applications in quantum information processing and communications. We propose a simple method to perform this task, which only requires measuring the counts on the two output channels and the coincidences between them, as well as modeling the filter used to reduce the source bandwidth. The proposed method is experimentally tested and used for a complete evaluation of SPDC sources (pair emission probability, total losses, and fidelity) of different bandwidths. This method can find applications in the setting up of SPDC sources and in the continuous verification of the quality of quantum communication links

Sagnac loop in ring resonators for tunable optical filters

General filter architecture using co- and counterpropagation signals are studied. A specific configuration based on a Sagnac loop within a ring resonator is analyzed. Novel tuning, apart from conventional tuning, is achieved by changing the coupling ratio of a coupler through the adjustment of the equivalent loop length. Full equations describing the filter behavior in passive and active configurations, and simple closed-form formulas to compute the tuning, tolerance, and full-width at half-maximum are reported. The performance of these devices is discussed for their application as selective or channel-dropping ultra-narrow-band filters. The effect of losses and their dispersion properties are also discussed. These devices can be conveniently implemented, using silicon- or InP-integrated optic technology, for they have high free spectral ranges.Publicad

High visibility on-chip quantum interference of single surface plasmons

Quantum photonic integrated circuits (QPICs) based on dielectric waveguides have been widely used in linear optical quantum computation. Recently, surface plasmons have been introduced to this application because they can confine and manipulate light beyond the diffraction limit. In this study, the on-chip quantum interference of two single surface plasmons was achieved using dielectric-loaded surface-plasmon-polariton waveguides. The high visibility (greater than 90%) proves the bosonic nature of single plasmons and emphasizes the feasibility of achieving basic quantum logic gates for linear optical quantum computation. The effect of intrinsic losses in plasmonic waveguides with regard to quantum information processing is also discussed. Although the influence of this effect was negligible in the current experiment, our studies reveal that such losses can dramatically reduce quantum interference visibility in certain cases; thus, quantum coherence must be carefully considered when designing QPIC devices.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Astronomical photonics in the context of infrared interferometry and high-resolution spectroscopy

We review the potential of Astrophotonics, a relatively young field at the interface between photonics and astronomical instrumentation, for spectro-interferometry. We review some fundamental aspects of photonic science that drove the emer- gence of astrophotonics, and highlight the achievements in observational astrophysics. We analyze the prospects for further technological development also considering the potential synergies with other fields of physics (e.g. non-linear optics in condensed matter physics). We also stress the central role of fiber optics in routing and transporting light, delivering complex filters, or interfacing instruments and telescopes, more specifically in the context of a growing usage of adaptive optics.Comment: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation conference, June 2016, 21 pages, 10 Figure