63 research outputs found
Microwave whispering gallery resonator for efficient optical up-conversion
Conversion of microwave radiation into the optical range has been predicted
to reach unity quantum efficiency in whispering gallery resonators made from an
optically nonlinear crystal and supporting microwave and optical modes
simultaneously. In this work we theoretically explore and experimentally
demonstrate a resonator geometry that can provide the required phase matching
for such a conversion at any desired frequency in the sub-THz range. We show
that such a ring-shaped resonator not only allows for the phase matching, but
also maximizes the overlap of the interacting fields. As a result,
unity-efficient conversion is expected in a resonator with feasible parameters.Comment: See also arXiv:0807.5098v
Generation of Ultrastable Microwaves via Optical Frequency Division
There has been increased interest in the use and manipulation of optical
fields to address challenging problems that have traditionally been approached
with microwave electronics. Some examples that benefit from the low
transmission loss, agile modulation and large bandwidths accessible with
coherent optical systems include signal distribution, arbitrary waveform
generation, and novel imaging. We extend these advantages to demonstrate a
microwave generator based on a high-Q optical resonator and a frequency comb
functioning as an optical-to-microwave divider. This provides a 10 GHz
electrical signal with fractional frequency instability <8e-16 at 1 s, a value
comparable to that produced by the best microwave oscillators, but without the
need for cryogenic temperatures. Such a low-noise source can benefit radar
systems, improve the bandwidth and resolution of communications and digital
sampling systems, and be valuable for large baseline interferometry, precision
spectroscopy and the realization of atomic time
Observation of Spontaneous Brillouin Cooling
While radiation-pressure cooling is well known, the Brillouin scattering of
light from sound is considered an acousto-optical amplification-only process.
It was suggested that cooling could be possible in multi-resonance Brillouin
systems when phonons experience lower damping than light. However, this regime
was not accessible in traditional Brillouin systems since backscattering
enforces high acoustical frequencies associated with high mechanical damping.
Recently, forward Brillouin scattering in microcavities has allowed access to
low-frequency acoustical modes where mechanical dissipation is lower than
optical dissipation, in accordance with the requirements for cooling. Here we
experimentally demonstrate cooling via such a forward Brillouin process in a
microresonator. We show two regimes of operation for the Brillouin process:
acoustical amplification as is traditional, but also for the first time, a
Brillouin cooling regime. Cooling is mediated by an optical pump, and scattered
light, that beat and electrostrictively attenuate the Brownian motion of the
mechanical mode.Comment: Supplementary material include
An Integrated-Photonics Optical-Frequency Synthesizer
Integrated-photonics microchips now enable a range of advanced
functionalities for high-coherence applications such as data transmission,
highly optimized physical sensors, and harnessing quantum states, but with
cost, efficiency, and portability much beyond tabletop experiments. Through
high-volume semiconductor processing built around advanced materials there
exists an opportunity for integrated devices to impact applications cutting
across disciplines of basic science and technology. Here we show how to
synthesize the absolute frequency of a lightwave signal, using integrated
photonics to implement lasers, system interconnects, and nonlinear frequency
comb generation. The laser frequency output of our synthesizer is programmed by
a microwave clock across 4 THz near 1550 nm with 1 Hz resolution and
traceability to the SI second. This is accomplished with a heterogeneously
integrated III/V-Si tunable laser, which is guided by dual
dissipative-Kerr-soliton frequency combs fabricated on silicon chips. Through
out-of-loop measurements of the phase-coherent, microwave-to-optical link, we
verify that the fractional-frequency instability of the integrated photonics
synthesizer matches the reference-clock instability for a 1
second acquisition, and constrain any synthesis error to while
stepping the synthesizer across the telecommunication C band. Any application
of an optical frequency source would be enabled by the precision optical
synthesis presented here. Building on the ubiquitous capability in the
microwave domain, our results demonstrate a first path to synthesis with
integrated photonics, leveraging low-cost, low-power, and compact features that
will be critical for its widespread use.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Whispering gallery microresonators for second harmonic light generation from a low number of small molecules
Unmarked sensitive detection of molecules is needed in environmental pollution monitoring, disease diagnosis, security screening systems and in many other situations in which a substance must be identified. When molecules are attached or adsorbed onto an interface, detecting their presence is possible using second harmonic light generation, because at interfaces the inversion symmetry is broken. However, such light generation usually requires either dense matter or a large number of molecules combined with high-power laser sources. Here we show that using high-Q spherical microresonators and low average power, between 50 and 100 small non-fluorescent molecules deposited on the outer surface of the microresonator can generate a detectable change in the second harmonic light. This generation requires phase matching in the whispering gallery modes, which we achieved using a new procedure to periodically pattern, with nanometric precision, a molecular surface monolayer
Pure-quartic solitons
Temporal optical solitons have been the subject of intense research due to their intriguing physics and applications in ultrafast optics and supercontinuum generation. Conventional bright optical solitons result from the interaction of anomalous group-velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation. Here we experimentally demonstrate a class of bright soliton arising purely from the interaction of negative fourth-order dispersion and self-phase modulation, which can occur even for normal group-velocity dispersion. We provide experimental and numerical evidence of shape-preserving propagation and flat temporal phase for the fundamental pure-quartic soliton and periodically modulated propagation for the higher-order pure-quartic solitons. We derive the approximate shape of the fundamental pure-quartic soliton and discover that is surprisingly Gaussian, exhibiting excellent agreement with our experimental observations. Our discovery, enabled by precise dispersion engineering, could find applications in communications, frequency combs and ultrafast lasers
Fully Phase Stabilized Quantum Cascade Laser Frequency Comb
The road towards the realization of quantum cascade laser (QCL) frequency combs [1,2] has undoubtedly attracted ubiquitous attention from the scientific community. These devices promise to deliver an all-in-one (i.e. a single, miniature, active device) frequency comb synthesizer in a range as wide as the QCL spectral coverage itself (from about 4 microns to the THz range), with the unique possibility to tailor their spectral emission by band structure engineering. For these reasons, vigorous efforts have been spent to characterize the emission of four-wave-mixing (FWM) multi-frequency QCLs, aiming to seize their comb-like mode-locked operation [3–6]
Photonic molecules and spectral engineering
This chapter reviews the fundamental optical properties and applications of
pho-tonic molecules (PMs) - photonic structures formed by electromagnetic
coupling of two or more optical microcavities (photonic atoms). Controllable
interaction between light and matter in photonic atoms can be further modified
and en-hanced by the manipulation of their mutual coupling. Mechanical and
optical tunability of PMs not only adds new functionalities to
microcavity-based optical components but also paves the way for their use as
testbeds for the exploration of novel physical regimes in atomic physics and
quantum optics. Theoretical studies carried on for over a decade yielded novel
PM designs that make possible lowering thresholds of semiconductor microlasers,
producing directional light emission, achieving optically-induced transparency,
and enhancing sensitivity of microcavity-based bio-, stress- and
rotation-sensors. Recent advances in material science and nano-fabrication
techniques make possible the realization of optimally-tuned PMs for cavity
quantum electrodynamic experiments, classical and quantum information
processing, and sensing.Comment: A review book chapter: 29 pages, 19 figure
Heat-exchange processes in the heat-supply zones of two-phase thermosiphons operating on freons 11, 113, and 142 and on water and ethanol
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