Self-referencing turns pulsed laser systems into self-referenced frequency combs.Such frequency combs allow counting of optical frequencies and have a wide range of applications.The required optical bandwidth to imple...Self-referencing turns pulsed laser systems into self-referenced frequency combs.Such frequency combs allow counting of optical frequencies and have a wide range of applications.The required optical bandwidth to implement self-referencing is typically obtained via nonlinear broadening in optical fibers.Recent advances in the field of Kerr frequency combs have provided a path toward the development of compact frequency comb sources that provide broadband frequency combs,exhibit microwave repetition rates and are compatible with on-chip photonic integration.These devices have the potential to significantly expand the use of frequency combs.Yet to date,self-referencing of such Kerr frequency combs has only been attained by applying conventional,fiber-based broadening techniques.Here we demonstrate external broadening-free self-referencing of a Kerr frequency comb.An optical spectrum spanning two-thirds of an octave is directly synthesized from a continuous wave laser-driven silicon nitride microresonator using temporal dissipative Kerr soliton formation and soliton Cherenkov radiation.Using this coherent bandwidth and two continuous wave transfer lasers in a 2f–3f self-referencing scheme,we are able to detect the offset frequency of the soliton Kerr frequency comb.By stabilizing the repetition rate to a radio frequency reference,the self-referenced frequency comb is used to count and track the continuous wave pump laser’s frequency.This work demonstrates the principal ability of soliton Kerr frequency combs to provide microwave-to-optical clockworks on a chip.展开更多
基金supported by the European Space Agency(ESA)contract ESTEC CN 4000108280/12/NL/PAthe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA)contract W911NF-11-1-0202(QuASAR)+4 种基金the Swiss National Science Foundationsupported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research,Air Force Material Command,under award FA9550-15-1-0099support from the ESA via contract ESTEC CN 4000105962/12/NL/PAsupport by the Marie Curie IIF Fellowshipsupport from the Hasler foundation and support from the‘EPFL Fellows’fellowship program co-funded by Marie Curie,FP7 Grant agreement no.291771。
文摘Self-referencing turns pulsed laser systems into self-referenced frequency combs.Such frequency combs allow counting of optical frequencies and have a wide range of applications.The required optical bandwidth to implement self-referencing is typically obtained via nonlinear broadening in optical fibers.Recent advances in the field of Kerr frequency combs have provided a path toward the development of compact frequency comb sources that provide broadband frequency combs,exhibit microwave repetition rates and are compatible with on-chip photonic integration.These devices have the potential to significantly expand the use of frequency combs.Yet to date,self-referencing of such Kerr frequency combs has only been attained by applying conventional,fiber-based broadening techniques.Here we demonstrate external broadening-free self-referencing of a Kerr frequency comb.An optical spectrum spanning two-thirds of an octave is directly synthesized from a continuous wave laser-driven silicon nitride microresonator using temporal dissipative Kerr soliton formation and soliton Cherenkov radiation.Using this coherent bandwidth and two continuous wave transfer lasers in a 2f–3f self-referencing scheme,we are able to detect the offset frequency of the soliton Kerr frequency comb.By stabilizing the repetition rate to a radio frequency reference,the self-referenced frequency comb is used to count and track the continuous wave pump laser’s frequency.This work demonstrates the principal ability of soliton Kerr frequency combs to provide microwave-to-optical clockworks on a chip.
