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Completed TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 3)
We are proposing to demonstrate two types of novel on-chip laser sources in the near and mid infrared. The first type is a fast tunable source which is expected to lead to a broader spectral coverage and faster tunability compared to existing sources. The second type is a femtosecond frequency comb source, based on a recently discovered nonlinear regime, which is expected to lead to the most compact, most efficient, and most stable integrated frequency comb in the mid-infrared. Both sources are based on singly and doubly resonant on-chip quadratic optical parametric oscillators that have yet to be demonstrated. Due to the large number of applications that optical parametric oscillators facilitate, the impact of this research will also go beyond the proposed coherent sources, e.g. by potentially enabling future on-chip quantum technologies that may require strong squeezed light or wideband entangled photons. We plan to use thin-film lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) as a material platform due to its demonstrated potential for strong second-order nonlinear interactions and its feasibility for immediate implementation. Furthermore, our team has recently developed most of the nanofabrication and simulation capabilities necessary to carry on the research proposed.
This project will demonstrate two types of novel on-chip laser sources in the near and mid infrared.
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