Microcomb launches a simplified design for powerful lasers based on chips

Researchers at the University of Rochester have created new micro comb lasers that go beyond previous limitations and have simple designs suitable for various applications. The research results are published in Nature Communications.

Optical frequency combs are optical measurement instruments that have revolutionized atomic clocks, spectroscopy, metrology, and other fields. However, the difficulty of creating frequency comb generators at the semiconductor level limits their application in everyday technologies such as handheld electronic devices.

What is a micro comb?
Optical frequency combs generate spectra. They are composed of several coherent beams that are evenly spaced and adjusted to different colors or frequencies. The resulting shape is similar to the teeth on a hair comb. Scientists have been developing micro combs, a miniaturized version of this technology that can be installed on small chips.

Although progress has been made in the design of micro comb prototypes, scientists have not yet created functional versions for practical applications. Some of these challenges include low power efficiency, limited controllability, slow mechanical response, and requirements for pre configuration of complex systems.

The simplified method has been developed by a group of scientists led by Professor Lin Qiang from the Institute of Optics and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Rochester, who has developed a novel strategy to solve these problems in a single device.
The main author of this paper Lin's doctoral student Jingwei Ling claimed that previous methods often relied on injecting a single wavelength of laser into a nonlinear converter, which could then convert a single wavelength into multiple wavelengths to form an optical comb.

The simplicity of the "multi in one" micro comb laser reduces power requirements, lowers costs, and has excellent adjustability and turnkey operation.
The implementation of these micro comb lasers continues to pose challenges, especially in establishing manufacturing processes to generate such small components within the required manufacturing tolerance range. However, the researchers expect their equipment to be used in telecommunications systems and autonomous vehicle for light detection and ranging (LiDAR).

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation of the United States provided support for this research.

Source: Laser Net