COMBCHIP | Highly-Efficient Seeded Frequency Comb Generation on a Chip

Summary
Generating new colors (frequency components) of light through nonlinear optical phenomena is one of the key drivers of modern optical technology. The spectrally diverse coherent light, widely known as an optical frequency comb, can be produced through a nonlinear process. The optical frequency comb enables energy-efficient optical communication, precision spectroscopy, and optical atomic clock. However, the frequency comb sources currently rely on bulky and power-hungry laser systems hampering their deployment outside the laboratory environment. There are great demands in lowering the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of such broadband light sources. Despite the significant progress in the miniaturization of comb systems and microcomb technologies. it is still a huge challenge to drive a broadband (larger than an octave) comb with microwave repetition rate using on-chip pump sources due to the limited performance of on-chip lasers. The COMBCHIP project aims to develop an ultra-efficient comb generator by combining the highly nonlinear AlGaAs waveguide and a newly developed seeded pumping scheme. The developed comb sources feature an octave-spanning bandwidth, microwave repetition rate, and ultra-low operation power, enabling chip-scale comb systems in emerging applications such as atomic optical clocks in satellites and mid-infrared spectroscopy.
Unfold all
/
Fold all
More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101113483
Start date: 01-09-2023
End date: 28-02-2025
Total budget - Public funding: - 150 000,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

Generating new colors (frequency components) of light through nonlinear optical phenomena is one of the key drivers of modern optical technology. The spectrally diverse coherent light, widely known as an optical frequency comb, can be produced through a nonlinear process. The optical frequency comb enables energy-efficient optical communication, precision spectroscopy, and optical atomic clock. However, the frequency comb sources currently rely on bulky and power-hungry laser systems hampering their deployment outside the laboratory environment. There are great demands in lowering the size, weight, and power (SWaP) of such broadband light sources. Despite the significant progress in the miniaturization of comb systems and microcomb technologies. it is still a huge challenge to drive a broadband (larger than an octave) comb with microwave repetition rate using on-chip pump sources due to the limited performance of on-chip lasers. The COMBCHIP project aims to develop an ultra-efficient comb generator by combining the highly nonlinear AlGaAs waveguide and a newly developed seeded pumping scheme. The developed comb sources feature an octave-spanning bandwidth, microwave repetition rate, and ultra-low operation power, enabling chip-scale comb systems in emerging applications such as atomic optical clocks in satellites and mid-infrared spectroscopy.

Status

SIGNED

Call topic

ERC-2022-POC2

Update Date

31-07-2023
Images
No images available.
Geographical location(s)
Structured mapping
Unfold all
/
Fold all
Horizon Europe
HORIZON.1 Excellent Science
HORIZON.1.1 European Research Council (ERC)
HORIZON.1.1.0 Cross-cutting call topics
ERC-2022-POC2 ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS2
HORIZON.1.1.1 Frontier science
ERC-2022-POC2 ERC PROOF OF CONCEPT GRANTS2