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Bridging ultra-high-Q devices and photonic circuits
Ki Youl Yang, Dong Yoon Oh, Seung Hoon Lee, Qi-Fan Yang, Xu Yi, Kerry Vahala
TL;DR
Ultra-high-Q microcavity functions have largely remained confined to discrete devices, limiting their integration with photonic circuits. This paper demonstrates an integrated ridge resonator platform with a Q factor exceeding 200 million that supports 15 GHz soliton generation and high-coherence Brillouin lasers.
Problem
The highest-Q resonators and electronics-rate soliton combs have remained discrete, leaving integrated microcavities without comparable performance and design flexibility.
Method
The authors develop a monolithic integrated ridge resonator using PECVD silicon nitride and design it for multiple device functions, including solitons and Brillouin lasers.
Results
A record intrinsic Q factor of 230 million was measured, alongside 15 GHz low-power soliton generation and high-coherence Brillouin laser operation.
Takeaways & Limitations
The integrated platform demonstrates device functionality previously limited to discrete resonators for nanophotonic and high-coherence signal-source systems.
Abstract
from arXiv · showhide
Optical microcavities are essential in numerous technologies and scientific disciplines. However, their application in many areas relies exclusively upon discrete microcavities in order to satisfy challenging combinations of ultra-low-loss performance (high cavity-Q-factor) and cavity design requirements. Indeed, finding a microfabrication bridge connecting ultra-high-Q device functions with micro and nanophotonic circuits has been a long-term priority of the microcavity field. Here, an integrated ridge resonator having a record Q factor over 200 million is presented. Its ultra-low-loss and flexible cavity design brings performance that has been the exclusive domain of discrete silica and crytalline microcavity devices to integrated systems. Two distinctly different devices are demonstrated: soliton sources with electronic repetition rates and high-coherence Brillouin lasers. This multi-device capability and performance from a single integrated cavity platform represents a critical advance for future nanophotonic circuits and systems.