Lithium niobate microring with ultra-high Q factor above 108

We demonstrate integrated lithium niobate (LN) microring resonators with Q factors close to the intrinsic material absorption limit of LN. The microrings are fabricated on pristine LN thin-film wafers thinned from LN bulk via chemo-mechanical etching without ion slicing and ion etching. A record-high Q factor up to 108 at the wavelength of 1550 nm is achieved because of the ultra-smooth interface of the microrings and the absence of ion-induced lattice damage, indicating an ultra-low waveguide propagation loss of similar to 0.0034 dB=cm. The ultra-high Q microrings will pave the way for integrated quantum light source, frequency comb generation, and nonlinear optical processes.

Automated summary

We demonstrate integrated lithium niobate (LN) microring resonators with high Q factors close to the material absorption limit. The microrings are fabricated on thin LN film wafers using chemo-mechanical etching, resulting in ultra-smooth interfaces and no ion-induced lattice damage. The microrings exhibit an ultralow waveguide propagation loss, enabling applications in integrated quantum light source, frequency comb generation, and nonlinear optical processes.