Journal
PHYSICS REPORTS-REVIEW SECTION OF PHYSICS LETTERS
Volume 729, Issue -, Pages 1-81Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.physrep.2017.08.004
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- U.K. Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology
- EPSRC of the Marie Curie Action MC-CIG [EP/M013294/1]
- IIF REA [630833, 327627]
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
- Australian Research Council [DP150104327]
- Marsden Fund
- Rutherford Discovery Fellowships of the Royal Society of New Zealand
- European Research Council (ERC) from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) through the project SHYRO [StG 278616, PoC 632108]
- Labex ACTION
- Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR) [PRIN-2015KEZNYM]
- National Science Foundation [ECCS-1509578]
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research [FA9550-15-1-0211]
- DARPA PULSE from AMRDEC [W31P40-131-0018]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [6169190011, 6169190012, 61420106003]
- Beijing Natural Science Foundation [4172029]
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) [411724-2011, STPGP 478876-15, RGPIN-2014-06093, 462548-2014]
- MESI PSR-SIIRI Initiative in Quebec [PSR-SARI-952]
- Canada Research Chair Program [95023138]
- Government of the Russian Federation through the ITMO Fellowship
- Government of the Russian Federation [074-U 01]
- 1000 Talents Sichuan Program in China
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/M013294/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Directorate For Engineering
- Div Of Electrical, Commun & Cyber Sys [1509578] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- EPSRC [EP/M013294/1] Funding Source: UKRI
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The quest towards the integration of ultra-fast, high-precision optical clocks is reflected in the large number of high-impact papers on the topic published in the last few years. This interest has been catalysed by the impact that high-precision optical frequency combs (OFCs) have had on metrology and spectroscopy in the last decade [1-5]. OFCs are often referred to as optical rulers: their spectra consist of a precise sequence of discrete and equally-spaced spectral lines that represent precise marks in frequency. Their importance was recognised worldwide with the 2005 Nobel Prize being awarded to T.W. Hansch and J. Hall for their breakthrough in OFC science [5]. They demonstrated that a coherent OFC source with a large spectrum - covering at least one octave - can be stabilised with a self-referenced approach, where the frequency and the phase do not vary and are completely determined by the source physical parameters. These fully stabilised OFCs solved the challenge of directly measuring optical frequencies and are now exploited as the most accurate time references available, ready to replace the current standard for time. Very recent advancements in the fabrication technology of optical micro-cavities [61 are contributing to the development of OFC sources. These efforts may open up the way to realise ultra-fast and stable optical clocks and pulsed sources with extremely high repetition-rates, in the form of compact and integrated devices. Indeed, the fabrication of high-quality factor (high-Q) micro-resonators, capable of dramatically amplifying the optical field, can be considered a photonics breakthrough that has boosted not only the scientific investigation of OFC sources [7-13] but also of optical sensors and compact light modulators [6,14]. In this framework, the demonstration of planar high-Q resonators, compatible with silicon technology [10-14], has opened up a unique opportunity for these devices to provide entirely new capabilities for photonic-integrated technologies. Indeed, it is well acknowledged by the electronics industry that future generations of computer processing chips will inevitably require an extremely high density of copper-based interconnections, significantly increasing the chip power dissipation to beyond practical levels [15-17]; hence, conventional approaches to chip design must undergo radical changes. On-chip optical networks, or optical interconnects, can offer high speed and low energy per transferred-bit, and micro-resonators are widely seen as a key component to interface the electronic world with photonics. Many information technology industries have recently focused on the development of integrated ring resonators to be employed for electrically-controlled light modulators [ 1417], greatly advancing the maturity of micro-resonator technology as a whole. Recently [11-13], the demonstration of OFC sources in micro-resonators fabricated in electronic (i.e. in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)) compatible platforms has given micro-cavities an additional appeal, with the possibility of exploiting them as light sources in microchips. This scenario is creating fierce competition in developing highly efficient OFC generators based on micro-cavities which can radically change the nature of information transport and processing. Even in telecommunications, perhaps a more conventional environment for optical technologies, novel time-division multiplexed optical systems will require extremely stable optical clocks at ultra-high pulse repetition-rates towards the THz scale. Furthermore, arbitrary pulse generators based on OFC [18,19] are seen as one of the most promising solutions for this next generation of high-capacity optical coherent communication systems. This review will summarise the recent exciting achievements in the field of micro-combs, namely optical frequency combs based on high-Q micro resonators, with a perspective on both the potential of this technology, as well as the open questions and challenges that remain. (C) 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available