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Bridging ultrahigh-Q devices and photonic circuits

Nature Photonics volume 12, pages 297–302 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Optical microresonators are essential to a broad range of technologies and scientific disciplines. However, many of their applications rely on discrete devices to attain challenging combinations of ultra-low-loss performance (ultrahigh Q) and resonator design requirements. This prevents access to scalable fabrication methods for photonic integration and lithographic feature control. Indeed, finding a microfabrication bridge that connects ultrahigh-Q device functions with photonic circuits is a priority of the microcavity field. Here, an integrated resonator having a record Q factor over 200 million is presented. Its ultra-low-loss and flexible cavity design brings performance to integrated systems that has been the exclusive domain of discrete silica and crystalline microcavity devices. Two distinctly different devices are demonstrated: soliton sources with electronic repetition rates and high-coherence/low-threshold Brillouin lasers. This multi-device capability and performance from a single integrated cavity platform represents a critical advance for future photonic circuits and systems.

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Fig. 1: Micrograph images and fabrication process for integrated ultrahigh-Q optical resonator.
Fig. 2: Spectral scan and ring-down measurement of integrated resonator, as well as study of waveguide–resonator phase matching.
Fig. 3: Demonstration of 15 GHz repetition rate temporal solitons in an integrated optical resonator.
Fig. 4: Demonstration of Brillouin lasing in an integrated optical resonator.
Fig. 5: Hermetic encapsulation of the integrated UHQ resonator.

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Acknowledgements

We thank O. Painter and B. Baker for assistance with the PECVD silicon nitride process, H. Atwater and W.-H. Cheng for assistance with silica atomic layer deposition, M. Hunt for assistance with electron-beam microscopy, Y.-H. Lai for technical assistance, and A. Matsko and J. Bowers for helpful discussions. We also gratefully acknowledge the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under the DODOS (award no. HR0011-15-C-0055, sub award KK1540) and PRIGM:AIMS (grant no. N66001-16-1-4046) programs and the Kavli Nanoscience Institute.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Ki Youl Yang, Dong Yoon Oh and Seung Hoon Lee.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Ki Youl Yang, Dong Yoon Oh, Seung Hoon Lee, Qi-Fan Yang, Xu Yi, Boqiang Shen, Heming Wang & Kerry Vahala

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Contributions

K.Y.Y., D.Y.O., S.H.L. and K.V. conceived the fabrication process and resonator design. K.Y.Y., D.Y.O. and S.H.L. fabricated and tested the resonator structures with assistance from B.S. and H.W. K.Y.Y., D.Y.O., S.H.L., Q.F.Y., X.Y., B.S. and H.W. conducted soliton and Brillouin laser measurements. All authors analysed the data and contributed to writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Kerry Vahala.

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Supplementary Information

This file describes the intrinsic cavity Q measured from 1,520–1,560 nm, investigation of cavity loss mechanism, waveguide–resonator coupling, the high-temperature annealing effect on cavity Q, and mode filtering.

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Yang, K.Y., Oh, D.Y., Lee, S.H. et al. Bridging ultrahigh-Q devices and photonic circuits. Nature Photon 12, 297–302 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-018-0132-5

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