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Optoelectronic devices

Spectral multiplication enables THz-tunable and broadband electro-optic combs

Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering volume 1, page 147 (2024)Cite this article

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Optical frequency combs (OFCs) are specialized light sources featuring a broad optical spectrum composed of perfectly equidistant spectral lines. Their widespread applications in spectroscopy, lidar and optical communications have spurred research into photonic techniques to generate OFCs across various spectral ranges — for example, from visible to THz spectral ranges. Despite substantial progress, key challenges remain. Achieving broad comb bandwidths often leads to limited tunability of frequencies, which constrains OFCs to specific applications. To address this trade-off, writing in Nature Communications, Shahab Abdollahi et al. report a spectral multiplication technique that combines the flexibility of the electro-optic comb with the large bandwidth of a multi-wavelength laser (MWL) to obtain a versatile OFC with a flexible spectral envelope over THz-range frequencies.

The on-chip semiconductor MWL is a dual-cavity laser that comprises two detuned distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), a shared semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), and a broadband reflector. This unique configuration enables several longitudinal modes to emit around the Bragg wavelength of each DBR. By injecting a frequency comb around one suppressed mode and leveraging intrinsic mode coupling within the MWL, multiplied combs emerge at other wavelengths emitted by the MWL. The researchers further enhance this effect using weak optical feedback from an integrated feedback cavity comprising another SOA and an electro-optic phase modulator (EOPM). This setup enables controllable switching between different wavelengths emitted by the MWL even under the electro-optic-comb injection.

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References

Original article

  • Abdollahi, S., Ladouce, M., Marin-Palomo, P. & Virte, M. Agile THz-range spectral multiplication of frequency combs using a multi-wavelength laser. Nat. Commun. 15, 1305 (2024)

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  1. Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering https://www.nature.com/natrevelectreng/

    Lishu Wu

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  1. Lishu Wu
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Correspondence to Lishu Wu.

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This text on an editorially selected paper was initially drafted using artificial intelligence, then revised and fact-checked by an editor to meet Nature Portfolio publication standards.

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Wu, L. Spectral multiplication enables THz-tunable and broadband electro-optic combs. Nat Rev Electr Eng 1, 147 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44287-024-00035-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44287-024-00035-8

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