An optical resonator frequency comb (1) comprising a main optical resonator (2) being made of a resonator material, which has a third order nonlinearity and an anomalous resonator dispersion; a continuous wave (cw) laser (4) configured for supplying continuous laser light into an optical waveguide (5), which is coupled with the main optical resonator. The cw laser (4), the optical waveguide (5) and the main optical resonator (2) are arranged for resonantly coupling the cw laser light into the main optical resonator (2) for forming a single dissipative soliton circulating in the main optical resonator (2) corresponding to the generation of a frequency comb. Furthermore, the optical resonator frequency comb further comprises an auxiliary optical element (3, 25, 26) configured to induce a phase shift to a frequency comb component at the cw laser frequency to enhance the conversion efficiency of a generated frequency comb. The disclosure also relates to an associated method.

Examples of the present disclosure include the use of a topological system including an array of coupled ring resonators that exhibits topological edge states to generate frequency combs and temporal dissipative Kerr solitons. The topological edge states constitute a travelling-wave super-ring resonator causing generation of at least coherent nested optical frequency combs, and self-formation of nested temporal solitons that are robust against defects in the array at a mode efficiency exceeding 50%.

An optical resonator frequency comb comprising a main optical resonator being made of a resonator material, which has a third order nonlinearity and an anomalous resonator dispersion; a continuous wave (cw) laser configured for supplying continuous laser light into an optical waveguide, which is coupled with the main optical resonator. The cw laser, the optical waveguide and the main optical resonator are arranged for resonantly coupling the cw laser light into the main optical resonator for forming a single dissipative soliton circulating in the main optical resonator corresponding to the generation of a frequency comb. Furthermore, the optical resonator frequency comb further comprises an auxiliary optical element configured to induce a phase shift to a frequency comb component at the cw laser frequency to enhance the conversion efficiency of a generated frequency comb. The disclosure also relates to an associated method.

Examples of the present disclosure include the use of a topological system including an array of coupled ring resonators that exhibits topological edge states to generate frequency combs and temporal dissipative Kerr solitons. The topological edge states constitute a travelling-wave super-ring resonator causing generation of at least coherent nested optical frequency combs, and self-formation of nested temporal solitons that are robust against defects in the array at a mode efficiency exceeding 50%.

The present disclosure discloses a method and apparatus for generating an optical frequency comb. The specific generation method comprises: receiving a pump laser that matches a thermally stable state of a nonlinear optical resonant cavity and causing the pump laser to oscillate in the nonlinear optical resonant cavity, such that a Brillouin gain corresponding to the pump laser coincides with a target longitudinal mode in the nonlinear optical resonant cavity; continuously generating a Brillouin laser at the target longitudinal mode in the case that a pump power of the pump laser exceeds a threshold for generating the Brillouin laser; and generating an optical frequency comb by using the Brillouin laser through a Kerr nonlinear four-wave mixing process. According to the technical solution of the present disclosure, the nonlinear optical resonant cavity with the Brillouin gain can generate an optical frequency comb in its thermally stable region. This optical frequency comb not only has good stability, but also has low quantum noise and narrow linewidth characteristics.

Systems and methods for precision control of microresonator (MR) based frequency combs can implement optimized MR actuators or MR modulators to control long-term locking of carrier envelope offset frequency, repetition rate, or resonance offset frequency of the MR. MR modulators can also be used for amplitude noise control. MR parameters can be locked to external reference frequencies such as a continuous wave laser or a microwave reference. MR parameters can be selected to reduce cross talk between the MR parameters, facilitating long-term locking. The MR can be locked to an external two wavelength delayed self-heterodyne interferometer for low noise microwave generation. An MR-based frequency comb can be tuned by a substantial fraction or more of the free spectral range (FSR) via a feedback control system. Scanning MR frequency combs can be applied to dead-zone free spectroscopy, multi-wavelength LIDAR, high precision optical clocks, or low phase noise microwave sources.

The present disclosure discloses a method and apparatus for generating an optical frequency comb. The specific generation method comprises: receiving a pump laser that matches a thermally stable state of a nonlinear optical resonant cavity and causing the pump laser to oscillate in the nonlinear optical resonant cavity, such that a Brillouin gain corresponding to the pump laser coincides with a target longitudinal mode in the nonlinear optical resonant cavity; continuously generating a Brillouin laser at the target longitudinal mode in the case that a pump power of the pump laser exceeds a threshold for generating the Brillouin laser; and generating an optical frequency comb by using the Brillouin laser through a Kerr nonlinear four-wave mixing process. According to the technical solution of the present disclosure, the nonlinear optical resonant cavity with the Brillouin gain can generate an optical frequency comb in its thermally stable region. This optical frequency comb not only has good stability, but also has low quantum noise and narrow linewidth characteristics.

The present application relates to a mid-infrared (MIR) optical frequency comb (OFC) generation system and method based on manipulation of the multi-photon absorption (MPA) effect, which can break through the repetition-rate limitation for traditional systems and restricted bandwidth as well as high dependence on high-performance pump sources for microcavity-based frequency combs. The system includes a pump light source unit for providing a pump laser, a microring resonator (MRR) unit for broadband comb generation through nonlinear four-wave-mixing process, and an MPA effect control unit for realizing the MIR soliton-state OFC by controlling the loaded voltage or current on the MRR unit. The proposed system and operation method have advantages of being simple in structure, economic for use, and easy to implement for broadband low-noise frequency comb generation.

Systems and methods for precision control of microresonator (MR) based frequency combs can implement optimized MR actuators or MR modulators to control long-term locking of carrier envelope offset frequency, repetition rate, or resonance offset frequency of the MR. MR modulators can also be used for amplitude noise control. MR parameters can be locked to external reference frequencies such as a continuous wave laser or a microwave reference. MR parameters can be selected to reduce cross talk between the MR parameters, facilitating long-term locking. The MR can be locked to an external two wavelength delayed self-heterodyne interferometer for low noise microwave generation. An MR-based frequency comb can be tuned by a substantial fraction or more of the free spectral range (FSR) via a feedback control system. Scanning MR frequency combs can be applied to dead-zone free spectroscopy, multi-wavelength LIDAR, high precision optical clocks, or low phase noise microwave sources.

The present invention provides octave-spanning optical frequency combs. The octave-spanning optical frequency combs employ microresonators having improved stability using a smaller form factor. In some embodiments, the octave-spanning optical frequency combs are fabricated using aluminum nitride (AlN). AlN is a more robust Kerr material for generating octave-spanning soliton comb (e.g., 1.5 octaves or more).