Chip-integrated mode-locked lasers based on thin-film nonlinear waveguides
AssigneeCalifornia Institute of Technology
InventorsQiushi Guo, Alireza Marandi
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Abstract
A chip-scale mode-locked laser including a cavity including a gain medium for amplifying signal electromagnetic radiation (signal) through stimulated emission, the signal comprising a signal wavelength; and a passive or active mode-locking device to enforce pulse formation in the laser. The mode-locking device includes a thin-film waveguide having a thickness on the order of the signal wavelength so as to confine and guide the signal along the thin-film waveguide, and a material comprising a second-order nonlinear susceptibility to enable active or passive mode-locking of the signal. The mode-locking device leads to generation of pulses of the signal outputted from the mode-locked laser.
Claims18
A chip-scale mode-locked laser, comprising:
- a cavity comprising:
- a gain medium for amplifying signal electromagnetic radiation (signal) through stimulated emission, the signal comprising a signal wavelength;
- and
- a passive mode-locking device that provides an intensity-dependent transmission or reflection for the signal to enforce pulse formation in the laser, the passive mode-locking device comprising:
- a thin-film waveguide having a thickness on the order of the signal wavelength so as to confine and guide the signal along the thin-film waveguide,
- a material comprising a second-order nonlinear susceptibility enabling at least one of second harmonic generation or optical parametric amplification of the signal along the waveguide, and
- an output directional coupler providing different coupling ratios for the signal and a second harmonic of the signal (second harmonic), wherein the mode-locking device leads to generation of pulses of the signal outputted from the mode-locked laser.
A method of making a chip-scale mode-locked laser, comprising:
- providing a cavity comprising:
- a gain medium for amplifying signal electromagnetic radiation (signal) through stimulated emission, the signal comprising a signal wavelength;
- and
- a passive mode-locking device that provides an intensity-dependent transmission or reflection for the signal to enforce pulse formation in the laser, the mode-locking device comprising:
- a thin-film waveguide having a thickness on the order of the signal wavelength so as to confine and guide the signal along the thin-film waveguide,
- a material comprising a second-order nonlinear susceptibility enabling at least one of second harmonic generation or optical parametric amplification of the signal along the waveguide, and
- an output directional coupler providing different coupling ratios for the signal and a second harmonic of the signal (second harmonic), wherein the mode-locking device leads to generation of pulses of the signal outputted from the mode-locked laser.
A method of operating a chip-scale mode-locked laser, comprising:
- coupling a gain medium and a passive mode-locking device in a cavity;
- amplifying signal electromagnetic radiation (signal) through stimulated emission in the gain medium, the signal comprising a signal wavelength;
- and
- passively mode-locking the signal using the passive mode-locking device that provides an intensity-dependent transmission or reflection for the signal so as to enforce pulse formation in the laser, wherein the passive mode-locking device comprises:
- a thin-film waveguide having a thickness on the order of the signal wavelength so as to confine and guide the signal along the thin-film waveguide,
- a material comprising a second-order nonlinear susceptibility enabling at least one of second harmonic generation or optical parametric amplification of the signal along the waveguide, and
- an output directional coupler providing different coupling ratios for the signal and a second harmonic of the signal (second harmonic), wherein operation of the mode-locking device leads to generation of pulses of the signal outputted from the mode-locked laser.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.