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US 12,646,902 B1Granted
Laser reference frequency source stabilized by optical self-injection locking
AssigneeHqphotonics Inc.
InventorsJiang Li, Kerry Vahala
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A first pump laser source produces a first pump optical signal at a first pump optical frequency v1P and launches it into a ring optical resonator to propagate in a forward direction around the ring optical resonator. A backscattered portion of the first pump optical signal propagates back to the first pump laser source and injection-locks it so that the first pump optical frequency v1P is locked to a first resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator. A second laser source producing a second pump optical signal at a second optical frequency v2P and can be similarly self-injection-locked to a second resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator different from the first resonant mode optical frequency.
Claims26
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) a ring optical resonator;
- (b) a first pump laser source arranged so as to (i) produce a first pump optical signal at a first pump optical frequency v1P, and (ii) launch at least a portion of the first pump optical signal into the ring optical resonator to propagate in a forward direction around the ring optical resonator, the ring optical resonator and the first pump laser source being arranged so that a portion of the first pump optical signal backscattered by the ring optical resonator propagates back to the first pump laser source and injection-locks the first pump laser source so that the first pump optical frequency v1P is locked to a first resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator;
- (c) a second pump laser source arranged so as to (i) produce a second pump optical signal at a second pump optical frequency v2P, and (ii) launch at least a portion of the second pump optical signal into the ring optical resonator to propagate in a forward direction around the ring optical resonator, the ring optical resonator and the second pump laser source being arranged so that a portion of the second pump optical signal backscattered by the ring optical resonator propagates back to the second pump laser source and injection-locks the second pump laser source so that the second pump optical frequency v2P is locked to a second resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator different from the first resonant mode optical frequency;
- and
- (d) an optical detector arranged so as (i) to receive at least a portion of the first pump optical signal and at least a portion of the second pump optical signal, and (ii) to generate therefrom an electrical output signal at a difference frequency vDIFF=|v2P−v1P| that is less than 200 GHz.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) a ring optical resonator;
- (b) a first pump laser source arranged so as to (i) produce a first pump optical signal at a first pump optical frequency v1P, and (ii) launch at least a portion of the first pump optical signal into the ring optical resonator to propagate in a forward direction around the ring optical resonator, the ring optical resonator and the first pump laser source being arranged so that a portion of the first pump optical signal backscattered by the ring optical resonator propagates back to the first pump laser source and injection-locks the first pump laser source so that the first pump optical frequency v1P is locked to a first resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator;
- (c) a second pump laser source arranged so as to (i) produce a second pump optical signal at a second pump optical frequency v2P, and (ii) launch at least a portion of the second pump optical signal into the ring optical resonator to propagate in a forward direction around the ring optical resonator, the ring optical resonator and the second pump laser source being arranged so that a portion of the second pump optical signal backscattered by the ring optical resonator propagates back to the second pump laser source and injection-locks the second pump laser source so that the second pump optical frequency v2P is locked to a second resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator different from the first resonant mode optical frequency;
- and
- (d) an optical frequency divider arranged so as (i) to receive at least a portion of the first pump optical signal and at least a portion of the second pump optical signal, and (ii) to generate therefrom an electrical output signal at a divided frequency about equal to |v2P−v1P|/N, with N being an integer and |v2P−v1P| being greater than 100 GHz.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) a ring optical resonator;
- (b) a first pump laser source arranged so as to (i) produce a first pump optical signal at a first pump optical frequency v1P, and (ii) launch at least a portion of the first pump optical signal into the ring optical resonator to propagate in a forward direction around the ring optical resonator, the ring optical resonator and the first pump laser source being arranged so that a portion of the first pump optical signal backscattered by the ring optical resonator propagates back to the first pump laser source and injection-locks the first pump laser source so that the first pump optical frequency v1P is locked to a first resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator;
- and
- (c) a second pump laser source arranged so as to (i) produce a second pump optical signal at a second pump optical frequency v2P, and (ii) launch at least a portion of the second pump optical signal into the ring optical resonator to propagate in a forward direction around the ring optical resonator, the ring optical resonator and the second pump laser source being arranged so that a portion of the second pump optical signal backscattered by the ring optical resonator propagates back to the second pump laser source and injection-locks the second pump laser source so that the second pump optical frequency v2P is locked to a second resonant mode optical frequency of the ring optical resonator different from the first resonant mode optical frequency,
- (d) wherein one or both of the first or second pump optical frequencies v1P and v2P are greater than 75 THz or less than 750 THz.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.