September 22, 2020

Physics and application of soliton microcombs

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Speaker: Xu Yi (Univ. Virginia, USA)

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Abstract:

Frequency combs are having a broad impact on science and technology because they provide a way to coherently link radio/microwave-rate electrical signals with optical-rate signals. A new, miniature realization, the microcomb, that uses chip-based microresonators can potentially revolutionize instrumentation, time keeping, spectroscopy, and navigation. In this talk, I will start by reviewing the fundamentals of optical frequency combs and microresonators. Our recent progress demonstrating mode-locked soliton microcombs will then be presented. This demonstration creates a rich landscape for research in nonlinear optical phenomena as well as frequency comb applications. Some of these results will be described, including the real-time imaging of the soliton dynamics, mmWave generation, and stabilization of soliton repetition frequencies.