Generation of high-stability solitons at microwave rates on a silicon chip

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a monolithic silicon chip that generates high-stability soliton pulses at microwave rates, advancing integrated frequency comb technology for various scientific and technological applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel chip-based system capable of producing electronic-rate soliton pulses, bridging the gap between microwave and optical signals on a silicon platform.

Findings

Successful generation of high-stability soliton pulses on a silicon chip

Achieved microwave-rate repetition frequencies in a chip-based system

Potential for integration into compact, self-referenced frequency combs

Abstract

Because they coherently link radio/microwave-rate electrical signals with optical-rate signals derived from lasers and atomic transitions, frequency combs are having a remarkably broad impact on science and technology. Integrating these systems on a photonic chip would revolutionize instrumentation, time keeping, spectroscopy, navigation and potentially create new mass-market applications. A key element of such a system-on-a-chip will be a mode-locked comb that can be self-referenced. The recent demonstration of soliton pulses from a microresonator has placed this goal within reach. However, to provide the requisite link between microwave and optical rate signals soliton generation must occur within the bandwidth of electronic devices. So far this is possible in crytalline devices, but not chip-based devices. Here, a monolithic comb that generates electronic-rate soliton pulses is demonstrated.