300 GHz generation based on a Kerr microresonator frequency comb stabilized to a low noise microwave reference

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a low noise 300GHz wave source using a Kerr microresonator frequency comb stabilized to a GPS signal, achieving high spectral purity and stability suitable for practical millimeter-wave applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to generate and stabilize 300GHz signals with low phase noise using a Kerr microresonator comb and GPS referencing.

Findings

300GHz phase noise spectral density of -88dBc/Hz at 10kHz

Fractional frequency instability of 1e-9 at 1 second

Residual instability of 2e-15 at 1 second, improving to below 1e-17 at 1000 seconds

Abstract

In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate low noise 300GHz wave generation based on a Kerr microresonator frequency comb operating in soliton regime. The spectral purity of a 10GHz GPS-disciplined dielectric resonant oscillator is transferred to the 300GHz repetition rate frequency of the soliton comb through an optoelectronic phase-locked loop. Two adjacent comb lines beat on a uni-travelling carrier photodiode emitting the 300GHz millimeter-wave signal into a waveguide. In an out-of-loop measurement we have measured the 300GHz power spectral density of phase noise to be -88dBc/Hz, -105dBc/Hz at 10kHz, 1MHz Fourier frequency, respectively. The free-running fractional frequency instability at 300GHz is $1 \times 10^{-9}$ at 1 second averaging time. Stabilized to a GPS signal, we report an in-loop residual instability of $2 \times 10^{-15}$ at 1 second which averages down to < $1 \times 10^{-17}$ at 1000 seconds. Such system provides a promising path to the realization of compact, low power consumption millimeter-wave oscillators with low noise performance for out-of-the-lab applications.