Tutorial: synthetic frequency dimensions in dynamically modulated ring resonators

TL;DR

This tutorial introduces the concept of synthetic frequency dimensions in dynamically modulated ring resonators, covering theoretical foundations, experimental methods, and physical phenomena like topological effects, aiming to advance photonics research and applications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive pedagogical overview of the theoretical and experimental aspects of synthetic frequency dimensions in ring resonators, highlighting physical phenomena and future research directions.

Findings

Review of theoretical approaches for dynamic modulation

Summary of experimental techniques in building systems

Discussion of topological physics in synthetic dimensions

Abstract

The concept of synthetic dimensions in photonics has attracted rapidly growing interest in the past few years. Among a variety of photonic systems, the ring resonator system under dynamic modulation has been investigated in depth both in theory and experiment, and has proven to be a powerful way to build synthetic frequency dimensions. In this tutorial, we start with a pedagogical introduction to the theoretical approaches in describing the dynamically modulated ring resonator system, and then review experimental methods in building such a system. Moreover, we discuss important physical phenomena in synthetic dimensions, including nontrivial topological physics. Our tutorial provides a pathway towards studying the dynamically modulated ring resonator system, understanding synthetic dimensions in photonics, and discusses future prospects for both fundamental research and practical applications using synthetic dimensions.