Large-scale time-multiplexed nanophotonic parametric oscillators

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the realization of large-scale, programmable, time-multiplexed nanophotonic parametric oscillators on a lithium niobate chip, enabling complex photonic networks with ultrafast operation and low energy thresholds.

Contribution

It introduces a scalable approach to create large arrays of independent, programmable nanophotonic OPOs with ultrafast operation on a single chip, overcoming previous integration challenges.

Findings

70 independent OPOs operated on a single chip

Ultra-low threshold of a few picojoules for OPOs

Programmable all-to-all couplings in a nanophotonic network

Abstract

Arrays of nonlinear resonators offer a fertile ground for a wide range of complex phenomena and opportunities for advanced photonic sensing and computing. Recently, significant attention has focused on studying coupled resonators in special-purpose configurations either on chips or in table-top experiments. However, a path to realizing a large-scale programmable network of nonlinear photonic resonators remains elusive because of the challenges associated with simultaneously achieving strong nonlinearity, independent operation of the resonators, and programmability of the couplings. In this work, we break these barriers by realizing large-scale, time-multiplexed optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) on a single lithium niobate nanophotonic chip. We show independent operation of 70 identical OPOs in an ultrafast nanophotonic circuit. The OPOs exhibit an ultra-low threshold of a few picojoules, substantially surpassing the strength of nonlinearity of other platforms. Using our ultrafast nanophotonic circuit, a network of N OPOs with programmable all-to-all couplings requires only a few additional components. The time-multiplexed nanophotonic OPOs can enable myriad applications, including ultrafast classical and quantum information processing.