Dispersion engineering of mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs based on silicon photonic integrated circuits

Kan Huang; Yanwei Huang; Zehang Xu; Siyuan Yu; Ruijun Wang

doi:10.1117/12.3007652

24 November 2023 Dispersion engineering of mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs based on silicon photonic integrated circuits

Kan Huang, Yanwei Huang, Zehang Xu, Siyuan Yu, Ruijun Wang

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12935, Fourteenth International Conference on Information Optics and Photonics (CIOP 2023); 129352L (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3007652
Event: Fourteenth International Conference on Information Optics and Photonics (CIOP 2023), 2023, Xi’an, China

Abstract

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are semiconductor lasers that generate photons through intersubband transition in quantum well structures. Nowadays, QCLs can cover the mid-infrared wavelength range, making them excellent for sensing and spectroscopy. In the last decade, it is found that QCLs can directly output frequency modulated frequency combs due to the four-wave mixing process introduces a large nonlinearity into the cavity. Flat and slightly negative group velocity dispersion (GVD) are favorable for the generation of frequency combs in QCLs. Therefore, many efforts have been devoted to engineer the dispersion of the QCL cavity in recent years. In this paper, we propose the use of silicon photonic integrated circuits as a dispersion compensation scheme for QCLs. The light from the QCL is coupled to the silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) waveguide through butt-coupling. A loop mirror consisting of coupled SOS waveguides is employed to provide the optical feedback and dispersion compensation. The antisymmetric super-mode of TM₀ and TM₁ in the coupled waveguides are selected to compensate the positive GVD (~1000fs²/mm) of the QCL. This numerical study paves the way to hybrid integration of QCL frequency combs with silicon photonics integrated circuits.

(2023) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Kan Huang, Yanwei Huang, Zehang Xu, Siyuan Yu, and Ruijun Wang "Dispersion engineering of mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs based on silicon photonic integrated circuits", Proc. SPIE 12935, Fourteenth International Conference on Information Optics and Photonics (CIOP 2023), 129352L (24 November 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3007652

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available