ECE Colloquium: Kartik Srinivasan (NIST)

Description

Chip-scale lasers and frequency combs based on wideband nonlinear integrated photonics

The ability to generate and connect optical fields across a broad range of wavelengths is important for the development of quantum technologies. Integrated nonlinear nanophotonics enables such light generation and wavelength conversion in a low size, weight, and power format suitable for deployment outside of laboratories. In this talk, I will discuss the development of such devices in the context of optical atomic clocks, where nonlinear conversion processes can generate the coherent visible and short near-infrared light needed to probe atomic transitions and create a frequency comb that phase-coherently divides a stabilized optical frequency down to a detectable microwave frequency. I will present recent results on microresonator optical parametric oscillators in the visible [1], [2], [3] and octave-spanning microresonator frequency combs suitable for optical clockworks [4],[5], and discuss some of the opportunities and challenges associated with building systems, such as optical atomic clocks, based on these technologies. If time permits, I will also briefly discuss how similar concepts and device engineering can be extended to generate [6] and frequency convert [7] quantum states of light.

[1] J. R. Stone, X. Lu, G. Moille, and K. Srinivasan, “Efficient chip-based optical parametric oscillators from 590 to 1150 nm,” APL Photonics, vol. 7, no. 12, p. 121301, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1063/5.0117691.
[2] J. R. Stone, X. Lu, G. Moille, D. Westly, T. Rahman, and K. Srinivasan, “Wavelength-accurate nonlinear conversion through wavenumber selectivity in photonic crystal resonators,” Nat. Photonics, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 192–199, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41566-023-01326-6.
[3] Y. Sun et al., “Advancing on-chip Kerr optical parametric oscillation towards coherent applications covering the green gap,” Light Sci. Appl., vol. 13, no. 1, p. 201, Aug. 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41377-024-01534-x.
[4] G. Moille et al., “Kerr-induced synchronization of a cavity soliton to an optical reference,” Nature, vol. 624, no. 7991, Art. no. 7991, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06730-0.
[5] G. Moille, P. Shandilya, J. Stone, C. Menyuk, and K. Srinivasan, “All-Optical Noise Quenching of An Integrated Frequency Comb,” May 02, 2024, arXiv: arXiv:2405.01238. Accessed: Jun. 09, 2024. [Online]. Available: http://arxiv.org/abs/2405.01238
[6] X. Lu et al., “Chip-integrated visible-telecom photon pair sources for quantum communication,” Nat Phys, vol. 15, pp. 373–381, 2019.
[7] A. Singh et al., “Quantum frequency conversion of a quantum dot single-photon source on a nanophotonic chip,” Optica, vol. 6, no. 5, p. 563, May 2019.
 

Bio
Kartik Srinivasan is a Fellow of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a Fellow of the NIST/University of Maryland Joint Quantum Institute, and an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Maryland. He received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology before joining NIST in 2007. Kartik has published research on topics such as integrated quantum photonics, nonlinear nanophotonics, nanoscale electro-optomechanical transducers, and photonic crystals. He has received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the Department of Commerce Bronze and Gold Medals, the NIST Samuel Wesley Stratton Award, and is a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA). He is a Deputy Editor of the new journal Optica Quantum.