Journal Article

Integrated Pockels laser

Staffa, Jeremy, Zhu, Lin, Shen, Boqiang, Lin, Qiang, Wu, Lue, Javid, Usman A., Chang, Lin, Ling, Jingwei, Morin, Theodore J., Lopez-rios, Raymond, Vahala, Kerry J., Wang, Heming, Xue, Shixin, Bowers, John E., Li, Mingxiao, Zeng, Siwei, He, Yang

2022

Overview

The development of integrated semiconductor lasers has miniaturized traditional bulky laser systems, enabling a wide range of photonic applications. A progression from pure III-V based lasers to III-V/external cavity structures has harnessed low-loss waveguides in different material systems, leading to significant improvements in laser coherence and stability. Despite these successes, however, key functions remain absent. In this work, we address a critical missing function by integrating the Pockels effect into a semiconductor laser. Using a hybrid integrated III-V/Lithium Niobate structure, we demonstrate several essential capabilities that have not existed in previous integrated lasers. These include a record-high frequency modulation speed of 2 exahertz/s (2.0 × 10 18 Hz/s) and fast switching at 50 MHz, both of which are made possible by integration of the electro-optic effect. Moreover, the device co-lases at infrared and visible frequencies via the second-harmonic frequency conversion process, the first such integrated multi-color laser. Combined with its narrow linewidth and wide tunability, this new type of integrated laser holds promise for many applications including LiDAR, microwave photonics, atomic physics, and AR/VR. On-Chip integration of laser systems led to impressive development in many field of application like LIDAR or AR/VR to cite a few. Here the authors harness Pockels effect in an integrated semiconductor platform achieving fast on-chip configurability of a narrow linewidth laser.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 639/624/1020/1093 / 639/624/1075/1079 / 639/624/400/385 / Atomic physics / Frequency dependence / Frequency modulation / Humanities and Social Sciences / Integration / Lasers / Lidar / Lithium / Lithium niobates / Microwave photonics / multidisciplinary / Photonics / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Semiconductor lasers / Semiconductors / Waveguides