U. of Sydney researchers unveil mode-locked laser based on microcavity resonator

Sydney, Australia--A group at the University of Sydney and its international collaborators has created the first mode-locked laser with a microring resonator as its cavity.¹ The laser, which emits pulses at rates as high as 200 GHz with a spectral linewidth well under 130 kHz, operates via a new form of mode-locking that the researchers call "filter-driven four-wave mixing."

The team also includes researchers from INRS-EMT (Varennes Québec, Canada), IPCF-CNR, UOS Roma, and ISC-CNR UOS Montelibretti, ( Rome, Italy), Infinera (Sunnyvale, CA), and the City University of Hong Kong.

CMOS compatible

One great advantage of some integrated photonics is that they are CMOS-compatible, meaning that they can be fabricated using the same inexpensive, large-scale processes used to fabricate computer chips. The U. of Sydney laser falls into this category.

The microring laser's cavity modes are phase-locked, which, via the resulting frequency combs, could lead to new optical clocks for metrology, integrated photonics, and communications.

REFERENCE:

1. M. Peccianti et al., Nature Communications 4, article no. 765, April 3, 2012.