Scientists have successfully miniaturized a powerful erbium-based biber laser on a silicon-nitride photonic chip. Since typical erbium-based fiber lasers are large and difficult to scale down, the breakthrough promises major advances in optical communications and sensing technologies.
Lasers have revolutionized the world since the 60's and are now indispensable in modern applications, from cutting-edge surgery and precise manufacturing to data transmission across optical fibers.
But despite all that, there is a growing demand for miniaturizing fiber lasers on a chip-scale level. Erbium-based fiber lasers are especially interesting, as they meet all the requirements for maintaining a laser's high coherence and stability. But miniaturizing them has been met by challenges in maintaining their performance at small scales.
The team then implanted the circuit with high-concentration erbium ions to selectively create the active gain medium necessary for lasing. Finally, they integrated the citcuit with a III-V semiconductor pump laser to excite the erbium ions to enable them to emit light and produce the laser beam. It also allows for significant side mode suppression -- the laser's ability to emit light at a single, consistent frequency while minimizing the intensity of other frequencies . This ensures"clean" and stable output across the light spectrum for high-precision applications.The chip-scale erbium-based fiber laser features output power exceeding 10 mW and a side mode suppression ratio greater than 70 dB, outperforming many conventional systems.
It can also scale down optical technologies in various other applications, such as LiDAR, microwave photonics, optical frequency synthesis, and free-space communications.Yang Liu, Zheru Qiu, Xinru Ji, Andrea Bancora, Grigory Lihachev, Johann Riemensberger, Rui Ning Wang, Andrey Voloshin, Tobias J. Kippenberg.
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