CAREER: Quadratically Nonlinear Micro-Resonators: Enabling Next Generation Photonic Devices and Systems

非技术描述：这个项目的灵感来自于电子产品在我们现代生活中不可估量的影响是如何植根于一种可扩展和集成形式的非线性设备的发展，即硅基晶体管。在光子器件中引入具有强二次非线性的谐振器可以为许多应用提供颠覆性技术的发展。从50多年的桌面非线性光学中可以明显看出这一点，在此期间，具有非凡性能的各种光学系统已被证明并用于从传感到计算的应用。该项目的重点是将这些功能的深度和广度引入到微芯片级集成光子学中，并为各种实际应用提供可扩展的解决方案。该项目的具体实验可以通过开发理想的紧凑光谱学源，为我们最艰巨的分子传感挑战提供前所未有的解决方案。它们还可以为非常规计算提供可扩展的路径，以解决我们在各种学科中遇到的一些最难的计算问题。通过该项目开发的知识将适用于其他应用，从计量到量子信息处理和光通信。参与该项目的学生将学习如何进行多学科研究，项目负责人将把通过该项目开发的材料纳入非线性光学前沿课程。该团队将参与针对k-12学生的外展活动，这些学生中有大量未被充分代表的少数民族。技术描述：具有强二次非线性的光学谐振器已被证明可以提供广泛的功能，这些功能对于传感和信息处理应用至关重要。然而，尽管它们在桌面系统中表现出色，但它们的占地面积、功耗和成本对于许多实际应用程序来说都是令人望而却步的。最近发展的二次非线性纳米光子平台，例如铌酸锂，使人们能够进入一个未知的非线性光子学领域，有望克服这些挑战。这一体系具有显著的大非线性、低损耗和色散工程的潜力。该项目利用这些特点，引入二次非线性微谐振器的理论和实验研究的颠覆性线，旨在(i)推进我们对非线性光子学新体制的理解，（ii）利用这个基于微芯片的平台为开发光子器件和系统的新一类功能奠定基础，以及（iii）展示片上非线性光学系统的概念验证实验。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nontechnical Description:This project is inspired by how the immeasurable impact of electronics in our modern life is rooted in the development of a nonlinear device in a scalable and integrated form, i.e. the silicon-based transistor. Introducing resonators with strong quadratic nonlinearities to photonic devices can enable development of disruptive technologies for numerous applications. This is evident from more than 50 years of table-top nonlinear optics, over which a wide range of optical systems with extraordinary performance has been demonstrated and used for applications ranging from sensing to computing. This project is focused on bringing the depth and breadth of such functionalities to the micro-chip-scale integrated photonics, and enabling scalable solutions for a variety of real-life applications. The specific experiments of the project can lead to unprecedented solutions for our most daunting molecular sensing challenges through development of ideal compact sources for spectroscopy. They can also enable a scalable path for unconventional computing for some of our hardest computational problems in a variety of disciplines. The developed knowledge through this project will be applicable to other applications ranging from metrology to quantum information processing and optical communications. Students working on the project will get educated on conducting multi-disciplinary research, and the PI will incorporate the materials developed through this project in a course on frontiers of nonlinear optics. The team will participate in outreach activities targeting k-12 students with a large population of underrepresented minorities.Technical DEscription:Optical resonators with strong quadratic nonlinearities are proven to provide a broad range of functionalities that are essential for sensing and information processing applications. However, despite their outstanding performance in table-top systems, their footprint, power consumption, and cost have been prohibitive for many real-life applications. Recent development of nanoscale photonic platforms with quadratic nonlinearities, for instance in lithium niobate, has enabled access to an unexplored regime of nonlinear photonics which promises overcoming these challenges. This regime is associated with significantly large nonlinearities, low losses, and potential for dispersion engineering. This project leverages these features to introduce a disruptive line of theoretical and experimental research on quadratically-nonlinear microresonators, and aims to (i) advance our understanding of this new regime of nonlinear photonics, (ii) utilize this micro-chip-based platform to lay the foundation for development of a new class of functionalities in photonic devices and systems, and (iii) demonstrate proof-of-concept experiments for on-chip nonlinear optical systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.