Chip-Scale Optomechanical Frequency Comb with a 1-70 GHz Span.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41386976.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c04458 and PMC identifier 12750997.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
An optomechanical frequency comb arises from the nonlinear interaction between optical and mechanical modes in a cavity, with its repetition rate set by the mechanical frequency. Despite promising applications in the microwave domain, previous demonstrations have been limited in spectral range due to inherently low mechanical frequencies. Here, we report an optomechanical comb with a record modulation span from 1 to 70 GHz, achieved by harnessing the strong optomechanical nonlinearity of a 2.5-μm-radius silicon carbide microdisk. With just 1 mW of dropped optical power, radiation pressure from a continuous-wave pump drives strong phonon lasing, generating 42 phase-locked harmonics with 1.655 GHz spacing. The combination of such broad bandwidth, low phase noise (-132 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset frequency), and frequency stability (<10<sup>-7</sup> at 1 s of averaging time) positions this ultracompact optomechanical comb as a powerful platform for diverse applications.