Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
Few-Cycle Nonlinear Photonics: From Nanoscale Devices to Large-Scale Circuits
Presented by Marandi, Alireza, Caltech
Evident from more than 50 years of table-top nonlinear optics, utilizing strong quadratic nonlinearities in integrated photonics can significantly expand the potentials of photonics for applications ranging from sensing to computing, especially in the ultra-short-pulse regime. In the past few years, nanophotonic lithium niobate (LN) has emerged as one of the most promising integrated photonic platforms with strong quadratic nonlinearity. In this talk we present some of our recent experimental results on realization and utilizing of dispersion-engineered and quasi-phase-matched devices in nanophotonic LN for intense optical parametric amplification [1], ultrafast ultra-low-energy all-optical switching [2], and few-cycle vacuum squeezing [3]. We also present some recent experimental and numerical results on how resonators with only strong quadratic nonlinearities exhibit phase transitions in the spectral domain [4], and pulse compression [5]. We show a path for realization of large-scale ultrafast nanophotonic circuits in the classical and quantum regimes and discuss how networks of such resonators can lead to topological [6] and non-Hermitian dynamics [7], and all-optical quantum information processors.
References
[1] L. Ledezma, R. Sekine, Q. Guo, R. Nehra, S. Jahani, A. Marandi, Intense optical parametric amplification in dispersion engineered nanophotonic lithium niobate waveguides, Optica 9 (3), 303-308 (2022).
[2] Q. Guo, R. Sekine, L. Ledezma, R. Nehra, D. J. Dean, A. Roy, R. M. Gray, S. Jahani, A. Marandi, Femtojoule femtosecond all-optical switching in lithium niobate nanophotonics, Nature Photonics 16, 625-631 (2022).
[3] R. Nehra, R. Sekine, L. Ledezma, Q. Guo, R. M. Gray, A. Roy, A. Marandi, Few-cycle vacuum squeezing in nanophotonics, Science 377, 1333-1337 (2022).
[4] A. Roy, S. Jahani, C. Langrock, M. Fejer, A. Marandi, Spectral phase transitions in optical parametric oscillators, Nat Commun 12, 835 (2021).
[5] A. Roy, R. Nehra, S. Jahani, L. Ledezma, C. Langrock, M. Fejer, A. Marandi, Temporal walk-off induced dissipative quadratic solitons, Nature Photonics 16 (2), 162-168 (2022).
[6] C. Leefmans, A. Dutt, J. Williams, L. Yuan, M. Parto, F. Nori, S. Fan, A. Marandi, Topological Dissipation in a Time-Multiplexed Photonic Resonator Network, Nature Physics 18 (4), 442-449 (2022).
[7] A. Roy, S. Jahani, Q. Guo, A. Dutt, S. Fan, M. A. Miri, A. Marandi, Nondissipative non-Hermitian dynamics and exceptional points in coupled optical parametric oscillators, Optica 8 (3), 415-421 (2021).
3:30 pm, Friday, December 9, 2022
PAIS-1100, PAIS
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