Communications of the ACM
Shifting Colors for On-Chip Photonics
On-chip frequency shifters in the gigahertz range could be used in next-generation quantum computers and networks.
Credit: Second Bay Studios/Harvard SEAS
On-chip frequency shifters developed by Harvard University researchers can convert light in the gigahertz frequency range using continuous and single-tone microwaves.
The researchers developed one frequency shifter than can convert one color to another with shifts as high as 28 gigahertz with 90% efficiency.
A second cascades into higher frequencies, with a shift as high as 120 gigahertz.
The frequency shifters were built on a lithium niobate platform developed by the researchers.
The researchers etched coupled ring-resonators and waveguides on thin-film lithium niobate, which efficiently converts electric signals into optical signals.
The frequency shifts were achieved with a single, 30-gigahertz microwave signal.
Said Harvard's Marko Loncar, "Our frequency shifters could become a fundamental building block for high-speed, large-scale classical communication systems as well as emerging photonic quantum computers."
From Harvard University John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
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Abstracts Copyright © 2021 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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