Oewaves, Inc.

California Institute of Technology

United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

Other

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Andrey B Matsko

Anatoliy A Savchenkov

Vladimir Ilchenko

Lute Maleki

David Seidel

Lutfollah Maleki

Wei Liang

Dmitry V Strekalov

Danny Eliyahu

Nan Yu

Jerry Byrd

Makan Mohageg

Vladimir S Iltchenko

Prakash Koonath

Ivan S Grudinin

Jan M Martin

Stephanie D Leifer

Anatoliy A Savchenko

Wei Zhang

Iouri Solomatine

Vladimir S Iichenko

Vladimir S Ilchenko

Disclosed herein is a pulse repetition rate multiplier including a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) including cascading Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs). An input may be connected to one end of the PIC and an output may be connected to the other end of the PIC such that a signal from the input runs through the cascading MZIs and out the output. The input may be configured to receive an input pulsed signal and the output may be configured to output a repetition rate multiplied signal. Advantageously, using a PIC as opposed to an optical fiber-based pulse rate multiplier allows for accurate fabrication of a pulse repetition rate multiplier configured to accept higher frequency pulsed signals.

Planar photonic waveguide optical pulse rate multiplier

A photonic system enabling the processing of high frequency microwave, mm-wave, THz signals or other RF signals. The processing may include, e.g., adjusting the frequency, quadrature, and/or power of the signals. In illustrative examples, the system uses a polychromatic light source producing at least two low noise optical emission frequencies that can be independently tuned in a broad frequency range and/or modulated in a broad frequency range using external modulators. An RF input signal is upconverted to one of the optical harmonics of the modulated polychromatic source, processed in the optical frequency domain, and downconverted to the RF domain (at the same or a different RF carrier frequency). The photonic system can be integrated on a planar optical substrate, such as a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Optical local oscillators are also described for use in the photonic system or for other purposes. Various system, device, and method examples are provided.

Photonic processing of RF signals using polychromatic coherent optical source

The disclosure relates in some aspects to providing miniature power-efficient agile photonic generators of microwave waveforms. Illustrative examples use chip lasers integrated in close thermal proximity with one another to provide a miniature microwave arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). Due to the small size of the lasers and the close integration, common ambient fluctuations from the environment or other sources can be efficiently reduced, yielding improved spectral purity of generated radio-frequency (RF) signals. Tight physical integration also permits a small device footprint with minimal acceleration sensitivity. The lasers may be locked to cavities or other resonators to allow efficient decoupling of the frequency and amplitude modulation of the lasers to provide flexibility to the waveform generator. Exemplary devices described herein can produce frequency chirped signals for radar applications. The frequency chirp may be linear and/or nonlinear. Tuning methods are also described herein.

Arbitrary microwave waveform generator using lasers in close thermal and mechanical proximity

An FM LIDAR system is described that includes a frequency modulated LIDAR system that incorporates a laser source that is optically coupled to a whispering gallery mode optical resonator. Light from the laser that is coupled into the whispering gallery mode optical resonator is coupled back out as a returning counterpropagating wave having a frequency characteristic of a whispering gallery mode of the optical resonator. This returning wave is used to reduce the linewidth of the source laser by optical injection. Modulation of the optical properties of the whispering gallery mode optical resonator results in modulation of the frequency of the frequencies supported by whispering gallery modes of the resonator, and provides a method for producing highly linear and reproducible optical chirps that are highly suited for use in a LIDAR system. Methods of using such an FM LIDAR system and vehicle assisting systems that incorporate such FM LIDAR systems are also described.

Compact LIDAR system

One feature pertains to an apparatus that includes apparatus that includes an evanescent field coupler having a first surface that evanescently couples light between the evanescent field coupler and an open dielectric resonator. The apparatus also includes a thin film coating covering at least a portion of the first surface of the evanescent field coupler. The thin film coating is specifically designed so that the thin film coating reflects light of a first wavelength.

Methods and devices for evanescently coupling light having different wavelengths to an open dielectric resonator

An optical atomic clock utilizing two different laser light sources is described. A source laser is locked to a first optical resonator, which supports a whispering gallery mode for the source laser and generates optical hyperparametric sidebands from the source laser output by multi-wave mixing. A reference laser is locked to an atomic reference via a second optical resonator, and the first optical resonator is locked to the reference laser. Optical parametric sidebands, which are locked to an atomic reference but are generated from a wavelength unrelated to the clock transition of the atomic reference, are coupled out of the first optical resonator to generate an RF signal useful in atomic timekeeping.

Optical atomic clock

A monolithic resonator that has a plurality of mode families is modified so that portions of the resonator have a different index of refraction than other portions of the resonator. This degrades the Q factor of one or more of the mode families, allowing pre-selection of one or more mode families over others.

Systems and methods for removing mode families

Optical filters comprising one or more optically-coupled Fabry-Perot resonators are disclosed. In some embodiments, the one or more optically coupled Fabry-Perot resonators include a graded index fiber. In some embodiments, the one or more optically coupled Fabry-Perot resonators are coupled end-to-end, whereas in other embodiments the one or more optically coupled Fabry-Perot resonators are side-coupled through evanescence. One or more implementations of an optical filter allow a spectral response of an input light beam to be controlled, through various approaches, e.g., by exposing a component fiber to ultra-violet radiation.

Fiber-based multi-resonator optical filters

Opto-electronic oscillator (OEO) devices include an optical resonator filter to block the strong laser light at the laser carrier frequency from entering the optical resonator filter and to select one of the weak modulation sidebands, which is in resonance with the optical resonator filter, to be coupled into the optical resonator filter. The laser light at the laser carrier frequency and other modulation sidebands bypass the optical resonator filter to reach a fast photodetector. The laser light in the selected modulation sideband in the optical resonator filter is then coupled out to mix with the laser light at the laser carrier frequency and other modulation sidebands at the fast photodetector to produce the detector output as the input to the electrical part of the opto-electronic loop to produce the OEO oscillation.

Tunable opto-electronic oscillator having optical resonator filter operating at selected modulation sideband

Techniques and devices based on optical resonators made of nonlinear optical materials and nonlinear wave mixing to generate optical combs that are stabilized relative to an atomic reference.

Compact optical atomic clocks and applications based on parametric nonlinear optical mixing in whispering gallery mode optical resonators

Techniques, devices and systems that stabilize an RF oscillator by using an optical resonator that is stabilized relative to a master RF oscillator with acceptable frequency stability performance. In the examples described, the optical resonator is stabilized relative to the master RF oscillator by using a frequency stability indicator based on two different optical modes of the optical resonator. The RF oscillator to be stabilized is then locked to the stabilized optical resonator to achieve the acceptable RF stability in the RF oscillator.

Stabilizing RF oscillator based on optical resonator

This document provides techniques, apparatus and designs for using electro-optic WGM resonators that support two different families of optical WGM modes with different quality factors in various applications. A radio frequency (RF) resonator is formed on the optical resonator and structured to supply an RF field and spatially overlaps the RF field of the RF resonator with the first and second optical whispering gallery modes to cause RF energy in the RF field at a first RF carrier frequency to couple with the first optical whispering gallery mode and RF energy in the RF field at a second RF carrier frequency to couple with the second optical whispering gallery mode.

Wide-band RF photonic receivers and other devices using two optical modes of different quality factors

Techniques and devices based on optical resonators made of nonlinear optical materials to form triple-oscillator devices for generating a single optical tone, a radio frequency (RF) oscillation signal and an optical frequency comb signal having different optical frequencies.

Generation of single optical tone, RF oscillation signal and optical comb in a triple-oscillator device based on nonlinear optical resonator

Techniques and devices based on optical resonators made of nonlinear optical materials and nonlinear wave mixing to generate RF or microwave oscillations using an active opto-electronic loop.

Parametric regenerative oscillators based on opto-electronic feedback and optical regeneration via nonlinear optical mixing in whispering gallery mode optical resonators

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Pasadena, CA, United States of America

Andrey B Matsko