Oewaves, Inc.

United States of America As Represented by the Administrator of Nasa

California Institute of Technology

Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Other

Lute Maleki

Andrey B Matsko

Anatoliy A Savchenkov

David Seidel

Vladimir Ilchenko

Wei Liang

Danny Eliyahu

Vladimir S Iltchenko

Dmitry V Strekalov

Steve Yao

Jerry Byrd

Scott B Singer

Makan Mohageg

Prakash Koonath

Chi Wu

Anthony F J Levi

X Steve Yao

Nan Yu

Nikolai Morozov

Abdelkrim El Amili

Ivan S Grudinin

Jan M Martin

Anatoliy A Savchenko

Andrey B Matkso

Iouri Solomatine

John Dick

Vladimir S Iichenko

A dual Lidar-radar sensor instrument based on a photonic implementation. The instrument employs two continuous wave lasers that concurrently provide an optical Lidar signal and a microwave radar signal, via a high bandwidth photodetector, for inherent coherence of Lidar and radar functions for data fusion and other purposes. In illustrative examples, the photonic system is integrated as a photonic integrated circuit (PIC).

Dual Lidar and radar photonic instrument

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

A photonic synthesizer includes a multifrequency optical source to produce a signal of interest from a pair of lasers, which may be self-injection locked chip lasers. The signal is referenced to a high frequency clock using a photonic mixer/divider based on an electro-optical modulator and a relatively slow photodiode. The electro-optical modulator produces optical harmonics from the beams from the pair of lasers, where one harmonic from the first laser beam and one harmonic from the second laser beam beat on the photodiode. A phase locked control signal is generated for controlling the output frequency of one or both of the two lasers. The output signal of the photonic synthesizer is generated using a relatively fast photodiode based on a difference in frequencies of the pair of lasers. The output signal may be a millimeter wave-band signal. The photonic synthesizer can be formed as a photonic integrated circuit (PIC).

Wideband photonic synthesizer stabilized to a reference clock using photonic components

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

A coherent lidar system, a method of assembling the system and a vehicle including the system involve a light source to output a continuous wave, and a modulator to modulate a frequency of the continuous wave and provide a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal. The system includes a a splitter to split the FMCW signal to two or more paths, and two or more aperture lenses. At least one of the two or more aperture lenses is associated with each of the two or more paths and is configured to obtain a receive beam resulting from a reflection of an output signal obtained from the FMCW signal.

Coherent lidar system with extended field of view

A coherent lidar system includes a light source to output a continuous wave, and a modulator to modulate a frequency of the continuous wave and provide a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal. The system also includes an aperture lens to obtain a receive beam resulting from a reflection of an output signal obtained from the FMCW signal, and an optical amplifier in a path of the receive beam to output an amplified receive beam. A method of fabricating the system includes arranging a light source to output a continuous wave, and disposing elements to modulate the continuous wave and provide the FMCW signal. The method also includes arranging an aperture to obtain a receive beam resulting from a reflection of an output signal obtained from the FMCW signal, and disposing an optical amplifier in a path of the receive beam to output an amplified receive beam.

Optical amplifier in return path of coherent lidar system

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

Techniques and devices for measuring phase noise in radio frequency (RF), microwave, or millimeter signals based on photonic delay.

Measuring phase noise in radio frequency, microwave or millimeter signals based on photonic delay

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

Examples and implementations of reconfigurable sensors in a sensor array for performing various reconfigurable sensing functions.

Dynamically reconfigurable sensor arrays

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.

Growing community of inventors

Pasadena, CA, United States of America

Lute Maleki