EFTF 2018 Young Scientist Award

Microresonator frequency combs comprise thousands of optical lines that are equally spaced by an ultra-high repetition rate frequency of 10-100 GHz. The generation of an optical frequency comb is achieved by laser-pumping a high-Q Kerr non-linear resonator; that is, by creating a vast series of equidistant comb lines by means of nonlinear parametric conversion. Several microresonator platforms exist, such as whispering-gallery mode resonators made of crystalline materials, photonics-integrated chips and recently demonstrated fiber-based Fabry-Pérot resonators. The tremendous potential of such compact microresonator-based frequency combs has been widely recognized.

Among the most promising applications of microresonator-based comb technology are:

• Optical channel-generation for broadband; coherent optical telecommunications
• Generation of ultra-low-noise microwave signals
• Rapid, broadband optical spectroscopy, where the resolvable comb lines allow for broadband and real-time detection of trace-gas sensing, astronomical spectrometer calibration or dual-frequency comb spectroscopy with ultra-high acquisition rates (all without moving parts)
• Optical clockwork for frequency metrology and for next-generation atomic clocks

Other applications such as rapid distance measurements, ultra-fast analog-to-digital conversion and quantum light sources are also actively being pursued.

Publications

• Temporal solitons in microresonators driven by optical pulses, E. Obrzud, S. Lecomte, T. Herr. Nature Photonics, 11, 600–607 (2017)
• Book chapter in Nonlinear optical cavity dynamics: from microresonators to fiber lasers, T. Herr, M.L. Gorodetsky, T. J. Kippenberg. Wiley, ISBN: 978-3-527-41332-4 (2016)
• Photonic chip based optical frequency comb using soliton induced Cherenkov radiation, V. Brasch, M. Geiselmann, T. Herr, G. Lihachev, M.H.P. Pfeiffer, M.L. Gorodetsky, T.J. Kippenberg. Science, 351, 6271, 357-360 (2015)
• Mode spectrum and temporal soliton formation in optical microresonators, T. Herr, V. Brasch, J.D. Jost, I. Mirgorodskiy, G. Lihachev, M.L. Gorodetsky, T.J. Kippenberg. Physical Review Letters, 113, 123901 (2014)
• Temporal solitons in optical microresonators, T. Herr, V. Brasch, J.D. Jost, C. Y. Wang, N.M. Kondratiev, M.L. Gorodetsky, T.J. Kippenberg. Nature Photonics, 8, 145-152 (2014)
• Universal dynamics and noise of Kerr-frequency combs in microresonators, T. Herr, K. Hartinger, J. Riemensberger, C.Y. Wang, E. Gavartin, R. Holzwarth, M.L. Gorodetsky, T.J. Kippenberg. Nature Photonics, 6, 480-487 (2012)