Ultra-low-power four-wave mixing wavelength conversion in high-Q chalcogenide microring resonators

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Materials Science
• Quantum Technologies

Background:

• Chalcogenide materials offer strong optical nonlinearity essential for photonic devices.
• Microring resonators provide cavity enhancement, boosting light-matter interactions.
• Efficient wavelength conversion is crucial for optical signal processing and quantum information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate a compact Ge_11.5As₂₄Se_64.5 chalcogenide microring resonator.
• To demonstrate highly efficient wavelength conversion using four-wave mixing.
• To assess the potential of these devices for quantum photonics.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a Ge_11.5As₂₄Se_64.5 chalcogenide microring resonator.
• Utilizing the strong nonlinearity and cavity enhancement of the microring.
• Performing four-wave mixing experiments with ultra-low pump power.

Main Results:

• Achieved an intrinsic quality factor of 3.0×10⁵ in the telecom band.
• Demonstrated highly efficient wavelength conversion with a conversion efficiency of -33.7 dB.
• Required only 63.8 µW of ultra-low pump power for the conversion.

Conclusions:

• Ge_11.5As₂₄Se_64.5 chalcogenide microring resonators exhibit excellent performance.
• The devices enable efficient nonlinear optical processes at low power.
• These microring resonators are promising candidates for future quantum photonic applications.