Femtosecond pulse amplification on a chip.

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Ultrafast Science
• Integrated Optics

Background:

• Femtosecond laser pulses are crucial for synthesizing light and studying ultrafast phenomena.
• Chip-integrated femtosecond sources are needed for applications like diagnostics and sensing.
• Current on-chip sources lack sufficient peak power, hindering practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To overcome the challenge of on-chip amplification of femtosecond pulses.
• To develop a CMOS-compatible photonic chip capable of high-power femtosecond pulse generation.
• To enable chip-integrated femtosecond technology with power levels comparable to table-top systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilized all-normal dispersion, large mode-area waveguides, and rare-earth doping to mitigate nonlinear effects.
• Implemented a CMOS-compatible photonic chip for amplifying 1 GHz-repetition-rate chirped femtosecond pulses.
• Achieved >50-fold amplification of femtosecond pulses.

Main Results:

• Generated amplified femtosecond pulses with 800 W peak power and 116 fs pulse duration.
• Demonstrated peak power 2-3 orders of magnitude higher than previous on-chip sources.
• Successfully mitigated detrimental nonlinear effects through waveguide design and dispersion management.

Conclusions:

• This work presents a pathway towards chip-integrated femtosecond technology with high peak power.
• The developed technology can power key applications in diagnostics, imaging, sensing, and navigation.
• The results pave the way for compact, powerful femtosecond sources on a chip.