Microresonator photonic wire bond integration for Kerr-microcomb generation

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Integrated Optics

Background:

• Extremely high-Q microresonators are crucial for applications like optical frequency combs and metrology.
• Crystalline microresonators offer excellent optical performance but face challenges with traditional free-space coupling methods.
• There is a need for compact, scalable, and robust coupling solutions for integrated photonic systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and demonstrate the evanescent coupling of a photonic wire bond (PWB) to a MgF2-based microresonator.
• To explore the generation of solitons and microwave signals using this integrated coupling approach.
• To present PWBs as a viable alternative to conventional free-space couplers for microresonator systems.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a photonic wire bond (PWB) for evanescent coupling.
• Integration of the PWB with a magnesium fluoride (MgF2) microresonator.
• Characterization of nonlinear phenomena, including soliton generation and microwave signal output from Kerr microcombs.

Main Results:

• Successful evanescent coupling of a PWB to a MgF2 microresonator.
• Generation of solitons and a pure, low-noise microwave signal via Kerr microcombs.
• Demonstration of PWBs as a flexible and scalable optical interface.

Conclusions:

• The PWB-microresonator system offers a scalable path for integrating high-Q crystalline microresonators with photonic circuits.
• PWBs provide advantages in fabrication, size, and flexibility over traditional couplers.
• This work paves the way for advanced linear and nonlinear photonic devices based on integrated crystalline microresonators.