Low-noise frequency synthesis and terahertz wireless communication driven by compact turnkey Kerr combs

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Electrical Engineering
• Communications Technology

Background:

• High-frequency microwave and terahertz (THz) technologies are crucial for next-generation communication, sensing, and radar.
• Conventional electronic technologies face fundamental noise limitations at these high frequencies.
• Photonic microwave generation, especially Kerr-comb-based sources, offers high-frequency operation but is constrained by phase noise.

Purpose of the Study:

• To overcome phase noise limitations in photonic microwave generation.
• To develop a compact, electrically-driven Kerr comb system for microwave synthesis.
• To achieve near quantum-limited phase noise performance at high frequencies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized high-Q fiber Fabry-Perot resonators.
• Employed optimized noise modeling under limited pump power.
• Developed a compact, electrically-driven Kerr comb system.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated ultra-low phase noise microwave synthesis up to 384 GHz.
• Achieved phase noise levels of -133 dBc/Hz at 10.1 GHz and -95 dBc/Hz at 300 GHz (10 kHz offset), approaching quantum limits.
• Enabled 64-quadrature amplitude modulation (64QAM) in THz wireless communication with a record 240 Gbps data rate without carrier phase estimation.

Conclusions:

• The developed Kerr comb system overcomes phase noise limitations in high-frequency microwave generation.
• This breakthrough is a key building block for future information technology, particularly in THz wireless communication.
• The system's performance enables high-data-rate wireless communication without complex carrier phase estimation techniques.