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Nanophotonic chip-space interfaces for multidimensional nonlinear optics
Dunzhao Wei1, Bo Chen2, Shuai Wan3,4
1State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, School of Physics, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. weidzh@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Nature Materials
|April 3, 2026
Summary
Researchers created reconfigurable chip-space interfaces using thin-film lithium niobate. This platform engineers structured light, enabling tunable optical skyrmions and vortex microcombs for advanced photonic technologies.
Area of Science:
- Integrated Photonics
- Structured Light
- Nonlinear Optics
Background:
- Developing interfaces between integrated photonics and free-space structured light is crucial for optical science and technology.
- Anisotropic nonlinear susceptibility tensors in thin-film lithium niobate offer unique properties for light manipulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To construct nanophotonic chip-space interfaces for generating and engineering structured light.
- To demonstrate reconfigurable and tunable generation of complex light states.
Main Methods:
- Exploiting anisotropic nonlinear susceptibility in thin-film lithium niobate.
- Utilizing nonlinear Čerenkov radiation in integrated nonlinear microring resonators.
- Employing continuous-wave excitation for light generation.
Main Results:
- Successfully generated and multidimensionally engineered structured light from on-chip waveguides.
- Demonstrated tunable optical skyrmions via spin-orbit coupling.
- Generated multistate integrated vortex microcombs using synergistic nonlinear optical processes (χ(2) and χ(3)).
Conclusions:
- The developed platform bridges structured light and integrated nonlinear optics.
- Offers new opportunities for on-chip spatiotemporal light generation and multidimensional nonlinear optics.
- Highlights the potential of thin-film lithium niobate for advanced photonic applications.
