Projects Overview

Optical frequency combs in optical microresonators (microcombs) are emerging as a disruptive technology for precision metrology, frequency and waveform synthesis and optical processing of information on a chip scale platform. A striking example of the frequency comb applications comes from the astronomical research, where combs were used to measure the acceleration of the universe expansion and to discover exo-planets by measuring tiny Doppler shifts of the starlight induced by orbiting planets. Other applications that the research community in general and the pan-European MICROCOMB consortium in particular are addressing are found in the field of molecular spectroscopy, arbitrary wave form generators and RF and THz signal processing and generation. The particular goal of this PhD project is to investigate a novel approach to generate frequency combs by cascading second-order optical nonlinearities in micro-resonators made of non-centrosymmetric crystals. Compared with the conventional approach, they provide advantages, e.g. a lower pump threshold and the possibility of electro-optic tuning.