Enhancing and inhibiting stimulated Brillouin scattering in photonic integrated circuits.
On-chip nonlinear optics is a thriving research field, which creates transformative opportunities for manipulating classical or quantum signals in small-footprint integrated devices. Since the length scales are short, nonlinear interactions need to be enhanced by exploiting materials with large nonlinearity in combination with high-Q resonators or slow-light structures. This, however, often results in simultaneous enhancement of competing nonlinear processes, which limit the efficiency and can cause signal distortion. Here, we exploit the frequency dependence of the optical density-of-states near the edge of a photonic bandgap to selectively enhance or inhibit nonlinear interactions on a chip. We demonstrate this concept for one of the strongest nonlinear effects, stimulated Brillouin scattering using a narrow-band one-dimensional photonic bandgap structure: a Bragg grating. The stimulated Brillouin scattering enhancement enables the generation of a 15-line Brillouin frequency comb. In the inhibition case, we achieve stimulated Brillouin scattering free operation at a power level twice the threshold.
Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), Institute of Photonics and Optical Science (IPOS), School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
Moritz
M
Merklein
Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), Institute of Photonics and Optical Science (IPOS), School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
Irina V
IV
Kabakova
Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), Institute of Photonics and Optical Science (IPOS), School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
Thomas F S
TF
Büttner
CUDOS, Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physics &Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
Duk-Yong
DY
Choi
CUDOS, Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physics &Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
Barry
B
Luther-Davies
CUDOS, Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physics &Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia.
Stephen J
SJ
Madden
Centre for Ultrahigh bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems (CUDOS), Institute of Photonics and Optical Science (IPOS), School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia.
Benjamin J
BJ
Eggleton