Fundamental bandwidth limits and shaping of frequency-modulated combs

Roy, Mithun; Xiao, Zhenyang; Dong, Chao; Addamane, Sadhvikas; Burghoff, David

doi:10.1364/OPTICA.529119

Fundamental bandwidth limits and shaping of frequency-modulated combs

Journal Article · Fri Aug 02 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Optica

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.529119· OSTI ID:2427048

Roy, Mithun; Xiao, Zhenyang; Dong, Chao; ;

Frequency-modulated (FM) combs based on active cavities like quantum cascade lasers have recently emerged as promising light sources in many spectral regions. Unlike passive modelocking, which generates amplitude modulation using the field’s amplitude, FM comb formation relies on the generation of phase modulation from the field’s phase. They can therefore be regarded as a phase-domain version of passive modelocking. However, while the ultimate scaling laws of passive modelocking have long been known—Haus showed in 1975 that pulses modelocked by a fast saturable absorber have a bandwidth proportional to effective gain bandwidth—the limits of FM combs have been much less clear. Here, we show that FM combs based on fast gain media are governed by the same fundamental limits, producing combs whose bandwidths are linear in the effective gain bandwidth. Not only do we show theoretically that the diffusive effect of gain curvature limits comb bandwidth, but we also show experimentally how this limit can be increased. By adding carefully designed resonant-loss structures that are evanescently coupled to the cavity of a terahertz laser, we reduce the curvature and increase the effective gain bandwidth of the laser, demonstrating bandwidth enhancement. Our results can better enable the creation of active chip-scale combs and be applied to a wide array of cavity geometries.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2427048

Journal Information:: Optica, Journal Name: Optica Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 11; ISSN 2334-2536

Publisher:: Optical Society of AmericaCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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