Tunable mid-infrared generation via wide-band four wave mixing in silicon nitride waveguides

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate wide-band (>100 THz) frequency down-conversion of near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond-scale pulses from an Er:fiber laser to the mid-infrared (MIR) using four-wave-mixing (FWM) in photonic-chip silicon-nitride waveguides. The engineered dispersion in the nanophotonic geometry, along with the wide transparency range of silicon nitride, enables large-detuning FWM phase-matching and results in tunable MIR from 2.6-3.6 um on a single chip with 100-pJ-scale pump-pulse energies. Additionally, we observe > 20 dB broadband parametric gain for the NIR pulses when the FWM process is operated in a frequency up-conversion configuration. Our results demonstrate how integrated photonic circuits could realize multiple nonlinear optical phenomena on the same chip and lead to engineered synthesis of broadband, tunable, and coherent light across the NIR and MIR wavelength bands from fiber-based pumps.

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• Octave-wide phase-matched four-wave mixing in dispersion engineered crystalline microresonators
• Modelling spontaneous four-wave mixing in periodically-tapered waveguides
• A practical model of twin-beam experiments for sub-shot-noise absorption measurements
• Mechanisms and Opportunities for Tunable High-Purity Single Photon Emitters: A Review of Hybrid Perovskites and Prospects for Bright Squeezed Vacuum