Mirror-induced reflection in the frequency domain

Abstract

Mirrors are ubiquitous in optics and are used to control the propagation of optical signals in space. Here we propose and demonstrate frequency domain mirrors that provide reflections of the optical energy in a frequency synthetic dimension, using electro-optic modulation. First, we theoretically explore the concept of frequency mirrors with the investigation of propagation loss, and reflectivity in the frequency domain. Next, we explore the mirror formed through polarization mode-splitting in a thin-film lithium niobate micro-resonator. By exciting the Bloch waves of the synthetic frequency crystal with different wave vectors, we show various states formed by the interference between forward propagating and reflected waves. Finally, we expand on this idea, and generate tunable frequency mirrors as well as demonstrate trapped states formed by these mirrors using coupled lithium niobate micro-resonators. The ability to control the flow of light in the frequency domain could enable a wide range of applications, including the study of random walks, boson sampling, frequency comb sources, optical computation, and topological photonics. Furthermore, demonstration of optical elements such as cavities, lasers, and photonic crystals in the frequency domain, may be possible.

References in corpus (11)

• Frequency comb spectroscopy
• Monolithic Ultrahigh-Q Lithium Niobate Microring Resonator
• Integrated micro-comb sources for quantum optical applications
• Photonic topological pumping through the edges of a dynamical four-dimensional quantum Hall system
• Exploring 4D Quantum Hall Physics with a 2D Topological Charge Pump
• Topological quantum matter in synthetic dimensions
• One-Way Quantum Computing in the Optical Frequency Comb
• High-efficiency and broadband electro-optic frequency combs enabled by coupled micro-resonators
• Experimental band structure spectroscopy along a synthetic dimension
• Spectral photonic lattices with complex long-range coupling
• Creating boundaries along a synthetic frequency dimension

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Integrated Triply Resonant Electro-Optic Frequency Comb in Lithium Tantalate
• A comprehensive review on developments of synthetic dimensions
• Multi-dimensional band structure spectroscopy in the synthetic frequency dimension
• Observation of non-Hermitian antichiral edge currents
• Spectral engineering of optical microresonators in anisotropic lithium niobate crystal
• Simulating topological materials with photonic synthetic dimensions in cavities
• Construction of various time-dependent Hamiltonians on a single photonic chip
• Creating high-dimensional topological physics using a single ring resonator