Versatile Integrated Brillouin-Kerr Frequency Combs for On-Chip Photonic Systems

An ultra-stable, low-noise optical frequency comb seamlessly integrated into a compact chip-scale form factor has the potential to revolutionize precision measurements, radiofrequency and optical communications, and quantum technologies. Today’s chip-scale frequency combs can achieve stable, phase-locked and broadband emission, but they suffer from high noise that blocks the pathway towards more stringent applications such as microwave photonics. Brillouin optomechanics, a nonlinear optical effect relying on coherent coupling of photons and acoustic phonons, can enable on-chip lasers with ultra-low noise and high purity. My ERC Proof of Concept project Veritas will build on initial breakthroughs of harnessing Brillouin optomechanics in silicon nitride and aim to deliver the first chip-scale low-noise frequency combs. I will explore system applications of these combs for agile frequency conversion in 6G radio systems and for coherent optical communications. Along with these technological developments, I will perform a thorough market study with appropriate IP measures, maximizing the commercial potential of this technology. We expect that our results in Veritas will point to the feasibility of this technology for software-defined reconfigurable front-ends for very high frequency and size and weight-sensitive RF applications.