Green, red, and IR frequency comb line generation from single IR pump in AlN microring resonator

Abstract

On-chip frequency comb generations enable compact broadband sources for spectroscopic sensing and precision spectroscopy. Recent microcomb studies focus on the infrared spectral regime and have difficulty accessing the visible regime. We demonstrate comb-like visible frequency line generation through second-harmonic, third-harmonic, and sum-frequency conversion of a Kerr comb within a high-Q aluminum nitride (AlN) microring resonator pumped by a single telecom laser. The strong power enhancement, in conjunction with the unique combination of Pockels (χ2) and Kerr (χ3) optical nonlinearity of AlN, leads to cascaded frequency conversions in the visible spectrum. High-resolution spectroscopic study of the visible frequency lines indicates matched free spectrum range over all the bands. This frequency doubling and tripling effect in a single microcomb structure offers great potential for comb spectroscopy and self-referencing comb.