Microsphere-Based Optical Frequency Comb Generator for 200 GHz Spaced WDM Data Transmission System

Elena A Anashkina,Arseniy Sorokin,Ilya Lyashuk,Rinat A Akhmedzhanov,Sandis Spolitis,Maria P Marisova,Vjaceslavs Bobrovs,Gerd Leuchs,Laura Skladova,Ivan V Oladyshkin,Rihards Murnieks,Toms Salgals,Mikhail D Tokman,Alexey V Andrianov

doi:10.3390/photonics7030072

Abstract

Optical frequency comb (OFC) generators based on whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators have a massive potential to ensure spectral and energy efficiency in wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) telecommunication systems. The use of silica microspheres for telecommunication applications has hardly been studied but could be promising. We propose, investigate, and optimize numerically a simple design of a silica microsphere-based OFC generator in the C-band with a free spectral range of 200 GHz and simulate its implementation to provide 4-channel 200 GHz spaced WDM data transmission system. We calculate microsphere characteristics such as WGM eigenfrequencies, dispersion, nonlinear Kerr coefficient with allowance for thermo-optical effects, and simulate OFC generation in the regime of a stable dissipative Kerr soliton. We show that by employing generated OFC lines as optical carriers for WDM data transmission, it is possible to ensure error-free data transmission with a bit error rate (BER) of 4.5 × 10−30, providing a total of 40 Gbit/s of transmission speed on four channels.

Highlights

Optical frequency combs (OFCs) generated in whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators, called microcombs, are desirable for basic science and a considerable number of applications [1,2].For example, microcombs have been used in spectroscopy [3,4], in radio-frequency photonics [5], and even in the search for exoplanets [6]
free spectral range (FSR) is defined as c/(2πRneff ), where c is the speed of light, R is the radius of a microresonator, and neff is the effective refractive index for an operating family of WGMs, so, it is essential to choose the appropriate size and take into account that the material and the waveguide component gives a contribution to neff
The purpose of our research model was to simulate the 4-channel 200 GHz spaced intensity modulation direct detection (IM/DD) wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM)-passive optical network (PON) data transmission system by the implementation of designed silica microsphere-based generator as a portable light source

Summary

Introduction

Optical frequency combs (OFCs) generated in whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators, called microcombs, are desirable for basic science and a considerable number of applications [1,2].For example, microcombs have been used in spectroscopy [3,4], in radio-frequency photonics [5], and even in the search for exoplanets [6]. Optical frequency combs (OFCs) generated in whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators, called microcombs, are desirable for basic science and a considerable number of applications [1,2]. Significant activity is growing in the study of microresonator-based OFC applications in quantum optics [7]. Microcomb-based non-classical light sources are demanded in quantum information science for quantum communication [8,9,10], and can significantly advance the generation of entangled states for quantum computation [11,12]. OFCs have an enormous potential for the development of telecommunication systems, especially optical communication systems, which is the primary attention of this paper. OFCs generated in WGM resonators (WGMRs) are the ideal candidate to ensure such optical communication systems’

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Conclusion