Self-injection-locked optical parametric oscillator based on microcombs

Abstract

Narrow-linewidth yet tunable laser oscillators are one of the most important tools for precision metrology, optical atomic clocks, sensing, and quantum computing. Commonly used tunable coherent oscillators are based on stimulated emission or stimulated Brillouin scattering; as a result, the operating wavelength band is limited by the gain media. Based on nonlinear optical gain, optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) enable coherent signal generation within the whole transparency window of the medium used. However, the demonstration of OPO-based Hertz-level linewidth and tunable oscillators has remained elusive. Here, we present a tunable coherent oscillator based on a multimode coherent OPO in a high-Q microresonator, i.e., a microcomb. Single-mode coherent oscillation is realized through self-injection locking (SIL) of one selected comb line. We achieve coarse tuning up to 20 nm and an intrinsic linewidth down to sub-Hertz level, which is three orders of magnitude lower than the pump. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this scheme results in the repetition rate stabilization of the microcomb. These results open exciting possibilities for generating tunable coherent radiation where stimulated emission materials are difficult to obtain, and the stabilization of microcomb sources beyond the limits imposed by the thermorefractive noise in the cavity.