Dual Optical Frequency Combs Research Articles

Cuffless Wearable Sphygmomanometers Using Dual Digital Optical Frequency Combs in Chalcogenide Chips

AbstractSphygmomanometers typically use a rubber cuff around the upper arm to measure blood pressure, but this method can be uncomfortable. Thus, cuffless sphygmomanometers for continuous blood pressure monitoring in emergencies and healthcare are desirable. While electrical and optical blood pressure sensors offer high sensitivity, they often face issues like limited pressure range, temperature drift, slow response, and wearability problems. To tackle these limitations, the study designs a unique cuffless wearable blood pressure sensor (12 mm × 2 mm × 0.5 mm) featuring two original components: a GeSbS/AsS chalcogenide dual‐microring chip for high sensitivity, and a dual digital optical frequency comb (DDOFC) system for fast response and cost‐effective detection. The sensor is comparable to reported electrical and optical blood pressure sensors in its detection limit (23 Pa) but has a ten‐times faster response rate (2 kHz), a 1000‐times longer stable operation (>4.3 × 107 cycles), and a well‐compensated temperature drift (<0.012 pm/°C) that eliminates the need for temperature control. This innovation shows promise for wearable electronics and mobile healthcare, enabling the capture of critical cardiovascular details for applications like in‐surgery monitoring, orthostatic hypotension studies, and early detection of myocardial ischemia and strokes.

Ultrafast ultrasound imaging by optical polymer microring resonator array and a dual optical frequency comb: a theoretical concept

Ultrafast ultrasound imaging by optical polymer microring resonator array and a dual optical frequency comb: a theoretical concept

Single-modulator, dual comb serrodyne spectroscopy.

Dual optical frequency comb spectroscopy allows for high speed, broadband measurements without any moving parts. Here, we combine differential chirp downconversion to probe large spectral bandwidths and serrodyne modulation to separate the positive and negative sidebands in a single modulator. As an initial demonstration, we apply this approach to measure a sharp cavity resonance to illustrate the system performance. We then measure methane transitions in the near-infrared and compare the resulting spectra to models based upon the current spectroscopic databases. The serrodyne method has lower hardware requirements compared to many existing approaches, and its simplicity enables a high degree of mutual coherence between the two combs. Further, this method is readily amenable to chip-scale photonic integration.

Brillouin expanded time-domain analysis based on dual optical frequency combs

Brillouin Optical Time-Domain Analysis (BOTDA) is a widely-used distributed optical fiber sensing technology employing pulse-modulated pump waves for local information retrieval of the Brillouin gain or loss spectra. The spatial resolution of BOTDA systems is intrinsically linked to pulse duration, so high-resolution measurements demand high electronic bandwidths inversely proportional to the resolution. This paper introduces Brillouin Expanded Time-Domain Analysis (BETDA) as a modified BOTDA system, simultaneously achieving high spatial resolution and low detection bandwidth. Utilizing two optical frequency combs (OFCs) with different frequency intervals as pump and probe, local Brillouin gain spectra are recorded by their spectral beating traces in an expanded time domain. A 2-cm-long hotspot located in a 230 m single-mode fiber is successfully measured in the time domain with a detection bandwidth of less than 100 kHz using dual OFCs with tailored spectral phase, line spacing, and bandwidth.

A Microwave Photonic 2 × 2 IBFD-MIMO Communication System with Narrowband Self-Interference Cancellation.

Combined in-band full duplex-multiple input multiple output (IBFD-MIMO) technology can significantly improve spectrum efficiency and data throughput, and has broad application prospects in communications, radar, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other fields. Targeting the self-interference (SI) issue in microwave photonic-based IBFD-MIMO communication systems, a microwave photonic self-interference cancellation (SIC) method applied to the narrowband 2 × 2 IBFD-MIMO communication system was proposed, simulated, and analyzed. An interleaver was used to construct a polarization multiplexing dual optical frequency comb with a frequency shifting effect, generating a dual-channel reference interference signal. The programmable spectrum processor was employed for filtering, attenuation, and phase-shifting operations, ensuring amplitude and phase matching to eliminate the two self-interference (SI) signals. The simulation results show that the single-frequency SIC depth exceeds 45.8 dB, and the narrowband SIC depth under 30 MHz bandwidth exceeds 32.7 dB. After SIC, the desired signal, employing a 4QAM modulation format, can be demodulated with an error vector magnitude (EVM) as low as 4.7%. Additionally, further channel expansion and system performance optimization are prospected.

Single-shot dynamics of dual-comb generation in a polarization-multiplexing fiber laser

Dual optical frequency combs have been a recurrent case of study over the last decade due to their wide use in a variety of metrology applications. Utilizing a single cavity laser to generate a dual comb reduces system complexity and facilitates suppression of common noise. However, a dual-comb regime in single cavity lasers tends to be more unstable and difficult to achieve. Therefore, having a better understanding about the way they are generated could improve and automate their generation and control. In this paper, we investigate the build-up dynamics and collision of dual comb in a polarization-multiplexing ring-cavity fiber laser using DFT (Dispersive Fourier Transform) method. We observe a bunch of meta-stable short-lived mode-locking states before the laser entered the dual-comb mode-locking state. The energy level of this short-lived initial pulses determines its evolution. If it decreases too much, the pulse will eventually collapse while if it stays above certain level, it will be successfully generated. The results presented in this paper increase the understanding of dual-comb generation inside a single cavity laser and may contribute in future attempts to increase the stabilization of this regime.

Photonics-Assisted Simultaneous RF Channelization and Self-Interference Cancellation

Both RF channelization and self-interference cancellation are urgently required for modern in-band full-duplex systems. A photonics-assisted RF receiver for simultaneous wideband channelization and self-interference cancellation is proposed and demonstrated. The key is the implementation of dual optical frequency combs (OFCs) followed by microwave photonic image-reject mixers (IRMs) using a dual-output Hartley structure. The received RF signal and the reference signal are modulated to a pair of signal OFCs with orthogonal polarization states, respectively. The microwave photonic IRM is applied on each polarization state, respectively. For each local OFC comb line, two components will be sliced and downconverted from each copy of the optically-carried received RF signal. Meanwhile, another two components will be sliced and downconverted from the optically-carried reference signal. After combining the outputs of the IRMs, the components from the image signal and the self-interference signal will be eliminated simultaneously. Two channels of the signal of interest will be obtained for each local OFC comb line. Experimental results show that an RF signal with an instantaneous bandwidth of 6 GHz (from 7 to 13 GHz) is channelized into 6 channels, each of which has a 1-GHz bandwidth. The isolation of larger than 28 dB between the channels is realized, and the simultaneous self-interference cancellation and image-rejection are achieved.

Dual-parameter femtosecond mode-locking pulse generation in partially shared all-polarization-maintaining fiber Y-shaped oscillator with a single saturable absorber

We present a design of a mode-locked fiber laser based on a polarization-maintaining (PM) Y-shaped fiber structure, which employs a single semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) and a common polarization beam combiner (PBC) to achieve dual- parameter mode-locking femtosecond pulse in two orthogonal polarization states. The two output pulses have different characteristics, such as repetition frequency (87.3 MHz and 91.3 MHz), average output powers (2.1 mW and 1.9 mW), pulse durations (299 fs and 377 fs) and spectral profiles (centered at 1565.6 nm and 1563.6 nm with spectral width of 9.96 nm and 9.93 nm). The properties of the two pulses are experimentally characterized and their potential applications in areas such as bistable frequency lasers and dual femtosecond optical frequency comb is discussed.

High accuracy, high dynamic range optomechanical accelerometry enabled by dual comb spectroscopy

Cavity optomechanical sensors can offer exceptional sensitivity; however, interrogating the cavity motion with high accuracy and dynamic range has proven to be challenging. Here, we employ a dual optical frequency comb spectrometer to readout a microfabricated cavity optomechanical accelerometer, allowing for rapid simultaneous measurements of the cavity’s displacement, finesse, and coupling at accelerations up to 24 g (236 m/s2). With this approach, we have achieved a displacement sensitivity of 2 fm Hz−1/2, a measurement rate of 100 kHz, and a dynamic range of 7.6 × 105, which is the highest we are aware of for a microfabricated cavity optomechanical sensor. In addition, comparisons of our optomechanical sensor coupled directly to a commercial reference accelerometer show agreement at the 0.5% level, a value that is limited by the reference’s reported uncertainty. Furthermore, the methods described herein are not limited to accelerometry but rather can be readily applied to nearly any optomechanical sensor where the combination of high speed, dynamic range, and sensitivity is expected to be enabling.

Broadband microwave photonic channelizer with high optical spectrum efficiency based on odd- and even-order local optical frequency combs

Microwave photonic channelizers assisted by coherent dual optical frequency combs (OFCs) have been widely considered for wideband radio frequency (RF) spectrum analysis. However, it requires dual OFCs with a large free spectral range (FSR) and multiple comb lines to support a wide RF coverage, leading to a complicated system structure and low optical spectrum efficiency. To this end, we propose a simplified, high optical spectrum-efficiency microwave photonic channelizer, wherein the odd-order and even-order OFCs with a double frequency spacing are generated and isolated to directly slice two frequency-shifted modulated optical spectra into a series of subbands. N comb lines can support 4 × N channels but take up a significantly reduced optical spectrum range. Partial experiments and simulations are presented to demonstrate the scheme. By exploiting a four-lines odd-order OFC and three-lines even OFC, a wideband RF spectrum range of 0–56 GHz is divided into 28 channels with a channel bandwidth of 2 GHz, and various wideband signals are spectrally analyzed with a high measurement accuracy and large image rejection suppression higher than 30 dB. Moreover, a 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) vector signal with a center frequency of 7 GHz and a bit rate of 1 Gbps is channelized and successfully recovered with a good constellation diagram.

Stability Characterisation and Application of Mutually Injection Locked Gain Switched Optical Frequency Combs for Dual Comb Spectroscopy

The application of two gain switched optical frequency combs (OFCs) in dual comb gas phase spectroscopy is demonstrated. We report on the stability analysis of the wavelength and power of individual comb lines of the two OFCs. The examination reveals that a maximum wavelength fluctuation of <2.5 pm and a maximum peak power fluctuation of ∼0.3 dB is achievable for the OFCs. The radio frequency (RF) beat tone spectrum shows the standard deviation of the peak power of an individual beat tone from the mean is as low as ∼0.14 dB with negligible frequency fluctuations. In a proof-of-principle experiment the dual comb system is applied to the detection of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) with a detection sensitivity of (740 ± 160) ppmv, demonstrating its excellent frequency and power stability. The dual OFCs can in principle be monolithically integrated and thus enable the development of compact, cost-efficient dual comb devices, for the detection of multiple trace gas species or isotopologues.

Fast optical vector network analysis based on dual optical frequency comb

An ultrafast optical vector network analysis (OVNA) based on dual optical frequency comb (OFC) and I/Q demodulation technology is proposed and demonstrated. The responses of the DUT with broadband are characterized by propagating the signal OFC through the DUT, and then detecting interference signals using digital signal processor with retrieval algorithm. Without the need of the acousto-optic modulator or optical filter in the scheme, the frequency aliasing can be eliminated by using the I/Q demodulation module, so that the spectral utilization efficiency of the OFC is improved significantly. Meanwhile, the wideband measurement with high acquisition rates can also be achieved. In simulation process, the single spectrum of HCN molecule with linewidth of 1 GHz and bandwidth of 10 GHz can be rapidly measured, and the measurement time is only 1μs in theory. Our proposed OVNA opens the door to realize a real-time detection in the field of trace molecular sensing.

High-efficiency coupled-cavity optical frequency comb generation

We present a high efficiency source of picosecond pulses derived from a dual cavity optical frequency comb generator. This approach overcomes the limitations of single cavity comb generators that are restricted to efficiencies of a few percent. We achieve picosecond pulses with GHz repetition rates offering over a hundred times higher output efficiency than a single cavity design and demonstrate tuning of pulse width by varying the modulation depth of the intra-cavity electro-optic modulator. These results provide a wavelength-agnostic design with a compact footprint for the development of portable picosecond pulsed laser systems for timing, metrology, and LIDAR applications.

Dual Optical Frequency Comb Neuron: Co‐Developing Hardware and Algorithm

Previous studies on photonic neural network have demonstrated that algorithm can inspire hardware design. This study seeks to demonstrate that hardware can also inspire algorithm design. To further exploit the advantages of photonic analog computing, the authors develop hardware and algorithm simultaneously for photonic convolutional neural networks. Specifically, this work developed an architecture called dual optical frequency comb neuron (DOFCN) enabled by an integrated microcomb to perform cosinusoidal nonlinear activation and vector convolution without temporal or spatial dispersion and large‐scale modulator arrays. Furthermore, DOFCN‐based composite vector convolutional neural networks (CVCNNs), an optical‐electric hybrid model, are proposed to perform classification and regression tests in signal modulation format identification and optical structure inverse design tasks, respectively. The ablation experiments show that under 4‐bit precision limit, the element‐wise activation CVCNN has 14% higher classification accuracy, 76% lower regression residuals, and 100% higher training efficiency than that of the 32‐bit standard convolutional neural network (CNN). DOFCN exhibits impressive spectral information processing ability to facilitate signal‐processing tasks related to optics and electromagnetics.

Coherently averaged dual-comb spectroscopy with a low-noise and high-power free-running gigahertz dual-comb laser.

We present a new type of dual optical frequency comb source capable of scaling applications to high measurement speeds while combining high average power, ultra-low noise operation, and a compact setup. Our approach is based on a diode-pumped solid-state laser cavity which includes an intracavity biprism operated at Brewster angle to generate two spatially-separated modes with highly correlated properties. The 15-cm-long cavity uses an Yb:CALGO crystal and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror as an end mirror to generate more than 3 W average power per comb, below 80 fs pulse duration, a repetition rate of 1.03 GHz, and a continuously tunable repetition rate difference up to 27 kHz. We carefully investigate the coherence properties of the dual-comb by a series of heterodyne measurements, revealing several important features: (1) ultra-low jitter on the uncorrelated part of the timing noise; (2) the radio frequency comb lines of the interferograms are fully resolved in free-running operation; (3) we validate that through a simple measurement of the interferograms we can determine the fluctuations of the phase of all the radio frequency comb lines; (4) this phase information is used in a post-processing routine to perform coherently averaged dual-comb spectroscopy of acetylene (C2H2) over long timescales. Our results represent a powerful and general approach to dual-comb applications by combining low noise and high power operation directly from a highly compact laser oscillator.

Tunable dual optical frequency comb at 2 μm for CO2 sensing.

In this article, we demonstrate a dual frequency comb (DFC) based on the gain-switching of mutually injection-locked semiconductor lasers in the 2 μm wavelength region with a tunable free spectral range (FSR) between 500 MHz and 3 GHz. Through the down-conversion process enabled by DFCs, the beating spectra of the optical frequency combs were captured in a 15 MHz electrical bandwidth with high resolution and millisecond acquisition times. A first experimental demonstration of sensing CO2 with this architecture is also presented.

Single-cavity dual-comb fiber lasers and their applications

Single-cavity, dual-comb lasers are those specially designed mode-locked lasers that can emit more than one, asynchronous ultrashort pulse trains with stable repetition frequency difference between them. Unlike the long-studied, widely-used femtosecond lasers generating one stable pulse train, systematic investigation on them and their potential dual-comb applications only began, based on the fiber laser platform, around a decade ago, despite sporadic and limited reports of similar lasing phenomena since the beginning of the mode-locked laser studies. From a historic perspective, the birth of this novel technology is the lucky outcome of the timely collision of perpetual search for novel pulsing laser dynamics and concerted pursuit of open-minded solutions for out-of-lab dual-comb systems in the 2010s. In this review article, first, the current schemes to implement single-cavity dual optical frequency comb fiber lasers and their applications are summarized, based on the concept of multiplexed mode-locked lasers. The characteristics of reported single-cavity, dual-comb fiber lasers are discussed as well as their applications in spectroscopy, ranging, Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy, and asynchronous optical sampling (ASOPS). Finally, the more recent development of single-cavity, multi-comb lasers is presented.

Ultra-wideband wireless channel and environment characterization assisted by dual optical frequency comb

In this work, a photonic technique based on dual optical frequency comb is proposed to perform ultra-wideband channel sounding that delivers high-resolution channel characterization and high-speed environment monitoring. The proof-of-concept experiments demonstrate the continuous sounding of non-line-of-sight wireless channels with > TS/s sampling resolution and the revealing of an electric fan rotating at up to 1100 rpm. A wireless channel of 12 GHz bandwidth is covered using electronics with less than 60 MHz bandwidth, showcasing the high practicality of the proposed technique in assisting the evolution towards the integration of communication and sensing essential in the next generation of wireless communication.

Dual Optical Frequency Comb Generation with Dual Cascaded Difference Frequency Generation

In this work, we propose a novel dual optical frequency comb (DOFC) generation scheme based on dual cascaded difference frequency generation (DCDFG). Feasible designs are introduced that enable the two sets of cascaded optical waves, initially generated by DCDFG in an aperiodically periodically poled lithium niobate (APPLN) crystal with a pump wave and two signal waves, then transferred to high-order Stokes waves by oscillations of cascaded Stokes waves and the optimization of phase mismatching of each-order DCDFG; finally, a DOFC was constructed. We demonstrate a high-performance DOFC with characteristics of high repetition frequency difference, tunable repetition frequency difference, high flatness, and a tunable spectral distribution range by providing a theoretical framework. We argue that the scheme proposed in this work is promising for achieving a high-quality DOFC.

Pavement condition sensor based on a dual optical frequency comb generator

A pavement condition sensor aims to estimate the pavement surface grip, and therefore the sensor must detect the presence of water, snow, slush or the like on the surface of the pavement. The leading technology for such a sensor is near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy using a wavelength range around a water absorption peak. In this paper we present a pavement condition sensor based on said technique that uses an electro-optic dual optical frequency comb generator as optical source. The proposed sensor provides unique properties in terms of measuring integration time that are necessary to advance the pavement condition several meters ahead of a moving vehicle.