26 Feb 2024 | Yang He, Long Cheng, Heming Wang, Yu Zhang, Roy Meade, Kerry Vahala, Mian Zhang, Jiang Li
A chip-scale electro-optical frequency division (eOFD) microwave oscillator with ultra-low phase noise performance is reported. The oscillator utilizes a fully on-chip dual laser reference and an integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) electro-optic comb (EO comb). The dual laser reference is achieved through co-self-injection-locking (cSIL) of two distributed feedback (DFB) lasers to a single silicon nitride (Si3N4) spiral resonator, providing a record-low on-chip optical phase noise. The integrated TFLN EO comb is generated using a novel phase modulator chip, enabling optical-to-microwave frequency division. The resulting chip-scale photonic microwave oscillator achieves a phase noise level of -129 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset for a 37.7 GHz carrier, equivalent to -141 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset for a 10 GHz carrier. This performance matches the record low phase noise of a recent photonic chip-based soliton OFD system. The oscillator also demonstrates a closed-loop integrated eOFD servo locking bandwidth of >1 MHz, which is significantly higher than current soliton-OFD systems. The design incorporates a 14-meter long Si3N4 spiral resonator with a record-high Q factor of 332 million, and a TFLN phase modulator with low Vπ performance. The system achieves a phase noise reduction of 35 dB from the optical reference to the microwave carrier at 37.7 GHz. The oscillator is a major advance in high-performance, integrated photonic microwave oscillators for applications including signal processing, radar, timing, and coherent communications. The work demonstrates the potential for scalable production through hybrid integration of III-V with Si3N4 and Si3N4 with TFLN. The results highlight the benefits of on-chip integration, including reduced complexity, size, and power consumption, while maintaining high phase noise performance.A chip-scale electro-optical frequency division (eOFD) microwave oscillator with ultra-low phase noise performance is reported. The oscillator utilizes a fully on-chip dual laser reference and an integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) electro-optic comb (EO comb). The dual laser reference is achieved through co-self-injection-locking (cSIL) of two distributed feedback (DFB) lasers to a single silicon nitride (Si3N4) spiral resonator, providing a record-low on-chip optical phase noise. The integrated TFLN EO comb is generated using a novel phase modulator chip, enabling optical-to-microwave frequency division. The resulting chip-scale photonic microwave oscillator achieves a phase noise level of -129 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset for a 37.7 GHz carrier, equivalent to -141 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset for a 10 GHz carrier. This performance matches the record low phase noise of a recent photonic chip-based soliton OFD system. The oscillator also demonstrates a closed-loop integrated eOFD servo locking bandwidth of >1 MHz, which is significantly higher than current soliton-OFD systems. The design incorporates a 14-meter long Si3N4 spiral resonator with a record-high Q factor of 332 million, and a TFLN phase modulator with low Vπ performance. The system achieves a phase noise reduction of 35 dB from the optical reference to the microwave carrier at 37.7 GHz. The oscillator is a major advance in high-performance, integrated photonic microwave oscillators for applications including signal processing, radar, timing, and coherent communications. The work demonstrates the potential for scalable production through hybrid integration of III-V with Si3N4 and Si3N4 with TFLN. The results highlight the benefits of on-chip integration, including reduced complexity, size, and power consumption, while maintaining high phase noise performance.