26 Feb 2024 | Yang He1, Long Cheng1, Heming Wang1, Yu Zhang2, Roy Meade2, Kerry Vahala3, Mian Zhang2, Jiang Li1†
This paper presents a chip-scale high-performance photonic microwave oscillator that achieves ultra-low phase noise. The oscillator integrates a dual laser reference and an integrated electro-optical (eOFD) comb. The dual laser reference is co-self-injection-locked to a single silicon nitride spiral resonator, providing a high-stability, on-chip optical reference. The eOFD comb, based on a thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) phase modulator chip, performs 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 represents a significant advancement in high-performance, integrated photonic microwave oscillators, with potential applications in signal processing, radar, timing, and coherent communications. The design and fabrication details of the components, including the Si3N4 spiral resonator and TFLN phase modulator, are described, along with experimental results demonstrating the low phase noise performance.This paper presents a chip-scale high-performance photonic microwave oscillator that achieves ultra-low phase noise. The oscillator integrates a dual laser reference and an integrated electro-optical (eOFD) comb. The dual laser reference is co-self-injection-locked to a single silicon nitride spiral resonator, providing a high-stability, on-chip optical reference. The eOFD comb, based on a thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) phase modulator chip, performs 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 represents a significant advancement in high-performance, integrated photonic microwave oscillators, with potential applications in signal processing, radar, timing, and coherent communications. The design and fabrication details of the components, including the Si3N4 spiral resonator and TFLN phase modulator, are described, along with experimental results demonstrating the low phase noise performance.