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Electro-Optic Phase Modulation, Frequency Comb Generation, Nonlinear Spectral Broadening, and Applications

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thesis
posted on 2019-08-15, 20:05 authored by Oscar E SandovalOscar E Sandoval

Electro-optic phase modulation can be used to generate high repetition rate optical frequency combs. The optical frequency comb (OFC) has garnered much attention upon its inception, acting as a crucial component in applications ranging from metrology and spectroscopy, to optical communications. Electro-optic frequency combs (EO combs) can be generated by concatenating an intensity modulator and phase modulator together. The first part of this work focuses on broadening the modest bandwidth inherent to the EO combs. This is achieved by propagation in a nonlinear medium, specifically propagation in a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM). This allows for broadening the EO frequency comb spectrum to a bandwidth of 40 nm with a spectral power variation of < 10 dB. This spectrally broadened EO comb is then used in dual comb interferometry measurements to characterize the single soliton generated in an anomalous dispersion silicone-nitride microresonator. This measurement allows for rapid characterization with low average power. Finally, electro-optic phase modulation is used in a technique to prove frequency-bin entanglement. A quantum network based on optical fiber will require the ability to perform phase modulation independent of photon polarization due to propagation in optical fiber scrambling the polarization of input light. Commercially available phase modulators are inherently dependent on the polarization state of input light making them unsuited to be used in such a depolarized environment. This limitation is overcome by implementing a polarization diversity scheme to measure frequency-bin entanglement for arbitrary orientations of co- and cross- polarized frequency-bin entangled photon pairs.

History

Degree Type

  • Doctor of Philosophy

Department

  • Electrical and Computer Engineering

Campus location

  • West Lafayette

Advisor/Supervisor/Committee Chair

Andrew M. Weiner

Additional Committee Member 2

Daniel S. Elliott

Additional Committee Member 3

Sunil Bhave

Additional Committee Member 4

Peter Bermel