We demonstrate an optically and electrically packaged silicon photonic receiver system for non-sliced optical arbitrary waveform measurement (OAWM). The OAWM engine is used for high-speed data transmission and for photonic-electronic analog-to-digital conversion at bandwidths of up to 320 GHz.

We demonstrate the first spectrally sliced OAWM receiver assembly that combines slicing filters and optical receivers in a hybrid multi-chip module. We prove the viability of the device by receiving a wavelength-division-multiplexed signal over a bandwidth of 320 GHz.

Comb-based optical arbitrary waveform measurement (OAWM) techniques can overcome the bandwidth limitations of conventional coherent detection schemes, thereby enabling ultra-broadband signal acquisition in a wide range of scientific and industrial applications. For efficient and robust implementation of such OAWM systems, miniaturization into chip-scale form factors is key. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate an OAWM scheme that exploits chip-scale Kerr soliton combs as compact and highly scalable multi-wavelength local oscillators (LO) and that does not require optical slicing filters, thus lending itself to efficient implementation on state-of-the-art high-index-contrast integration platforms such as silicon photonics. The scheme allows for measuring truly arbitrary waveforms with high accuracy based on a dedicated system model that is calibrated by means of a femtosecond laser with a known pulse shape. We demonstrate the viability of our approach in a proof-of-concept experiment by capturing optical waveforms with multiple 16QAM and 64QAM wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) data signals, reaching overall line rates of up to 1.92 Tbit/s within an optical acquisition bandwidth of 610 GHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest bandwidth that has so far been demonstrated in an OAWM experiment. Our work opens a path towards efficient implementation of OAWM systems, offering THz acquisition bandwidths in highly compact and robust assemblies that can rely on chip-scale frequency-comb generators and simple filter-less detector circuits.

We demonstrate frequency-agile self-injection-locked lasers that exploit photonic wire bonds for connecting piezo-tunable Si 3 N 4 microresonators to DFB lasers. Our devices offer intrinsic linewidths below 100Hz along with highly linear frequency sweeping over more than 1GHz.

We propose and demonstrate a novel scheme for optical arbitrary waveform measurement (OAWM) that exploits chip-scale Kerr soliton combs as highly scalable multiwavelength local oscillators (LO) for ultra-broadband full-field waveform acquisition. In contrast to earlier concepts, our approach does not require any optical slicing filters and thus lends itself to efficient implementation on state-of-the-art high-index-contrast integration platforms such as silicon photonics. The scheme allows to measure truly arbitrary waveforms with high accuracy, based on a dedicated system model which is calibrated by means of a femtosecond laser with known pulse shape. We demonstrated the viability of the approach in a proof-of-concept experiment by capturing an optical waveform that contains multiple 16 QAM and 64 QAM wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) data signals with symbol rates of up to 80 GBd, reaching overall line rates of up to 1.92 Tbit/s within an optical acquisition bandwidth of 610 GHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest bandwidth that has so far been demonstrated in an OAWM experiment.

Combining optical gain in direct-bandgap III-V materials with tunable optical feedback offered by advanced photonic integrated circuits is key to chip-scale external-cavity lasers (ECL), offering wideband tunability along with low optical linewidths. External feedback circuits can be efficiently implemented using low-loss silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) waveguides, which do not suffer from two-photon absorption and can thus handle much higher power levels than conventional silicon photonics. However, co-integrating III-V-based gain elements with tunable external feedback circuits in chip-scale modules still represents a challenge, requiring either technologically demanding heterogeneous integration techniques or costly high-precision multi-chip assembly, often based on active alignment. In this work, we demonstrate Si 3 N 4 -based hybrid integrated ECL that exploit 3D-printed structures such as intra-cavity photonic wire bonds and facet-attached microlenses for low-loss optical coupling with relaxed alignment tolerances, thereby overcoming the need for active alignment while maintaining the full flexibility of multi-chip integration techniques. In a proof-of-concept experiment, we demonstrate an ECL offering a 90 nm tuning range (1480 nm–1570 nm) with on-chip output powers above 12 dBm and side-mode suppression ratios of up to 59 dB in the center of the tuning range. We achieve an intrinsic linewidth of 979 Hz, which is among the lowest values reported for comparable feedback architectures. The optical loss of the intra-cavity photonic wire bond between the III-V gain element and the Si 3 N 4 -based tunable feedback circuit amounts to approximately (1.6 ± 0.2) dB. We use the ECL as a tunable pump laser to generate a dissipative Kerr soliton frequency comb. To the best of our knowledge, our experiments represent the first demonstration of a single-soliton Kerr comb generated with a pump that is derived from a hybrid ECL.

We report on an InP/Si 3 N 4 hybrid integrated ECL that relies on 3D-printed coupling elements such as intra-cavity photonic wire bonds and facet-attached microlenses. We demonstrate 90 nm tuning range, SMSR above 60 dB, and intrinsic linewidths of 979 Hz. We use the ECL as tunable pump laser for Kerr-comb generation.

We demonstrate an optical arbitrary waveform measurement (OAWM) technique that exploits optical frequency combs as multi-wavelength local oscillators (LO) and that does not require any optical slicing filters. In a proof-of-concept experiment, we achieve record-high bandwidths exceeding 600 GHz.