Pockels Laser Directly Driving Ultrafast Optical Metrology

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2410.07482
• Publication Date: 2024-10-09
• Authors: Shixin Xue; Mingxiao Li; Raymond Lopez‐Rios; Jingwei Ling; Zhengdong Gao; Qili Hu; Tian Qiu; Jeremy Staffa; Lin Chang; Heming Wang; Chao Xiang; John E. Bowers; Qiang Lin
• Keywords: Pockels effect

The invention of the laser unleashed potential optical metrology, leading to numerous advancements in modern science and technology. This reliance on lasers, however, also sets a bottleneck for precision metrology which is complicated by sophisticated photonic infrastructure required delicate laser-wave control, limited performance significant system complexity. Here we make key step towards resolving this challenge, demonstrating Pockels with multi-functional capability that advances new level. chip-scale exhibits narrow intrinsic linewidth down 167 Hz broad mode-hop-free tuning range up 24 GHz. In particular, it offers an unprecedented frequency chirping rate 20 EHz/s, enormous modulation bandwidth >10 GHz, both orders magnitude larger than any existing lasers. With laser, are able successfully achieve velocimetry 40 m/s at short distance 0.4 m, measurable velocity first cosmic 1 m away, inaccessible conventional ranging approaches, resolution <2 cm. Moreover, time best our knowledge, realize dramatically simplified architecture stabilization, direct locking external reference gas cell without extra light control. We long-term stability fluctuation only $\pm$ 6.5 MHz over 60 minutes. demonstrated combines elegantly high coherence ultrafast reconfigurability superior multifunctional envision have profound impacts many areas including communication, sensing, autonomous driving, quantum information processing, beyond.