We measure the photothermal nonlinear response in suspended cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) and 3C-SiC-on-insulator (SiCOI) microring resonators. Bi-stability and thermo-optic hysteresis is observed in both types of resonators, with the suspended resonators showing a stronger response. A photothermal nonlinear index of 4.02×10⁻¹⁵ m²/W is determined for the suspended resonators, while the SiCOI resonators demonstrate one order of magnitude lower photothermal nonlinear index of 4.32×10⁻¹⁶ m²/W. Cavity absorption and temperature analysis suggest that the differences in thermal bi-stability are due to variations in waveguide absorption, likely from crystal defect density differences throughout the epitaxially grown layers. Furthermore, coupled mode theory model shows that the strength of the optical bi-stability, in suspended and SiCOI resonators can be engineered for high power or nonlinear applications.

Developments in integrated photonics have led to stable, compact and broadband comb generators that support a wide range of applications including communications¹, ranging², spectroscopy³, frequency metrology⁴, optical computing^5,6 and quantum information^7,8. Broadband optical frequency combs can be generated in electro-optical cavities, where light passes through a phase modulator multiple times while circulating in an optical resonator^9,10,11,12. However, broadband electro-optic frequency combs are currently limited by low conversion efficiencies. Here we demonstrate an integrated electro-optic frequency comb with a conversion efficiency of 30% and an optical span of 132 nm, based on a coupled-resonator platform on thin-film lithium niobate¹³. We further show that, enabled by the high efficiency, the device acts as an on-chip femtosecond pulse source (336 fs pulse duration), which is important for applications in nonlinear optics, sensing and computing. As an example, in the ultrafast and high-power regime, we demonstrate a frequency comb with simultaneous electro-optic and third-order nonlinearity effects. Our device paves the way for practical optical frequency comb generators and provides a platform to investigate new regimes of optical physics that simultaneously involve multiple nonlinearities.

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) band (30 - 300 GHz) is an emerging spectrum range for wireless communication, short-range radar and sensor applications. mmWave-optic modulators that could efficiently convert mmWave signals into optical domain are crucial components for long-haul transmission of mmWave signals through optical networks. At these ultrahigh frequencies, however, the modulation performances are highly sensitive to the transmission line loss as well as the velocity- and impedance-matching conditions, while precise measurements and modeling of these parameters are often non-trivial. Here we present a systematic investigation of the mmWave-optic modulation performances of thin-film lithium niobate modulators through theoretical modeling, electrical verifications and electro-optic measurements at frequencies up to 325 GHz. Based on our experimentally verified model, we demonstrate thin-film lithium niobate mmWave-optic modulators with a measured 3-dB electro-optic bandwidth of 170 GHz and a 6-dB bandwidth of 295 GHz. The device also shows a low RF half-wave voltage of 7.3 V measured at an ultrahigh modulation frequency of 250 GHz. This work provides a comprehensive guideline for the design and characterization of mmWave-optic modulators and paves the way toward future integrated mmWave photonic systems for beyond-5G communication and radar applications.

Thin-film lithium niobate has shown promise for scalable applications ranging from single-photon sources to high-bandwidth data communication systems.
Realization of the next generation high-performance classical and quantum devices, however, requires much lower optical losses than the current state of the art (~10 million). Unfortunately, material limitations of ion-sliced thin film lithium niobate have not been explored, and therefore it is unclear how high quality factor  can be achieved in this platform. Here we evaluate the material limited quality factor of thin film lithium niobate photonic platform can be as high as Q~10⁸ at telecommunication wavelengths, corresponding to a propagation loss of 0.2 dB/m.

Existing nonlinear-optic implementations of pure, unfiltered heralded single-photon sources do not offer the scalability required for densely integrated quantum networks. Additionally, lithium niobate has hitherto been unsuitable for such use due to its material dispersion. We engineer the dispersion and the quasi-phasematching conditions of a waveguide in the rapidly emerging thin-film lithium niobate platform to generate spectrally separable photon pairs in the telecommunications band. Such photon pairs can be used as spectrally pure heralded single-photon sources in quantum networks. We estimate a heralded-state spectral purity of >94% based on joint spectral intensity measurements. Further, a joint spectral phase-sensitive measurement of the unheralded time-integrated second-order correlation function yields a heralded-state purity of (86±5)%.

Solid-state quantum emitters are promising candidates for the realization of quantum networks, owing to their long-lived spin memories, high-fidelity local operations, and optical connectivity for long-range entanglement. However, due to differences in local environment, solid-state emitters typically feature a range of distinct transition frequencies, which makes it challenging to create optically mediated entanglement between arbitrary emitter pairs. We propose and demonstrate an efficient method for entangling emitters with optical transitions separated by many linewidths. In our approach, electro-optic modulators enable a single photon to herald a parity measurement on a pair of spin qubits. We experimentally demonstrate the protocol using two silicon-vacancy centers in a diamond nanophotonic cavity, with optical transitions separated by 7.4 GHz. Working with distinguishable emitters allows for individual qubit addressing and readout, enabling parallel control and entanglement of both colocated and spatially separated emitters, a key step toward scaling up quantum information processing systems.

Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) has become an intriguing platform for integrated photonics for applications in communications, microwave photonics, and computing. Whereas, integrated devices including modulators, resonators, and lasers with high performance have been recently realized on the LNOI platform, high-speed photodetectors, an essential building block in photonic integrated circuits, have not been demonstrated on LNOI yet. Here, we demonstrate for the first time, heterogeneously integrated modified uni-traveling carrier photodiodes on LNOI with a record-high bandwidth of 80 GHz and a responsivity of 0.6 A/W at a 1550-nm wavelength. The photodiodes are based on an n-down InGaAs/InP epitaxial layer structure that was optimized for high carrier transit time-limited bandwidth. Photodiode integration was achieved using a scalable wafer die bonding approach that is fully compatible with the LNOI platform.

A high-resolution broad-spectral-bandwidth spectrometer on a chip would create new opportunities for gas-phase molecular fingerprinting, especially in environmental sensing. A resolution high enough to observe transitions at atmospheric pressure and the simultaneous sensitive detection of multiple atoms or molecules are the key challenges. Here, an electro-optic microring-based dualcomb interferometer, fabricated on a low-loss lithium-niobate-on-insulator nanophotonic platform, demonstrates significant progress towards such an achievement. Spectra spanning 1.6 THz (53 cm^-1) at a resolution of 10 GHz (0.33 cm^-1) are obtained in a single measurement without requiring frequency scanning or moving parts. The frequency agility of the system enables spectrally-tailored multiplexed sensing, which allows for interrogation of non-adjacent spectral regions, here separated by 6.6 THz (220 cm^-1), without compromising the signal-to-noise ratio.

Integrated thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonics has emerged as a promising platform for realization of high-performance chip-scale optical systems. Of particular importance are TFLN electro-optic modulators featuring high-linearity, low driving voltage and low-propagation loss. However, fully integrated system requires integration of high power, low noise, and narrow linewidth lasers on TFLN chip. Here we achieve this goal, and demonstrate integrated high-power lasers on TFLN platform with up to 60 mW of optical power in the waveguides. We use this platform to realize a high-power transmitter consisting an electrically-pumped laser integrated with a 50 GHz modulator.