A Microresonator System for Generating Low Noise Microwaves
Abstract
Optically pumped high-optical-Q microresonators can generate periodic optical pulses that produce low phase noise microwave signals upon photo-detection. These devices have the potential to be compact and consume low power, which combined with their low noise have applications that include astrophysics, radar, time and frequency transfer, telecommunications, quantum networking and control, mobile platforms for precision timing and navigation, and optical arbitrary waveform generation. We are proposing the purchase of equipment to be incorporated into an experimental testbed that will be sufficiently sophisticated to carry out state-of-the-art research on microwave generation and purification using microresonators and that will include undergraduates. The equipment includes a microresonator, a narrow linewidth pump laser, a low noise laser controller with a sophisticated feedback system, a sophisticated phase noise measurement instrument, a high frequency signal generator, a diagnostic laser system to probe the modes of the microresonantor, high speed optical photodiode receivers, and high frequency electro-optic modulators to stimulate the periodic pulses. The effort will combine the experimental expertise of Professor Gary Carter and the theoretical modeling and analysis of Professor Curtis Menyuk to advance the fundamental knowledge of how to produce and purify microwave signals using these compact devices and RF-modulated optical inputs. The research will concentrate on looking at trade-offs in producing low noise microwave signals from a pulse train composed of single pulses with a repetition rate that equals the inverse of the time for one round trip of an optical pulse (a single soliton) in the resonator as well as from a periodic train of pulses (soliton crystal) with a repetition rate that is an integer multiple of this fundamental rate. We will investigate the use of RF modulation to generate single solitons and soliton crystals deterministically and conversely the use of solitons in a high-Q resonator to purify the input RF modulation. The educational aspect of this research is specifically aimed towards students from under-represented populations, which will add to the pool of trained STEM researchers in the area of time and frequency generation and control. The investigators will recruit students from under-represented populations to participate in this research who are participants in UMBCÕs well-known Meyerhoff Scholars Program, the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, the Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement (McNair Scholars) Program, and the Center for Women in Technology (CWIT), all of which are at UMBC. The investigators plan to recruit students from these programs to work in their research group both in the academic year and summer and will work closely with these programs to identify promising students and provide a unique educational opportunity. We intend to train students on the basic concepts, operation, and characterization of the equipment. Further we will train the students on how to make meaningful time and frequency analyses using data obtained from the research. This effort will provide training in critical areas of STEM that is not readily available at most institutions of higher education. There will be opportunities for students in our program to stay with our research program as graduate students, as well as internship opportunities for students in the laboratories of our research collaborators at the Army Research Laboratory, the Naval Research Laboratory, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and the National Institute of Science and Technology.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 02, 2022
- Source ID
- W911NF2210131
Entities
People
- Gary Carter
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County