Nonlinear Optics in High-Q Silicon and Silicon Carbide Microcavities

Modern technologies allow us to fabricate optical microcavities that confine light tightly at resonant frequencies at micrometer scales for an extended period of time, which have broad applications in optomechanics, nonlinear optics, and quantum optics. In this talk, I will focus on nonlinear optics in high-Q silicon and silicon carbide microcavities. I will present our recent work in photon-pair sources and heralded single-photon sources on a silicon chip. I will characterize the device performance and discuss several interesting physical properties of the photon statistics. I will then introduce a new photonic material, silicon carbide, and discuss the motivation and progress of the silicon carbide nonlinear optics. I will also present an innovative method, i.e., selective mode splitting, for dispersion engineering in nonlinear optical processes. To conclude, I will share my blueprint of a phonon-photon-spin coupling platform in silicon carbide photonic devices with a brief summary of the current status of related fields.

For further information please contact kartik.srinivasan [at] nist.gov (Kartik Srinivasan), 301-975-5938