(DURIP) HIGH FREQUENCY NOISE ANALYSIS OF MICRORESONATOR-BASED KERR FREQUENCY COMBS

Funding is requested for acquisition of a high-frequency measurement system for characterizing the residual intensity noise and absolute and relative phase noise of high-repetition rate Kerr frequency combs with comb spacings up to 90 GHz. This instrument will greatly enable our AFOSR research on microresonator Kerr frequency combs by allowing us to study the dynamics and various fundamental noise properties of these combs. This measurement system will be used to characterize the repetition rate noise between the generated comb modes which is critical for microwave generation and millimeter wave wireless communications. The instrument will also enable the study of quantum correlations in Kerr combs, which could guide research towards the realization of an entanglement resource for continuous-variable quantum information processing. In addition, the instrument will allow for characterization of the noise properties governing comb generation dynamics in the normal group-velocity dispersion regime. Lastly, the instrument will enable studies of the stability, noise properties, and the RF dynamics of Kerr comb synchronization. In addition, this equipment will promote collaborative efforts on high frequency microwave research with other groups at Columbia University including areas of optomechanical oscillators, microwave photonics, RF devices, CMOS integrated circuits, high-speed electronics devices, high-speed signal processing, and optical interconnection networks. Furthermore, acquisition of this measurement system will promote the the training of graduate and undergraduate students in areas of microwave and millimeter wave photonics and optoelectronics.