Interdisciplinary advances in microcombs: bridging physics and information technology
Abstract The advancement of microcomb sources, which serve as a versatile and powerful platform for various time–frequency measurements, have spurred widespread interest across disciplines. Their uses span coherent optical and microwave communications, atomic clocks, high-precision LiDARs, spectrometers, and frequency synthesizers. Recent breakthroughs in fabricating optical micro-cavities, along with the excitation and control of microcombs, have broadened their applications, bridging the gap between physical exploration and practical engineering systems. These developments pave the way for pioneering approaches in both classical and quantum information sciences. In this review article, we conduct a thorough examination of the latest strategies related to microcombs, their enhancement and functionalization schemes, and cutting-edge applications that cover signal generation, data transmission, quantum analysis, and information gathering, processing and computation. Additionally, we provide in-depth evaluations of microcomb-based methodologies tailored for a variety of applications. To conclude, we consider the current state of research and suggest a prospective roadmap that could transition microcomb technology from laboratory settings to broader real-world applications.
Authors
- Zhenda Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2060-3063)
- Baicheng Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8368-5815)
- Qiang Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7099-1995)
- Guang‐Can Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3771-9185)
- Teng Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1820-3618)
- Heng Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5601-0772)
- Chee Wei Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7652-7720)
- Wenting Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4503-5613)
- Shining N. Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3472-6497)
- Ninghua Zhu
Institutions
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (CN)
- Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics (CN)
- National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- eLight
- Published
- 2024-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s43593-024-00071-9
- Citations
- 32
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.80
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Sichuan Province Science and Technology Support Program
- National Outstanding Youth Science Fund Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China
- NSAF Joint Fund
- National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents
- Key Technologies Research and Development Program
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Division of Physics