Frequency Agile Hybrid Si3N4-MEMS Photonic Integrated Circuit Based Laser

The frequency agility of a laser, i.e., the ability to tune and precisely control the laser frequency, allows to use them for tight laser locking in ion trapping and atomic physics, spectroscopy, fast wavelength switching applications in telecommunications and in frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LiDAR, so-called, coherent LiDAR. Over the past two decades, major advances have been made in silicon-based integrated lasers, where both hybrid and heterogeneous integration of III - V have enabled compact lasers that are already commercially used in datacenter transceivers [1], [2]. Yet, these laser sources have not obtained a phase noise performance in combination with laser frequency actuation speed that is on par with legacy lasers systems. Here, we report on a hybrid inte-grated ECL based on reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA or gain chip) and a double-ring Vernier filter in a low loss Si
3
N
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photonic-integrated circuit (PIC).