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arXiv:2602.00246

On-chip electrically reconfigurable octave-bandwidth optical amplification from visible to near-infrared

Guanyu Han, Wenjun Deng, Yu Fei Wang, Ziyao Feng, Wei J. Wang, Meng Tian, Yu Liu, Souvik Biswas, Carlos A. Meriles, Andrea Alù, Qiushi Guo

Published Jan 30, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Achieving broadband on-chip optical amplification spanning the visible and near-infrared (NIR) can enable diverse quantum sensing, metrology, and classical communication applications within a single unified device. However, conventional semiconductor and ion-doped amplifiers suffer from limited gain bandwidths set by fixed energy levels, while optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) operating continuously from the visible to the NIR have remained elusive due to dispersion-limited bandwidth and the high pump powers required in the visible or ultraviolet (UV). Here, we overcome these limitations by introducing an electrically reconfigurable OPA architecture on lithium niobate integrated photonics. By synergistically combining ultra-high effective $χ^{(2)}$ nonlinearity ($\sim$7,000\%/W-cm$^2$), high-order dispersion engineering, and local electro-thermal tuning of quasi-phase matching, our device achieves record gain spectral spanning more than an optical octave, from 770 to 1650 nm. This range covers key transitions of many photonic quantum systems and all telecommunication bands. Moreover, our approach eliminates the need for high-power, wavelength-tunable visible or UV pumps, delivering a peak on-chip gain of 23.67 dB with a single 1060 nm pump at 90 mW average on-chip power. This work opens new avenues for multi-functional, reconfigurable photonics unifying the visible and infrared regimes, with broad implications for quantum sensing and communications.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2602.00246

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Achieving broadband on-chip optical amplification spanning the visible and near-infrared (NIR) can enable diverse quantum sensing, metrology, and classical communication applications within a single unified device. However, conventional semiconductor and ion-doped amplifiers suffer from limited gain bandwidths set by fixed energy levels, while optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) operating continuously from the visible to the NIR have remained elusive due to dispersion-limited bandwidth and the high pump powers required in the visible or ultraviolet (UV). Here, we overcome these limitations by introducing an electrically reconfigurable OPA architecture on lithium niobate integrated photonics. By synergistically combining ultra-high effective χ(2)χ^{(2)}χ(2) nonlinearity (∼\sim∼7,000%/W-cm2^22), high-order dispersion engineering, and local electro-thermal tuning of quasi-phase matching, our device achieves record gain spectral spanning more than an optical octave, from 770 to 1650 nm. This range covers key transitions of many photonic quantum systems and all telecommunication bands. Moreover, our approach eliminates the need for high-power, wavelength-tunable visible or UV pumps, delivering a peak on-chip gain of 23.67 dB with a single 1060 nm pump at 90 mW average on-chip power. This work opens new avenues for multi-functional, reconfigurable photonics unifying the visible and infrared regimes, with broad implications for quantum sensing and communications.
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Abstract Optical amplifiers are fundamental to modern photonics, enabling long-distance communications, precision sensing, and quantum information processing. Erbium-doped amplifiers dominate telecommunications but are restricted to specific wavelength bands, while semiconductor amplifiers offer broader coverage but suffer from high noise and nonlinear distortions. Optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) promise broadband, quantum-limited amplification across arbitrary wavelengths. However, their miniaturization and deployment has been hampered by watt-level power requirements. Here we demonstrate an integrated OPA on thin-film lithium niobate that achieves > 17 dB gain with < 200 mW input power -- an order of magnitude improvement over previous demonstrations. Our second-harmonic-resonant design enhances both pump generation efficiency (95% conversion) and pump power utilization through recirculation, without sacrificing bandwidth. The resonant architecture increases the effective pump power by nearly an order of magnitude compared to conventional single-pass designs, while also multiplexing the signal and pump. We demonstrate flat near-quantum-limited noise performance over 110 nm. Our low-power architecture enables practical on-chip OPAs for next generation quantum and classical photonics.
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Efficient on-chip entangled photon pair generation at telecom wavelengths is an integral aspect of emerging quantum optical technologies, particularly for quantum communication and computing. However, moving to shorter wavelengths enables the use of more accessible silicon detector technology, and opens up applications in imaging and spectroscopy. Here, we present high brightness ((1.6 ± 0.3) × 10 9 pairs/s/mW/nm) visible–near-IR photon pair generation in a periodically poled lithium niobate nanophotonic waveguide. The degenerate spectrum of the photon pairs is centered at 811 nm with a bandwidth of 117 nm when pumped with a spectrally multimode laser diode. The measured on-chip source efficiency of (2.3 ± 0.5) × 10 11 pairs/s/mW is on par with source efficiencies at telecom wavelengths and is also orders of magnitude higher than the efficiencies of other visible sources implemented in bulk crystal or diffused waveguide-based technologies. Further improvements in the brightness and efficiencies are possible by pumping the device with a single-frequency laser, which would also shrink the pair bandwidth. These results represent the shortest wavelength of photon pairs generated in a nanophotonic waveguide reported to date by nearly an octave.
Optical parametric amplification is expected as a key technique for high-speed optical fiber communication and optical quantum computing.We developed a high-gain and broadband optical parametric amplifier (OPA) module by using a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide, the single-mode core of which is directly bonded to a lithium tantalate substrate.The OPA is assembled as a pump-combiner-integrated module with four optical-fiber input/output ports.By improving the fabrication processes of the PPLN waveguide and the assembly techniques of OPA modules, we achieved over-30-dB phase sensitive amplification with a continuous-wave pump.By using the PPLN waveguide, we successfully obtained over-6-dB squeezed light, the spectral bandwidth of which was 2.5 THz.This high-gain broadband OPA module will help build an advanced information society.
Optical manipulation of quantum systems requires stable laser sources able to produce complex waveforms over a large frequency range. In the visible region, such waveforms can be generated using an acousto-optic modulator driven by an arbitrary waveform generator, but these suffer from a limited tuning range typically of a few tens of MHz. Visible-range electro-optic modulators are an alternative option offering a larger modulation bandwidth, however they have limited output power which drastically restricts the scalability of quantum applications. There is currently no architecture able to perform phase-stabilized waveforms over several GHz in the visible or near infrared region while providing sufficient optical power for quantum applications. Here we propose and develop a modulation and frequency conversion set-up able to deliver optical waveforms over a large frequency range, with a high spurious extinction ratio, scalable to the entire visible/near infrared region with high optical power. The optical waveforms are first generated at telecom wavelength and then converted to the emitter wavelength through a sum frequency generation process. By adapting the pump laser frequency, the optical waveforms can be tuned to interact with a broad range of optical quantum emitters or qubits such as alkali atoms, trapped ions, rare earth ions, or fluorescent defects in solid-state matrices. Using this architecture, we were able to detect and study a single erbium ion in a nanoparticle. We also generated high bandwidth signals at 606 nm, which would enable frequency multiplexing of on-demand read-out Pr3+:Y2SiO5 quantum memories.