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Optics Continuum

Arbitrary waveform generation system using a quantum dash optical frequency comb source

Yuxuan Xie, Mostafa Khalil, Touline Erfan, Jiaren Liu, Zhenguo Lü, Philip J. Poole, John Weber, Guocheng Liu, Mohamed Rahim, Lawrence R. Chen

Published Jul 1, 2024• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present an approach for microwave photonic (MWP) arbitrary waveform generation utilizing a quantum dash optical frequency comb source. Leveraging the availability of up to 41 comb lines and incorporating a real-time control feedback loop for precise comb shaping, we design a suite of MWP filters. Through the introduction of an ultra-short RF train, we obtain the impulse responses of the MWP filters, facilitating the construction of a versatile MWP arbitrary waveform generation system. In this study, we showcase the generation of rectangular, triangular, and sine burst waveforms. We can achieve an accuracy exceeding 90% in our generated waveform compared to the target waveform. Additionally, we demonstrate the tunability of the pulse width of rectangular and triangular waveforms, ranging from 0.62 ns to 4.56 ns, along with the adjustability of the triangular waveform slope. By manipulating the delay of the MWP filter, our system can also generate sine bursts, periodic sinusoids, and sinusoids with envelopes, with clock frequencies lower than that of the sinusoid itself.

DOI
10.1364/optcon.524839

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•Jan 1, 2025•0 citations
We present an approach for microwave photonic (MWP) arbitrary waveform generation utilizing a quantum dash optical frequency comb source. Leveraging the availability of up to 41 comb lines and incorporating a real-time control feedback loop for precise comb shaping, we design a suite of MWP filters. Through the introduction of an ultra-short RF train, we obtain the impulse responses of the MWP filters, facilitating the construction of a versatile MWP arbitrary waveform generation system. In this study, we showcase the generation of rectangular, triangular, and sine burst waveforms. We can achieve an accuracy exceeding 90% in our generated waveform compared to the target waveform. Additionally, we demonstrate the tunability of the pulse width of rectangular and triangular waveforms, ranging from 0.62 ns to 4.56 ns, along with the adjustability of the triangular waveform slope. By manipulating the delay of the MWP filter, our system can also generate sine bursts, periodic sinusoids, and sinusoids with envelopes, with clock frequencies lower than that of the sinusoid itself.
Generation and control of waveforms is a versatile tool for advanced technologies. Quantum arbitrary waveform generator is also in place by exploiting the quantum state of coherent light. Motivated by the high coherence and tunability of the trapped ultracold matter waves, which may offer a platform for arbitrary waveform generation with atoms, we present an exact analytical approach for designing the first atomic arbitrary waveform generator. Our method considers the dynamics of an one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate in a quantum simulation environment with a moving bichromatic optical lattice. Functional expressions and parameter regimes are derived for engineering some of the fundamental waveforms, including sinusoidal, sawtooth, triangular and square profiles. In addition, compound waveforms, such as step-sawtooth, triangular-square, slanted-square, and slanted-step-square are also constructed. A numerical stability analysis is explicated in support of the experimental feasibility of the reported atomic waveform generator.
A key requirement for quantum technologies based on atoms, ions, and molecules is the ability to realize precise phase- and amplitude-controlled quantum operations via coherent laser pulses. However, for generating pulses on the submicrosecond timescale, the characteristics of the optical and electronic components can introduce unwanted distortions that have a detrimental effect on the fidelity of quantum operations. In this paper, we present a compact arbitrary optical waveform modulator that integrates a double-pass acousto-optic modulator for user-specified laser amplitude and phase modulations. Additionally, the module integrates an optical heterodyne detector to extract the precise laser pulse shape in real time. The measured pulse shape is then fed into a digital feedback loop used to estimate the complex-valued transfer function and predistorted input pulses. We demonstrate the performance by generating shaped laser pulses suitable for realizing quantum logic gates with durations down to 180 ns, requiring only a small number of feedback iterations.
Quantum microwave photonics (QMWP) is an innovative approach that combines energy-time entangled biphoton sources as the optical carrier with time-correlated single-photon detection for high-speed RF signal recovery. This groundbreaking method offers unique advantages such as nonlocal RF signal encoding and robust resistance to dispersion-induced frequency fading. This paper explores the versatility of processing the quantum microwave photonic signal by utilizing coincidence window selection on the biphoton coincidence distribution. The demonstration includes finely-tunable RF phase shifting, flexible multi-tap transversal filtering (with up to 15 taps), and photonically implemented RF mixing, leveraging the nonlocal RF mapping characteristic of QMWP. These accomplishments significantly enhance the capability of microwave photonic systems in processing ultra-weak signals, opening up new possibilities for various applications.
Microwave photonic pulse generation has intrinsic high speed and large bandwidth, and it can overcome the sampling-rate limitation in the electrical domain. Herein, we propose a partly temporally-overlapped photon echo scheme to generate microwave pulses with a high data transfer rate and precision pulse width. The partly overlapped chirped control pulse has the same chirped rate segments but different time delays. The time delay between the segments and the number of segments can be adjusted to achieve a controllable multipulse photon echo train. We developed a theoretical model based on the photon echo process and performed simulations to obtain nonlinear chirped periodic spectral grating in a Tm3+:YAG crystal and gave the time delay provided by the spectral grating to the probe pulse at different instantaneous frequencies. We further generated pulse code modulation signals to verify the performance of the target signal. The proposed signal-generation scheme has potential applications in microwave photonics and modern radar systems.
Quantum microwave photonics (QMWP) is an innovative approach that combines energy–time entangled biphoton sources as the optical carrier with time-correlated single-photon detection for high-speed radio frequency (RF) signal recovery. This groundbreaking method offers unique advantages, such as nonlocal RF signal encoding and robust resistance to dispersion-induced frequency fading. We explore the versatility of processing the quantum microwave photonic signal by utilizing coincidence window selection on the biphoton coincidence distribution. The demonstration includes finely tunable RF phase shifting, flexible multitap transversal filtering (with up to 14 taps), and photonically implemented RF mixing, leveraging the nonlocal RF mapping characteristic of QMWP. These accomplishments significantly enhance the capability of microwave photonic systems in processing ultraweak signals, opening up new possibilities for various applications.
Arbitrary Waveform Generators (AWGs) have widespread applications in telecommunications, quantum computing, and biomedical engineering, among others, due to their ability to generate a wide range of waveforms precisely and instantaneously. This work focuses on developing a scalable and energy-efficient AWG for qubit control. A simple methodology for bringing up a Radio-Frequency System-on-Chip (RFSoC) board and using it to generate various arbitrary waveforms has been discussed. A software-hardware codesign paradigm has been used in this work to dynamically control the output frequency, voltage and shape of the arbitrary waveforms. Similarly, the on-the-fly programmability of four Digital to Analog convertor (DAC) channels and four Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) channels have been tested. The voltage and frequency response of the DAC output has also been characterised to better understand the limitations of the RFSoC. The DAC-ADC loopback characterisation was also performed to prepare the RFSoC for qubit state readout measurements. Over the last few decades, the Direct Digital Synthesiser (DDS) has been a popular choice for generating specific waveforms, such as sinusoidal and ramp waveforms, due to its low cost, simple design, and high precision. Several prior-art works were surveyed, and the trade-offs and strengths of each architecture were summarised. A benchmarking table is prepared based on the Power, Performance and Area (PPA) analysis to make design selection easier for DDS designers. Two Figure of Merit definitions and scaling equations have also been used to normalise the specifications to a target process node (28 nm CMOS), to provide a more accurate comparison among state-of-the-art DDS designs on Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), and to set expectations for future architectural advancements in DDS design. Finally, a viable DDS-based AWG architecture for ASIC implementation has also been proposed based on the benchmarking.