近日，德国电子同步加速器研究所的Neetesh Singh及其研究团队取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们研制出瓦特级硅光子光学高功率放大器。相关研究成果已于2025年1月8日在国际知名学术期刊《自然—光子学》上发表。
在这项工作中，研究人员证实基于大模场（LMA）波导的硅光子学瓦特级高功率放大器，其在仅约4.4平方毫米的芯片面积内实现了超过1瓦的片上输出功率。这一功率水平可与许多光纤放大器相媲美，甚至超越了它们。研究人员相信，这项工作有望彻底改变集成光子学的应用格局，使集成器件能够输出以往难以想象的功率水平，从而取代许多当前的台式系统。此外，大规模生产能力以及更小的尺寸、重量和成本，将为激光技术带来前所未有的应用前景。
据悉，高功率放大器是光学系统中的关键组件，其应用范围广泛，从远程光学传感和光学通信系统到微加工和医疗手术等领域。目前，尽管集成光子学承诺能大幅减小尺寸、重量和成本，但由于缺乏片上高功率放大器，它还不能应用于上述领域。集成器件因其体积小，能量存储能力受限，因此输出功率严重不足。在过去二十年中，大模场（LMA）技术在光纤放大器中发挥了颠覆性作用，使输出功率和能量实现了数量级的显著提升。由于LMA光纤能支持更大的光学模式，其能量存储和功率处理能力显著增强。因此，在集成平台上采用LMA器件，可以在集成器件的功率和能量扩展方面发挥类似的重要作用。
附：英文原文
Title: Watt-class silicon photonics-based optical high-power amplifier
Author: Singh, Neetesh, Lorenzen, Jan, Wang, Kai, Gaafar, Mahmoud A., Sinobad, Milan, Francis, Henry, Edelmann, Marvin, Geiselmann, Michael, Herr, Tobias, Garcia-Blanco, Sonia M., Krtner, Franz X.
Issue&Volume: 2025-01-08
Abstract: High-power amplifiers are critical components in optical systems spanning from long-range optical sensing and optical communication systems to micromachining and medical surgery. Today, integrated photonics with its promise of large reductions in size, weight and cost cannot be used in these applications, owing to the lack of on-chip high-power amplifiers. Integrated devices severely lack in output power owing to their small size, which limits their energy storage capacity. For the past two decades, large mode area (LMA) technology has played a disruptive role in fibre amplifiers, enabling a dramatic increase of output power and energy by orders of magnitude. Owing to the ability of LMA fibres to support significantly larger optical modes, the energy storage and power handling capabilities of LMA fibres have significantly increased. Therefore, an LMA device on an integrated platform can play a similar role in power and energy scaling of integrated devices. In this work, we demonstrate LMA waveguide-based watt-class high-power amplifiers in silicon photonics with an on-chip output power exceeding ~1W within a footprint of only ~4.4mm2. The power achieved is comparable and even surpasses that of many fibre-based amplifiers. We believe that this work has the potential to radically change the integrated photonics application landscape, allowing power levels previously unimaginable from an integrated device to replace much of today’s benchtop systems. Moreover, mass producibility, reduced size, weight and cost will enable yet unforeseen applications of laser technology.
DOI: 10.1038/s41566-024-01587-9
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-024-01587-9