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research article

An ultra-broadband photonic-chip-based parametric amplifier

Kuznetsov, Nikolai  
•
Nardi, Alberto  
•
Riemensberger, Johann  
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March 12, 2025
Nature

Optical amplification, crucial for modern communication, primarily relies on erbium-doped fibre amplifiers (EDFAs)1,2. Yet, EDFAs only cover a portion of the low-loss spectrum of optical fibres. This has motivated the development of amplifiers operating beyond the erbium gain window. Pioneering work on optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs)3,4 using intrinsic third-order optical nonlinearity has led to demonstrations of increased channel capacity. OPAs offer high gain, can reach the 3-dB quantum limit for phase-preserving amplifiers and exhibit unidirectional operation. However, power requirements for highly nonlinear fibres3,5, 6, 7-8 or bulk waveguides9,10 have impeded their adoption. By contrast, OPAs based on integrated photonic circuits offer the advantages of substantially increased mode confinement and optical nonlinearity but have been limited in bandwidth11,12. We overcome this challenge by using low-loss gallium phosphide-on-silicon dioxide13, 14-15 photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and attain up to 35 dB of parametric gain with waveguides only a few centimetres long in a compact footprint of 0.25 square millimetres. Fibre-to-fibre net gain exceeding 10 dB across an ultra-broad bandwidth of approximately 140 nm (that is, 17 THz) is achieved, with a threefold increase in the gain window compared with C-band EDFAs. We further demonstrate a high dynamic range for input signals, spanning six orders of magnitude, while maintaining a low noise figure. We exploit these performance characteristics to amplify coherent communication signals. This marks, to our knowledge, the first ultra-broadband, high-gain, continuous-wave amplification in a photonic chip, opening up new capabilities for next-generation integrated photonics.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/s41586-025-08666-z
Web of Science ID

WOS:001443550600001

PubMed ID

40074897

Author(s)
Kuznetsov, Nikolai  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Nardi, Alberto  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Riemensberger, Johann  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Davydova, Alisa  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Churaev, Mikhail  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Seidler, Paul

IBM Res Europe Zurich

Kippenberg, Tobias J.  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Date Issued

2025-03-12

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO

Published in
Nature
Subjects

OPTICAL-PHASE CONJUGATION

•

GALLIUM-PHOSPHIDE

•

GAIN

•

CONVERSION

•

COMPENSATION

•

GENERATION

•

Science & Technology

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LPQM1  
LPQM2  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

European Union (EU)

812818

Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

216493

United States Department of Defense

FA9550-19-1-0250

Available on Infoscience
March 25, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/248225
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