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Thin-film lithium niobate is an attractive integrated photonics platform due to its low optical loss and favorable optical nonlinear and electro-optic properties. However, in applications such as second harmonic generation, frequency comb generation, and microwave-to-optics conversion, the device performance is strongly impeded by the photorefractive effect inherent in thin-film lithium niobate. In this paper, we show that the dielectric cladding on a lithium niobate microring resonator has a significant influence on the photorefractive effect. By removing the dielectric cladding layer, the photorefractive effect in lithium niobate ring resonators can be effectively mitigated. Our work presents a reliable approach to control the photorefractive effect on thin-film lithium niobate and will further advance the performance of integrated classical and quantum photonic devices based on thin-film lithium niobate.
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This content will become publicly available on November 19, 2025
Precise wavelength alignment of second-harmonic generation in thin-film lithium niobate resonators
Second-harmonic generation (SHG) plays a significant role in modern photonic technology. Integrated photonic resonators fabricated with thin-film lithium niobate can achieve ultrahigh efficiencies by combining small mode volumes with high material nonlinearity. Cavity-enhanced SHG requires accurate phase and frequency matching conditions, where fundamental and second-harmonic wavelengths are both on resonance. However, this double-resonance condition can typically be realized only at a fixed random wavelength due to the high sensitivity of photonic resonances to the device geometry and fabrication variations. Here, we propose a novel method that can achieve the double-resonance condition over a large wavelength range. We combine thermal-optic and electro-optic (EO) effects to realize the separate tuning of fundamental and second-harmonic resonances. We demonstrated that the optimum SHG efficiency can be maintained over a wavelength range that exceeds the limit achievable with only thermal tuning. With this flexible tuning capability, we further show the precise alignment of SHG wavelengths of two separate thin-film lithium niobate resonators without sacrificing efficiencies.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2244365
- PAR ID:
- 10555862
- Publisher / Repository:
- Optical Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Optics Letters
- Volume:
- 49
- Issue:
- 23
- ISSN:
- 0146-9592; OPLEDP
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 6637
- Size(s):
- Article No. 6637
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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