(Feb.23, 2015) Silicon
nanowire optical waveguides dramatically broaden mid-infrared frequency comb
spectra.
In an article published in Nature Communications (February
20th, 2015), an international collaboration of scientists around Dr. Nathalie
Picqué (Max-Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
München) describes a reliable new technique of producing a broadband optical
frequency comb in the mid-infrared region. In a lithographically fabricated
silicon nanowire waveguide, the spectrum of a short-pulse laser is
significantly broadened. Even at low pulse energies, octave-spanning
phase-coherent frequency combs are generated.