Title: NIST Develops Method for Identifying Optical Modes in Photonic Resonators
Summary:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a new method for identifying and distinguishing different optical modes in photonic resonators. The key innovation is using the temperature sensitivity of each mode’s resonance frequency and its dispersion characteristics to uniquely identify individual modes.
The method requires a moderately broadband spectrometer that can measure resonator response across multiple free spectral ranges (FSR) at different temperatures. By analyzing how each mode’s frequency and spacing change with temperature, the system can accurately label and distinguish between different modes.
This approach allows using lower cost, lower SWAP value lasers instead of more expensive broadband lasers, potentially reducing instrument costs by a factor of five or more. The new method could have significant implications for improving the performance and cost-effectiveness of photonic resonator-based quantum computing and sensing technologies.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/patents/method-mode-identification-photonic-resonator
Keywords: Resonator, Spectrometer, Frequency, Laser, Temperature
