• Physics and Astronomy Colloquium

November 7, 2025 3:30 PM - November 7, 2025 4:30 PM
PAIS 1100

Host:

Richard Rand

Presenter:

Tara Drake

Video Recording

Optical frequency combs, whose invention at the turn of the 21st century led to the 2005 Nobel Prize in physics, have revolutionized the fields of precision measurement and spectroscopy. Today, optical frequency combs are used to identify trace amounts of gas (e.g. biomarkers in medical diagnostics and methane leaks over oil fields), in stellar spectroscopy to detect exoplanets, and in conjunction with atomic clocks and other frequency standards to observe and measure the fundamental constants of nature.

Until recently, building and operating an optical frequency comb was a large and expensive endeavor, requiring a specialized optics laboratory, complex equipment, and optics experts to keep the comb operational. However, a new type of comb, the Kerr-microresonator optical frequency comb, is changing that. Kerr-microcombs can be formed in microscopic ring-shaped waveguides printed on silicon chips, and these photonic rings can be mass-produced using tools and techniques developed for semiconductors and microelectronics.

At UNM, we simulate, design, and fabricate Kerr-microresonators for nonlinear light generation, we experimentally investigate the behavior of the optical waveforms, and we collaborate with other institutions to make "lab on a chip" integrated photonics circuits. I will present the work of the Microcomb Group at UNM, with a specific emphasis on how we create and use microcombs for time and frequency metrology.