Octave-spanning tunable parametric oscillation in nanophotonics

Abstract: Widely-tunable coherent sources are desirable in nanophotonics for a multitude of applications ranging from communications to sensing. The mid-infrared spectral region (wavelengths beyond 2 $\mu$m) is particularly important for applications relying on molecular spectroscopy. Among tunable sources, optical parametric oscillators typically offer some of the broadest tuning ranges; however, their implementations in nanophotonics have been limited to narrow tuning ranges and only at visible and near-infrared wavelengths. Here, we surpass these limits in dispersion-engineered periodically-poled lithium niobate nanophotonics and demonstrate ultra-widely tunable optical parametric oscillators. With a pump wavelength near 1 $\mu$m, we generate output wavelengths tunable from 1.53 $\mu$m to 3.25 $\mu$m in a single chip with output powers as high as tens of milliwatts. Our results represent the first octave-spanning tunable source in nanophotonics extending into the mid-infrared which can be useful for numerous integrated photonic applications.