Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Controlling frequency-comb fast-gain devices through photonic lattice engineering

Objective

Optical Frequency Combs (OFCs), states of light with equally spaced and phase-locked frequencies, revolutionized metrology across a wide range of metrological applications. Current OFC sources are highly accurate but also bulky. Miniaturizing OFC sources to on-chip scale, small enough to be placed in your hand, will enable a second revolution with applications such as distributed pollution tracking, medical detection equipment, compact LIDARs and dense communication channels (DWDM). OFC devices supporting these applications require:
(a) in-situ control over the spectrum with power management of ~90% for every spectral line
(b) bandwidth of 10-15THz
(c) power per line of ~3mW while maintaining wall plug efficiency of >20%

In LIQUIDLAT I will develop on-chip OFC devices with (a)-(c), by taking a new approach and leveraging on the recently demonstrated, by me and coauthors, quantum walk comb: generate monolithic lasers with fast gain recovery and apply photonic lattice schemes, both in real and frequency spaces through inter-device coupling and modulation, for controllable, broadband and powerful OFCs.
This method is general and can be implemented in other wavelengths.

Unlike current on-chip OFC approaches, typically producing pulses, I will use the following elements:
(1) fast gain recovery that forces quasi constant intensity and grants the light liquid properties, stabilizing on broadband and stable states
(2) direct control over OFC expansion via modulation by radio-frequency sources
(3) use topological photonic lattice schemes, both in real and frequency domains, to lock coherently many OFCs to a single powerful output.
The study of liquid light dynamics in photonic lattices challenges our understanding of nonlinear dynamics and interaction in semiconductors. The outcome is the development of tools for broadband power-efficient OFC devices that support applications in environmental tracking or efficient data links that reduce the datacentre footprint.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 874 830,00
Address
Raemistrasse 101
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland

See on map

Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 874 830,00

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0