Petabit-per-second data transmission using a chip-scale microcomb ring resonator source

A. A. Jorgensen*, D. Kong, M. R. Henriksen, F. Klejs, Z. Ye, O. B. Helgason, H. E. Hansen, H. Hu, M. Yankov, S. Forchhammer, P. Andrekson, A. Larsson, M. Karlsson, J. Schroder, Y. Sasaki, K. Aikawa, J. W. Thomsen, T. Morioka, M. Galili, Victor Torres-CompanyL. K. Oxenlowe

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

Optical fibre communication is the backbone of the internet. As essential core technologies are approaching their limits of size, speed and energy-efficiency, there is a need for new technologies that offer further scaling of data transmission capacity. Here we show that a single optical frequency-comb source based on a silicon nitride ring resonator supports data capacities in the petabit-per-second regime. We experimentally demonstrate transmission of 1.84 Pbit s(-1) over a 37-core, 7.9-km-long fibre using 223 wavelength channels derived from a single microcomb ring resonator producing a stabilized dark-pulse Kerr frequency comb. We also present a theoretical analysis that indicates that a single, chip-scale light source should be able to support 100 Pbit s(-1) in massively parallel space-and-wavelength multiplexed data transmission systems. Our findings could mark a shift in the design of future communication systems, targeting device-efficient transmitters and receivers.

A microcomb source based on a silicon nitride ring resonator is shown to support petabit-per-second data transmission over a multicore optical fibre.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Photonics
Volume16
Pages (from-to)798-802
Number of pages8
ISSN1749-4885
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Oct 2022

Keywords

  • PULSE KERR COMBS
  • FREQUENCY COMBS
  • GENERATION
  • STABILITY

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