Abstract

We demonstrate a frequency comb spanning an octave via the parametric process of cascaded four-wave mixing in a monolithic, high-Q silicon nitride microring resonator. The comb is generated from a single-frequency pump laser at $1562\mathrm{nm}$ and spans $128\mathrm{THz}$ with a spacing of $226\mathrm{GHz}$, which can be tuned slightly with the pump power. In addition, we investigate the RF amplitude noise characteristics of the parametric comb and find that the comb can operate in a low-noise state with a $30\mathrm{dB}$ reduction in noise as the pump frequency is tuned into the cavity resonance.

© 2011 Optical Society of America