AUTHOR=Zhang Yali , Liao Shuxu , Wang Guan , Yang Ke , Zhang Zhiyao , Zhang Shangjian , Liu Yong TITLE=Robust Optical Frequency Comb Generation by Using a Three-Stage Optical Nonlinear Dynamic JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics VOLUME=9 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2021.711959 DOI=10.3389/fphy.2021.711959 ISSN=2296-424X ABSTRACT=

In this article, we propose and investigate a novel scheme to generate optical frequency combs (OFCs) by using a three-stage generator, which is based on optical injection–induced dynamics cascaded by subharmonic electro-optic modulation and the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect. A primary seed OFC is rooted from the nonlinear dynamics in the optically injected semiconductor laser, and its performance is improved using a two-stage booster based on subharmonic electro-optic modulation and the FWM effect. The comb spacing can be easily tuned by adjusting that of the primary seed OFC or through electro-optic modulation by the use of subharmonics with different orders. Moreover, it becomes stabilized because the phase relationship between the comb teeth can be fixed in the process of subharmonic electro-optic modulation. Its optical spectrum continues to be broadened in the following FWM process. Finally, robust OFCs with a comb spacing of 4 GHz and a comb teeth number of 23 and a comb spacing of 5 GHz and a comb teeth number of 21 are experimentally demonstrated.