The invention of optical-frequency combs has transformed the fields of precision metrology, spectroscopy, and electronic/photonic signal generation. Now, a new and incredibly promising platform for frequency combs has emerged—one in which phase coherent combs are generated in nanofabricated ring resonators using quantum nonlinear photonics. I will present our work designing the first octave-spanning microresonator comb spectra, using these micro-combs in integrated-photonics optical synthesizers and optical clocks, and exploring laser cooling to control the particle-like properties of the comb light itself.
Bio: Tara Drake is an NRC postdoc fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado. She works in the group of Scott Papp on the design and implementation of microresonator combs for integrated-photonics applications. Tara got her Ph.D. at JILA and the University of Colorado in the group of Deborah Jin, where she created and studied exotic superfluids in gases of ultracold atoms.