Nonlinear Coupling of Light in Nanophotonic Molecules for Optical Signal Processing

• Grant number: 25/04049-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: June 15, 2025
• End date: June 14, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - General Physics
• Principal Investigator: Gustavo Silva Wiederhecker
• Grantee: Luca de Oliveira Trinchão
• Supervisor: Pascal Del'Haye
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin (IFGW). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Max-Planck-Institut Für Die Physik Des Lichts, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/15935-0 - Optical nonlinear processes in dispersion-engineered photonic molecules, BP.DD

Abstract

Nanophotonic molecules explore the linear coupling of light between neighboring optical microresonators to control spectral properties and spatial light distribution. These devices have been extensively studied for optical signal processing, ranging from optical multicasting to nonlinear frequency conversion. More recently, research led by the Del'Haye group has demonstrated promising opportunities to utilize nonlinear coupling in these platforms to achieve spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB). SSB has been proposed for applications in optical switching, photonic logic gates, and random number generation. In this work, we aim to engineer the nonlinear coupling in photonic molecules to realize and control SSB.