Caltech Optica Student Chapter Lecture Series

Abstract:

Synchronization is a widespread phenomenon in the natural sciences, shedding light on the behavior of coupled nonlinear dynamical systems. It also offers a powerful approach to robust frequency or temporal locking in diverse applications, including communications, superconductors, and photonics. I will describe our work on the synchronization of soliton and non-solitonic photonic frequency combs in the fundamental, harmonic, and sub-harmonic regimes. I will also describe all-optical frequency division and the generation of ultralow-noise microwaves by synchronizing two distinct dynamical states of nonlinear photonic microresonators.

More about the Speaker:

Gaeta received his doctorate in Optics from the University of Rochester. Gaeta joined Columbia University as the David M. Rickey Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science in 2015. Prior to that, Gaeta was the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering at Cornell University and was Chair of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics from 2011 – 2014. He has published more than 300 journal articles in quantum and nonlinear photonics. He served as the founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Optica from 2014-2020. He co-founded Xscape Photonics, Inc. and served as the CEO from 2021-2023. He is a Fellow of the Optica, APS, and IEEE, and a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher, and received the 2019 Charles H. Townes Prize and the 2023 Stephen D. Fantone Distinguished Service Award.