Heterogeneously Integrated Efficient and Widely Tunable Lasers at 795 nm for Rubidium-Based Quantum Technologies
Abstract
Scaling quantum processors and optical atomic clocks fundamentally requires orders-of-magnitude reductions in the size, weight, power, and cost of optical control systems. Photonic integration of lasers is critical to fulfill these requirements. At the near-infrared wavelengths required for atomic clocks and quantum computing through manipulation of rubidium atoms, laser integration is hindered by difficulty in light coupling and poor heat dissipation. Here, we introduce a wafer-scalable method utilizing micro-transfer printing to integrate GaAs-based amplifiers in etched recesses, directly butt-coupled to silicon nitride waveguides. We demonstrate extended-cavity single-mode lasers using this integration approach. Our compact microgear laser achieves a narrow 3 kHz fundamental linewidth at an on-chip output power of >22 mW -- a record for a single-mode heterogeneously integrated laser in the 780-800 nm band -- with a wall-plug efficiency of 9.4%, showcasing the high-power and efficiency potential of this integration approach. Additionally, we demonstrate a widely tunable laser leveraging Vernier filters to achieve lasing with 9 nm coarse tuning, a quasi-continuous fine-tuning range exceeding 140 GHz, and a mode-hop-free tuning range of 45 GHz. Our scalable integrated laser toolkit shows great promise for replacing macroscopic external-cavity diode lasers in next-generation quantum technologies and optical atomic clocks.
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BibTeX
@misc{kiewiet2026heterogeneously,
title = {{Heterogeneously Integrated Efficient and Widely Tunable Lasers at 795 nm for Rubidium-Based Quantum Technologies}},
author = {Max Kiewiet and Stijn Cuyvers and Tom Reep and Konstantinos Akritidis and Gaudhaman Jeevanandam and Manuel Reza and Roelof Jansen and Pol Van Dorpe and Günther Roelkens and Kasper Van Gasse and Bart Kuyken},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.11585},
eprint = {2609.11585},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.11585},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Heterogeneously Integrated Efficient and Widely Tunable Lasers at 795 nm for Rubidium-Based Quantum Technologies
AU - Max Kiewiet
AU - Stijn Cuyvers
AU - Tom Reep
AU - Konstantinos Akritidis
AU - Gaudhaman Jeevanandam
AU - Manuel Reza
AU - Roelof Jansen
AU - Pol Van Dorpe
AU - Günther Roelkens
AU - Kasper Van Gasse
AU - Bart Kuyken
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/10
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.11585
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.11585
AB - Scaling quantum processors and optical atomic clocks fundamentally requires orders-of-magnitude reductions in the size, weight, power, and cost of optical control systems. Photonic integration of lasers is critical to fulfill these requirements. At the near-infrared wavelengths required for atomic clocks and quantum computing through manipulation of rubidium atoms, laser integration is hindered by difficulty in light coupling and poor heat dissipation. Here, we introduce a wafer-scalable method utilizing micro-transfer printing to integrate GaAs-based amplifiers in etched recesses, directly butt-coupled to silicon nitride waveguides. We demonstrate extended-cavity single-mode lasers using this integration approach. Our compact microgear laser achieves a narrow 3 kHz fundamental linewidth at an on-chip output power of >22 mW -- a record for a single-mode heterogeneously integrated laser in the 780-800 nm band -- with a wall-plug efficiency of 9.4%, showcasing the high-power and efficiency potential of this integration approach. Additionally, we demonstrate a widely tunable laser leveraging Vernier filters to achieve lasing with 9 nm coarse tuning, a quasi-continuous fine-tuning range exceeding 140 GHz, and a mode-hop-free tuning range of 45 GHz. Our scalable integrated laser toolkit shows great promise for replacing macroscopic external-cavity diode lasers in next-generation quantum technologies and optical atomic clocks.
ER -