Resonant multi-harmonic acousto-optics for programmable frequency control of visible light in a CMOS platform
Abstract
Scaling quantum control for atoms, ions, and solid-state emitters requires gigahertz-frequency spectral control of high-power visible light in a volume-manufacturable platform. Silicon nitride photonics provides high power handling and CMOS-foundry compatibility but has no intrinsic mechanism for high-speed modulation. Integration with piezoelectric materials enables acousto-optic phase modulation, and mechanical resonant enhancement has made it efficient at gigahertz frequencies. However, a single resonance restricts the modulation waveform to a single tone, imposing Bessel-function sideband amplitudes and limiting frequency-shifting efficiency to 33.9%. Here we engineer a silicon nitride acousto-optic microstructure to support harmonically spaced resonances at 1.14 GHz and 2.28 GHz, each strongly optomechanically coupled to a 730 nm guided optical mode, so that tailored non-sinusoidal modulation waveforms can be resonantly synthesized. By piezoelectrically controlling the two mechanical amplitudes and their relative phase, we demonstrate 50% conversion to one sideband (1.5x the single-tone theoretical maximum), a flat seven-line comb, and a frequency shift with 60 dB carrier and 53 dB image suppression - to our knowledge the highest reported for an integrated modulator. The devices are fabricated in a 200 mm CMOS foundry, and we measure 91.7% yield without post-fabrication tuning across 36 devices from three wafers. We also show how the technique can be straightforwardly scaled to three or more harmonics. This result overcomes the trade-off between resonant enhancement and spectral programmability, with important consequences including improved single-qubit gate efficiency for hyperfine qubits.
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BibTeX
@misc{freedman2026resonant,
title = {{Resonant multi-harmonic acousto-optics for programmable frequency control of visible light in a CMOS platform}},
author = {Jacob M. Freedman and Matthew J. Storey and Daniel Dominguez and Andrew Leenheer and Nils T. Otterstrom and Matt Eichenfield},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.25593},
eprint = {2609.25593},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25593},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Resonant multi-harmonic acousto-optics for programmable frequency control of visible light in a CMOS platform
AU - Jacob M. Freedman
AU - Matthew J. Storey
AU - Daniel Dominguez
AU - Andrew Leenheer
AU - Nils T. Otterstrom
AU - Matt Eichenfield
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.25593
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25593
AB - Scaling quantum control for atoms, ions, and solid-state emitters requires gigahertz-frequency spectral control of high-power visible light in a volume-manufacturable platform. Silicon nitride photonics provides high power handling and CMOS-foundry compatibility but has no intrinsic mechanism for high-speed modulation. Integration with piezoelectric materials enables acousto-optic phase modulation, and mechanical resonant enhancement has made it efficient at gigahertz frequencies. However, a single resonance restricts the modulation waveform to a single tone, imposing Bessel-function sideband amplitudes and limiting frequency-shifting efficiency to 33.9%. Here we engineer a silicon nitride acousto-optic microstructure to support harmonically spaced resonances at 1.14 GHz and 2.28 GHz, each strongly optomechanically coupled to a 730 nm guided optical mode, so that tailored non-sinusoidal modulation waveforms can be resonantly synthesized. By piezoelectrically controlling the two mechanical amplitudes and their relative phase, we demonstrate 50% conversion to one sideband (1.5x the single-tone theoretical maximum), a flat seven-line comb, and a frequency shift with 60 dB carrier and 53 dB image suppression - to our knowledge the highest reported for an integrated modulator. The devices are fabricated in a 200 mm CMOS foundry, and we measure 91.7% yield without post-fabrication tuning across 36 devices from three wafers. We also show how the technique can be straightforwardly scaled to three or more harmonics. This result overcomes the trade-off between resonant enhancement and spectral programmability, with important consequences including improved single-qubit gate efficiency for hyperfine qubits.
ER -