Spectral Broadening in a Continuously Pumped Singly Resonant Second-Harmonic Cavity

Featured Application The spectral broadening observed in the designed second-order nonlinear optical system is suitable to be miniaturized as a chip-scale multifrequency source for applications in metrology, sensing, and telecommunication. Optical frequency comb synthesizers with a wide spectral range are an essential tool for many research areas such as spectroscopy, precision metrology, optical communication, and sensing. Recent studies have demonstrated the direct generation of frequency combs, via second-order processes, that are centered on two different spectral regions separated by an octave. Here, we present the capability of optical quadratic frequency combs for broad-bandwidth spectral emission in unexplored regimes. We consider comb formation under phase-matched conditions in a continuous-wave pumped singly resonant second-harmonic cavity, with large intracavity power and control of the detuning over several cavity linewidths. The spectral analysis reveals quite distinctive sidebands that arise far away from the pump, singularly or in a mixed regime together with narrowband frequency combs. Notably, by increasing the input power, the optical frequency lines evolve into widely spaced frequency clusters, and at maximum power, they appear in a wavelength range spanning up to 100 nm. The obtained results demonstrate the capacity of second-order nonlinearities to produce direct comb within a wide range of wavelengths.