OEwaves’ patented approach for injection-locking of semiconductor lasers to crystalline whispering gallery mode resonators specifically addresses the needs of applications in quantum technology. These applications typically require exceptionally low phase and amplitude noise at specific wavelengths corresponding to narrow atomic or ion transition. They also require high free-running stability to enable locking to the transition of interest. The frequency tunability and high actuation bandwidth of OEwaves lasers allow for efficient phase and frequency locks without electro-optical modulators, with exceptionally low RAM. Finally, the lasers must be scalable to use in future quantum technology systems where multiples of units will be required. In this respect, OEwaves lasers are particularly suitable because unlike other large and expensive lasers, their size, weight and power consumption and cost (SWaP-C) are compatible with up-scaling for future systems.  

Potential areas of application of OEwaves’ lasers in quantum technologies include the emerging fields of quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum sensors, which take advantage of the quantum phenomena such as superposition, quantum coherence, and entanglement for increased performance. For example, quantum communication, the most advanced of the three areas, relies on quantum entanglement and coherence to create secure communication channels that are essentially immune to interference and hacking. Similarly, quantum computing offers the possibility of solving problems that are beyond the capability of digital computers. Finally, quantum sensors, such as atomic clocks, quantum magnetometers, radar and lidar provide much higher performance for metrology than their classical counterparts.

OEwaves produces custom lasers at specific wavelengths with ultra-low phase noise and small SWaP-C, to meet individual applications. In particular, OEwaves can manufacture lasers in the UV and visible regions of the spectrum, where most atomic and ion transitions occur. With sub-Hertz linewidth, OEwaves’ lasers can increase the overlap with those narrow transitions, and thus reduce the amount of power needed to excite them.