Wang Zihao, Wang Yifei, Shi Baoqi, Sun Wei, Yang Changxi, Liu Junqiu, Bao Chengying
State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instruments, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
International Quantum Academy, Shenzhen, China.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 25;16(1):6853. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62022-3.
Laser-based absolute distance measurement with low return power, fast measurement speed, high precision, and immunity to intensity fluctuations is highly demanded in applications spanning from nanotechnology to satellite formation. However, achieving all these objectives simultaneously remains a significant challenge for miniaturized systems. Here, we demonstrate dual-comb ranging (DCR) that encompasses all these capabilities by using a coherent soliton pair generated in an integrated microresonator. We derive equations linking the DCR precision with comb line powers, revealing the advantage of microcomb's large line spacing in precise ranging quantitatively. Leveraging the advantage, our system reaches 1-nm-precision and measures nm-scale vibration at frequencies up to 0.9 MHz. Precise DCR is possible even in the presence of strong intensity noise and loss, using a mean received photon number as low as 5.5 × 10 per pulse (total 0.9 million photons in a single measurement considering the high repetition rate). Our work establishes an optimization principle for dual-comb systems and bridges high performance ranging with foundry-manufactured photonic chips.
从纳米技术到卫星编队等各种应用中，都迫切需要基于激光的绝对距离测量，这种测量需具备低回波功率、快速测量速度、高精度以及对强度波动免疫等特性。然而，对于小型化系统而言，要同时实现所有这些目标仍然是一项重大挑战。在此，我们展示了双梳测距（DCR）技术，该技术通过使用集成微谐振器中产生的相干孤子对，具备了上述所有能力。我们推导了将DCR精度与梳状线功率联系起来的方程，定量揭示了微梳大线间距在精确测距方面的优势。利用这一优势，我们的系统实现了1纳米的精度，并能够测量高达0.9兆赫兹频率下的纳米级振动。即使在存在强强度噪声和损耗的情况下，使用低至每个脉冲5.5×10个平均接收光子数（考虑到高重复率，单次测量中总计090万个光子），精确的DCR也是可行的。我们的工作为双梳系统确立了优化原则，并将高性能测距与代工厂制造的光子芯片联系起来。
