Heming Wang

All Publications

• Non-Hermitian photonic band winding and skin effects: a tutorial ADVANCES IN OPTICS AND PHOTONICS Wang, H., Zhong, J., Fan, S. 2024; 16 (3): 659-748

  View details for DOI 10.1364/AOP.529289

  View details for Web of Science ID 001330370100002

• Non-Abelian lattice gauge fields in photonic synthetic frequency dimensions. Nature Cheng, D., Wang, K., Roques-Carmes, C., Lustig, E., Long, O. Y., Wang, H., Fan, S. 2025; 637 (8044): 52-56

  Abstract

  Non-Abelian gauge fields1 provide a conceptual framework to describe particles having spins, underlying many phenomena in electrodynamics, condensed-matter physics2,3 and particle physics4,5. Lattice models6 of non-Abelian gauge fields allow us to understand their physical implications in extended systems. The theoretical importance of non-Abelian lattice gauge fields motivates their experimental synthesis and explorations7-9. Photons are fundamental particles for which artificial gauge fields can be synthesized10-30, yet the demonstration of non-Abelian lattice gauge fields for photons has not been achieved. Here we demonstrate SU(2) lattice gauge fields for photons in the synthetic frequency dimensions31,32, a playground to study lattice physics in a scalable and programmable way. In our lattice model, we theoretically observe that homogeneous non-Abelian lattice gauge potentials induce Dirac cones at time-reversal-invariant momenta in the Brillouin zone. We experimentally confirm the presence of non-Abelian lattice gauge fields by two signatures: linear band crossings at the Dirac cones, and the associated direction reversal of eigenstate trajectories. We further demonstrate a non-Abelian scalar lattice gauge potential that lifts the degeneracies of the Dirac cones. Our results highlight the implications of non-Abelian lattice gauge fields in topological physics, and provide a starting point for demonstrations of emerging non-Abelian physics in the photonic synthetic dimensions. Our results may also benefit photonic technologies by providing controls of photon spins and pseudo-spins in topologically non-trivial ways33.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-08259-2

  View details for PubMedID 39743600

  View details for PubMedCentralID 6635576

• Pole and zero edge state invariant for one-dimensional non-Hermitian sublattice symmetry PHYSICAL REVIEW B Zhong, J., Wang, H., Fan, S. 2024; 110 (21)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevB.110.214113

  View details for Web of Science ID 001389449300001

• One-dimensional non-Hermitian band structures as Riemann surfaces PHYSICAL REVIEW A Wang, H., Fan, L., Fan, S. 2024; 110 (1)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevA.110.012209

  View details for Web of Science ID 001272523400004

• Experimental realization of convolution processing in photonic synthetic frequency dimensions. Science advances Fan, L., Wang, K., Wang, H., Dutt, A., Fan, S. 2023; 9 (32): eadi4956

  Abstract

  Convolution is an essential operation in signal and image processing and consumes most of the computing power in convolutional neural networks. Photonic convolution has the promise of addressing computational bottlenecks and outperforming electronic implementations. Performing photonic convolution in the synthetic frequency dimension, which harnesses the dynamics of light in the spectral degrees of freedom for photons, can lead to highly compact devices. Here, we experimentally realize convolution operations in the synthetic frequency dimension. Using a modulated ring resonator, we synthesize arbitrary convolution kernels using a predetermined modulation waveform with high accuracy. We demonstrate the convolution computation between input frequency combs and synthesized kernels. We also introduce the idea of an additive offset to broaden the kinds of kernels that can be implemented experimentally when the modulation strength is limited. Our work demonstrate the use of synthetic frequency dimension to efficiently encode data and implement computation tasks, leading to a compact and scalable photonic computation architecture.

  View details for DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adi4956

  View details for PubMedID 37566663

• Soliton pulse pairs at multiple colours in normal dispersion microresonators NATURE PHOTONICS Yuan, Z., Gao, M., Yu, Y., Wang, H., Jin, W., Ji, Q., Feshali, A., Paniccia, M., Bowers, J., Vahala, K. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41566-023-01257-2

  View details for Web of Science ID 001040130200001

• 3D integration enables ultralow-noise isolator-free lasers in silicon photonics NATURE Xiang, C., Jin, W., Terra, O., Dong, B., Wang, H., Wu, L., Guo, J., Morin, T. J., Hughes, E., Peters, J., Ji, Q., Feshali, A., Paniccia, M., Vahala, K. J., Bowers, J. E. 2023; 620 (7972): 78-+

  Abstract

  Photonic integrated circuits are widely used in applications such as telecommunications and data-centre interconnects1-5. However, in optical systems such as microwave synthesizers6, optical gyroscopes7 and atomic clocks8, photonic integrated circuits are still considered inferior solutions despite their advantages in size, weight, power consumption and cost. Such high-precision and highly coherent applications favour ultralow-noise laser sources to be integrated with other photonic components in a compact and robustly aligned format-that is, on a single chip-for photonic integrated circuits to replace bulk optics and fibres. There are two major issues preventing the realization of such envisioned photonic integrated circuits: the high phase noise of semiconductor lasers and the difficulty of integrating optical isolators directly on-chip. Here we challenge this convention by leveraging three-dimensional integration that results in ultralow-noise lasers with isolator-free operation for silicon photonics. Through multiple monolithic and heterogeneous processing sequences, direct on-chip integration of III-V gain medium and ultralow-loss silicon nitride waveguides with optical loss around 0.5 decibels per metre are demonstrated. Consequently, the demonstrated photonic integrated circuit enters a regime that gives rise to ultralow-noise lasers and microwave synthesizers without the need for optical isolators, owing to the ultrahigh-quality-factor cavity. Such photonic integrated circuits also offer superior scalability for complex functionalities and volume production, as well as improved stability and reliability over time. The three-dimensional integration on ultralow-loss photonic integrated circuits thus marks a critical step towards complex systems and networks on silicon.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41586-023-06251-w

  View details for Web of Science ID 001042130400011

  View details for PubMedID 37532812

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10396957

• Universal embedding of a non-Hermitian reciprocal scattering optical system into a Hermitian time-reversal-invariant system PHYSICAL REVIEW A Minkov, M., Wang, H., Fan, S. 2023; 107 (5)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevA.107.053516

  View details for Web of Science ID 001063964300005

• Quantum decoherence of dark pulses in optical microresonators NATURE COMMUNICATIONS Lao, C., Jin, X., Chang, L., Wang, H., Lv, Z., Xie, W., Shu, H., Wang, X., Bowers, J. E., Yang, Q. 2023; 14 (1): 1802

  Abstract

  Quantum fluctuations disrupt the cyclic motions of dissipative Kerr solitons (DKSs) in nonlinear optical microresonators and consequently cause timing jitter of the emitted pulse trains. This problem is translated to the performance of several applications that employ DKSs as compact frequency comb sources. Recently, device manufacturing and noise reduction technologies have advanced to unveil the quantum properties of DKSs. Here we investigate the quantum decoherence of DKSs existing in normal-dispersion microresonators known as dark pulses. By virtue of the very large material nonlinearity, we directly observe the quantum decoherence of dark pulses in an AlGaAs-on-insulator microresonator, and the underlying dynamical processes are resolved by injecting stochastic photons into the microresonators. Moreover, phase correlation measurements show that the uniformity of comb spacing of quantum-limited dark pulses is better than 1.2 × 10-16 and 2.5 × 10-13 when normalized to the optical carrier frequencies and repetition frequencies, respectively. Comparing DKSs generated in different material platforms explicitly confirms the advantages of dark pulses over bright solitons in terms of quantum-limited coherence. Our work establishes a critical performance assessment of DKSs, providing guidelines for coherence engineering of chip-scale optical frequency combs.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-37475-z

  View details for Web of Science ID 000980769900012

  View details for PubMedID 37002215

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10066214

• Self-Injection Locked Frequency Conversion Laser LASER & PHOTONICS REVIEWS Ling, J., Staffa, J., Wang, H., Shen, B., Chang, L., Javid, U. A., Wu, L., Yuan, Z., Lopez-Rios, R., Li, M., He, Y., Li, B., Bowers, J. E., Vahala, K. J., Lin, Q. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1002/lpor.202200663

  View details for Web of Science ID 000928844600001

• Self-regulating soliton switching waves in microresonators PHYSICAL REVIEW A Wang, H., Shen, B., Yu, Y., Yuan, Z., Bao, C., Jin, W., Chang, L., Leal, M. A., Feshali, A., Paniccia, M., Bowers, J. E., Vahala, K. 2022; 106 (5)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevA.106.053508

  View details for Web of Science ID 000898385000006

• Extending the spectrum of fully integrated photonics to submicrometre wavelengths NATURE Trail, M. A., Zhang, C., Morin, T. J., Chang, L., Barik, S., Yuan, Z., Lee, W., Kim, G., Malik, A., Zhang, Z., Guo, J., Wang, H., Shen, B., Wu, L., Vahala, K., Bowers, J., Park, H., Komljenovic, T. 2022; 610 (7930): 54-+

  Abstract

  Integrated photonics has profoundly affected a wide range of technologies underpinning modern society1-4. The ability to fabricate a complete optical system on a chip offers unrivalled scalability, weight, cost and power efficiency5,6. Over the last decade, the progression from pure III-V materials platforms to silicon photonics has significantly broadened the scope of integrated photonics, by combining integrated lasers with the high-volume, advanced fabrication capabilities of the commercial electronics industry7,8. Yet, despite remarkable manufacturing advantages, reliance on silicon-based waveguides currently limits the spectral window available to photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Here, we present a new generation of integrated photonics by directly uniting III-V materials with silicon nitride waveguides on Si wafers. Using this technology, we present a fully integrated PIC at photon energies greater than the bandgap of silicon, demonstrating essential photonic building blocks, including lasers, amplifiers, photodetectors, modulators and passives, all operating at submicrometre wavelengths. Using this platform, we achieve unprecedented coherence and tunability in an integrated laser at short wavelength. Furthermore, by making use of this higher photon energy, we demonstrate superb high-temperature performance and kHz-level fundamental linewidths at elevated temperatures. Given the many potential applications at short wavelengths, the success of this integration strategy unlocks a broad range of new integrated photonics applications.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41586-022-05119-9

  View details for Web of Science ID 000861426000009

  View details for PubMedID 36171286

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9534754

• Integrated Pockels laser NATURE COMMUNICATIONS Li, M., Chang, L., Wu, L., Staffa, J., Ling, J., Javid, U. A., Xue, S., He, Y., Lopez-rios, R., Morin, T. J., Wang, H., Shen, B., Zeng, S., Zhu, L., Vahala, K. J., Bowers, J. E., Lin, Q. 2022; 13 (1): 5344

  Abstract

  The development of integrated semiconductor lasers has miniaturized traditional bulky laser systems, enabling a wide range of photonic applications. A progression from pure III-V based lasers to III-V/external cavity structures has harnessed low-loss waveguides in different material systems, leading to significant improvements in laser coherence and stability. Despite these successes, however, key functions remain absent. In this work, we address a critical missing function by integrating the Pockels effect into a semiconductor laser. Using a hybrid integrated III-V/Lithium Niobate structure, we demonstrate several essential capabilities that have not existed in previous integrated lasers. These include a record-high frequency modulation speed of 2 exahertz/s (2.0 × 1018 Hz/s) and fast switching at 50 MHz, both of which are made possible by integration of the electro-optic effect. Moreover, the device co-lases at infrared and visible frequencies via the second-harmonic frequency conversion process, the first such integrated multi-color laser. Combined with its narrow linewidth and wide tunability, this new type of integrated laser holds promise for many applications including LiDAR, microwave photonics, atomic physics, and AR/VR.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-33101-6

  View details for Web of Science ID 000853182100016

  View details for PubMedID 36097269

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9467990

• Probing material absorption and optical nonlinearity of integrated photonic materials NATURE COMMUNICATIONS Gao, M., Yang, Q., Ji, Q., Wang, H., Wu, L., Shen, B., Liu, J., Huang, G., Chang, L., Xie, W., Yu, S., Papp, S. B., Bowers, J. E., Kippenberg, T. J., Vahala, K. J. 2022; 13 (1): 3323

  Abstract

  Optical microresonators with high quality (Q) factors are essential to a wide range of integrated photonic devices. Steady efforts have been directed towards increasing microresonator Q factors across a variety of platforms. With success in reducing microfabrication process-related optical loss as a limitation of Q, the ultimate attainable Q, as determined solely by the constituent microresonator material absorption, has come into focus. Here, we report measurements of the material-limited Q factors in several photonic material platforms. High-Q microresonators are fabricated from thin films of SiO2, Si3N4, Al0.2Ga0.8As, and Ta2O5. By using cavity-enhanced photothermal spectroscopy, the material-limited Q is determined. The method simultaneously measures the Kerr nonlinearity in each material and reveals how material nonlinearity and ultimate Q vary in a complementary fashion across photonic materials. Besides guiding microresonator design and material development in four material platforms, the results help establish performance limits in future photonic integrated systems.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-30966-5

  View details for Web of Science ID 000809423400063

  View details for PubMedID 35680923

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9184588

• Vernier spectrometer using counterpropagating soliton microcombs SCIENCE Yang, Q., Shen, B., Wang, H., Minh Tran, Zhang, Z., Yang, K., Wu, L., Bao, C., Bowers, J., Yariv, A., Vahala, K. 2019; 363 (6430): 965-+

  View details for DOI 10.1126/science.aaw2317

  View details for Web of Science ID 000460194200042

• Vernier spectrometer using counterpropagating soliton microcombs. Science (New York, N.Y.) Yang, Q., Shen, B., Wang, H., Tran, M., Zhang, Z., Yang, K. Y., Wu, L., Bao, C., Bowers, J., Yariv, A., Vahala, K. 2019

  Abstract

  Determination of laser frequency with high resolution under continuous and abrupt tuning conditions is important for sensing, spectroscopy, and communications. We show that a single microresonator provides rapid and broadband measurement of optical frequencies with a relative frequency precision comparable to that of conventional dual-frequency comb systems. Dual-locked counterpropagating solitons having slightly different repetition rates were used to implement a vernier spectrometer, which enabled characterization of laser tuning rates as high as 10 terahertz per second, broadly step-tuned lasers, multiline laser spectra, and molecular absorption lines. Besides providing a considerable technical simplification through the dual-locked solitons and enhanced capability for measurement of arbitrarily tuned sources, our results reveal possibilities for chip-scale spectrometers that exceed the performance of tabletop grating and interferometer-based devices.

  View details for PubMedID 30792361