近日，美国科罗拉多大学博尔德分校Scott B. Papp团队制成了采用微谐振-孤子光混合技术的宽带毫米波合成器。相关论文发表在2026年5月5日出版的《自然—光子学》杂志上。

毫米波和太赫兹信号能够实现高性能应用；然而，在100 GHz以上频率范围内，可调谐集成电子器件的性能仍然有限，这制约了无线通信、高分辨率成像和光谱学等领域的发展。光子学方法可以解决这一问题，但通常会带来尺寸和功耗的增加。

研究组介绍了一种芯片级、宽带的毫米波频率合成器，该合成器利用集成非线性光子学与高速光电探测技术，充分发掘了光近乎无限的带宽。他们产生了双微腔孤子频率梳，其干涉图本质上由跨越毫米波和太赫兹波段的谐波信号组成。通过双光梳的相位相干性，研究组精确稳定了干涉图，从而能够产生从直流到超过1 THz范围内的任意输出频率。在此全频段内，该合成器表现出卓越的频率稳定性，其1秒测量的阿伦偏差为3 × 10^-12；同时相位噪声低，在150 GHz参考频率、100 kHz偏移处达到-83 dBc Hz^-1。

研究组采用工作频率高达500 GHz的改进型单行载流子光电二极管，将干涉图转换为电信号，实现连续可调的频率音调。该工作利用了光子学的相干性、带宽和集成优势，将当前先进节点互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）微波电子学可达到的频率范围扩展至毫米波和太赫兹波段。

附：英文原文

Title: Wide-band millimetre-wave synthesizer using microresonator-soliton photomixing

Author: Zang, Jizhao, Briles, Travis C., Morgan, Jesse S., Beling, Andreas, Papp, Scott B.

Issue&Volume: 2026-05-05

Abstract: Millimetre-wave and terahertz signals enable high-performance applications; however, tunable integrated electronics remain limited beyond 100 GHz, restricting progress in wireless communication, high-resolution imaging, and spectroscopy. Photonic approaches can address this, albeit with increased size and power consumption. Here we describe a chip-scale, wide-band millimetre-wave frequency synthesizer, which uses integrated nonlinear photonics and high-speed photodetection to exploit the nearly limitless bandwidth of light. We generate dual, microresonator-soliton frequency combs whose interferogram is fundamentally composed of harmonic signals spanning the millimetre-wave and terahertz bands. By phase coherence of the dual comb, we precisely stabilize the interferogram to generate any output frequency from direct current to >1 THz. Across this range, the synthesizer exhibits exceptional frequency stability, characterized by an Allan deviation of 3 × 1012 in 1-s measurements; and low phase noise, achieving 83 dBc Hz1 at 100 kHz offset and a reference frequency of 150 GHz. We use a modified uni-travelling-carrier photodiode with an operating frequency up to 500GHz to convert the interferogram to an electrical signal, with continuously tunable tones. Our work harnesses the coherence, bandwidth and integration of photonics to extend the accessible frequency range of current, advanced-node complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor microwave electronics to the millimetre-wave and terahertz bands.

DOI: 10.1038/s41566-026-01898-z

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41566-026-01898-z