The research team, headed by Professor Rao Yunjiang from the School of Information and Communication Engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, has recently had multiple papers published in internationally acclaimed journals like Science Advances, Nature Communications, and eLight. These papers detail the latest research advancements in microcavity optical frequency combs and their associated sensing technologies.

Microcavity optical frequency combs, regarded as a new generation of precision metrology light sources, boast several advantages. They offer a wide bandwidth, high coherence, and multi-channel functionality. Nevertheless, they are not without their challenges. Issues such as the difficulty in achieving optoelectronic hybrid integration, ensuring high-efficiency stability, and seamless integration into large-capacity parallel sensing systems pose significant hurdles.

Through international cooperation, the research team has put forward a novel scheme centered around a composite microcavity structure. This has led to the creation of a mode-locked optomechanical frequency comb with a repetition rate at the MHz level. The frequency stability of this comb is on par with that of a rubidium atomic clock, and the entire system can be housed within a centimeter-scale module.

Moreover, the team has introduced a processing method that substantially boosts the Q-factor of WGM microresonators. This method has enabled the full locking of on-chip soliton Kerr optical frequency combs, offering a compact light source solution tailored for fiber sensing applications.

Additionally, an acoustic analysis device, inspired by the bionic principles of insect hearing, has been developed. This device excels in high-sensitivity detection, high-precision localization, and high-accuracy identification of free-space sound-emitting targets. It has demonstrated outstanding performance in scenarios such as the passive detection of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The relevant research endeavors have received support from projects like the National Natural Science Foundation of China.