Synthetic frequency dimensions in dynamically modulated ring resonators

Abstract

The concept of synthetic dimensions in photonics has attracted rapidly growing interest in the past few years. Among a variety of photonic systems, the ring resonator system under dynamic modulation has been investigated in depth both in theory and experiment and has proven to be a powerful way to build synthetic frequency dimensions. In this Tutorial, we start with a pedagogical introduction to the theoretical approaches in describing the dynamically modulated ring resonator system and then review experimental methods in building such a system. Moreover, we discuss important physical phenomena in synthetic dimensions, including nontrivial topological physics. This Tutorial provides a pathway toward studying the dynamically modulated ring resonator system and understanding synthetic dimensions in photonics and discusses future prospects for both fundamental research and practical applications using synthetic dimensions.