Ultra-Broadband Microwave Frequency-Comb Generation in Superconducting Resonators

We have generated frequency combs spanning 0.5 to 20 GHz in superconducting half wave resonators at T=3 K. Thin films of niobium-titanium nitride enabled this development due to their low loss, high nonlinearity, low frequency dispersion, and high critical temperature. The combs nucleate as sidebands around multiples of the pump frequency. Selection rules for the allowed frequency emission are calculated using perturbation theory and the measured spectrum is shown to agree with the theory. The sideband spacing is measured to be accurate to 1 part in 10 million. The sidebands coalesce into a continuous comb structure that has been observed to cover at least 6 octaves in frequency.