Active capture and stabilization of temporal solitons in microresonators

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Nonlinear Optics
• Microcavity Devices

Background:

• Soliton mode locking in high-Q optical microcavities enables miniaturized and integrated frequency comb systems.
• Thermal hysteresis and frequency drifting destabilize soliton formation and cause loss of mode locking.
• Current methods for triggering and maintaining soliton mode locking are complex and prone to instability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a reliable active feedback method for capturing and stabilizing soliton states in optical microcavities.
• To overcome thermal effects that hinder soliton formation and control.
• To demonstrate low-power generation of microwave-repetition-rate solitons on a chip.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of an active feedback control system to manage microcavity soliton dynamics.
• Utilizing the feedback system to precisely capture desired soliton states.
• Sustaining the captured soliton states indefinitely through continuous active stabilization.

Main Results:

• Successfully captured and indefinitely stabilized specific soliton states using the active feedback method.
• Demonstrated a reliable approach to overcome thermal instabilities during soliton formation.
• Achieved generation of microwave-repetition-rate solitons with a low pumping power of 22 mW.

Conclusions:

• Active feedback control is a robust solution for overcoming thermal effects in microcavity soliton mode locking.
• This method enables reliable excitation and control of a desired number of circulating cavity solitons.
• The demonstrated low-power operation paves the way for practical on-chip integrated frequency comb systems.