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Rapid Repetition Rate Fluctuation Measurement of Soliton Crystals in a Microresonator
Published on: December 15, 2021
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Dissipative Kerr solitons in optical microresonators.
Tobias J Kippenberg1, Alexander L Gaeta2, Michal Lipson3
1École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institute of Physics, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland. tobias.kippenberg@epfl.ch mg@rqc.ru.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|August 11, 2018
Summary
Chip-scale optical frequency comb sources, or microcombs, leverage temporal dissipative Kerr solitons for applications in communications and metrology. These compact soliton microcombs offer versatile, low-power frequency synthesis for diverse environments.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and nonlinear optics
- Quantum optics and metrology
- Integrated photonics
Background:
- Microcombs based on parametric frequency conversion in microresonators are advancing rapidly.
- Key to these advances is the observation of temporal dissipative Kerr solitons.
- These solitons are stationary solutions to a nonlinear Schrödinger equation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To summarize the applications and enabling phenomena of chip-scale optical frequency comb sources.
- To highlight the significance of temporal dissipative Kerr solitons in microresonator-based frequency combs.
- To discuss the advantages and potential deployment scenarios of soliton microcombs.
Main Methods:
- Parametric frequency conversion in microresonators.
- Observation and characterization of temporal dissipative Kerr solitons.
- Theoretical modeling using the damped, driven, and detuned nonlinear Schrödinger equation.
Main Results:
- Soliton microcombs enable octave-spanning coherent optical frequency combs.
- Phenomena such as Stokes solitons, soliton crystals, and dispersive waves are observed.
- Microcombs offer compact, low-power, and wafer-scale-compatible frequency synthesis.
Conclusions:
- Soliton microcombs are compact, low-power, and versatile photonic devices.
- They enable frequency combs for applications in communications, metrology, and spectroscopy.
- Their chip-scale nature facilitates integration and deployment in remote and mobile environments.
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