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Synthesized spatiotemporal mode-locking and photonic flywheel in multimode mesoresonators
Mingming Nie1, Kunpeng Jia2, Yijun Xie3
1Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA. mingming.nie@colorado.edu.
Nature Communications
|October 27, 2022
Summary
We demonstrate spatiotemporal mode-locking Dissipative Kerr soliton (STML DKS) microcombs using novel graded index multimode fiber Fabry-Pérot resonators. This breakthrough achieves record-low timing jitter and linewidth, advancing photonic flywheel technology.
Area of Science:
- Cavity nonlinear photonics
- Ultrafast laser technology
- Frequency comb generation
Background:
- Dissipative Kerr soliton (DKS) frequency combs, or microcombs, have spurred significant advancements in nonlinear photonics.
- Spatiotemporal mode-locking (STML) offers new capabilities for ultrafast lasers and photonic computing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To combine DKS and STML principles for the first time.
- To develop and utilize an ultrahigh-quality-factor Fabry-Pérot (FP) mesoresonator based on graded index multimode fiber (GRIN-MMF).
- To demonstrate STML DKS and analyze its performance.
Main Methods:
- Development of a novel GRIN-MMF FP mesoresonator.
- Implementation of a two-step pumping scheme.
- Utilizing cavity stress tuning for selective excitation of eigenmode DKS or STML DKS.
- Characterization of microcomb noise properties.
Main Results:
- Successful demonstration of STML DKS.
- Selective excitation of eigenmode DKS and STML DKS achieved.
- Record-breaking fundamental comb linewidth of 400 mHz (25x improvement).
- Record-breaking DKS timing jitter of 500 attoseconds (2.5x improvement).
Conclusions:
- GRIN-MMF FP mesoresonators are a promising platform for high-dimensional nonlinear cavity dynamics.
- This work establishes a new benchmark for photonic flywheel performance with ultrahigh coherence and ultralow timing jitter.
