2016/12/28 by Ewelina Obrzud, Obrzud, Ewelina, Steve Lecomte +3 · 7 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies #FOS: Physical sciences #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Optics (physics.optics) #Photonic and Optical Devices
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1612.08993
openalex publication_date 2016/12/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Continuous-wave laser driven Kerr-nonlinear, optical microresonators have enabled a variety of novel applications and phenomena including the generation of optical frequency combs, ultra-low noise microwaves, as well as, ultra-short optical pulses. In this work we break with the paradigm of the continuous-wave optical drive and use instead periodic, pico-second optical pulses. We observe the deterministic generation of stable femtosecond dissipative cavity solitons on-top of the resonantly enhanced driving pulse. Surprisingly, the soliton pulse locks to the driving pulse enabling direct all-optical control of both the soliton's repetition rate and carrier-envelope offset frequency without the need for any actuation on the microresonator. When compared to both continuous-wave driven microresonators and non-resonant pulsed supercontinuum generation, this new approach is substantially more efficient and can yield broadband frequency combs at femto-Joule driving pulse energies and average laser powers significantly below the parametric threshold power of continuous-wave driven microresonators. The presented results bridge the fields of continuous-wave driven resonant and pulse-driven non-resonant nonlinear optics. They enables micro-photonic pulse compression, ultra-efficient low noise frequency comb and resonant supercontinuum generation for applications including optical data transfer and optical spectroscopy. From a scientific perspective the results open a new horizon for nonlinear photonics driven by temporally and spectrally structured light.