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Laser cavity-soliton microcombs

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 17:13 authored by Hualong Bao, Adele Cooper, Maxwell Rowley, Luigi Di Lauro, Juan Sebastian Totero Gongora, Sai T Chu, Brent E Little, Gian-Luca Oppo, Roberto Morandotti, David J Moss, Benjamin Wetzel, Marco Peccianti, Alessia Pasquazi
Microcavity-based frequency combs, or ‘microcombs’1,2, have enabled many fundamental breakthroughs3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21 through the discovery of temporal cavity-solitons. These self-localized waves, described by the Lugiato–Lefever equation22, are sustained by a background of radiation usually containing 95% of the total power23. Simple methods for their efficient generation and control are currently being investigated to finally establish microcombs as out-of-the-lab tools24. Here, we demonstrate microcomb laser cavity-solitons. Laser cavity-solitons are intrinsically background-free and have underpinned key breakthroughs in semiconductor lasers22,25,26,27,28. By merging their properties with the physics of multimode systems29, we provide a new paradigm for soliton generation and control in microcavities. We demonstrate 50-nm-wide bright soliton combs induced at average powers more than one order of magnitude lower than the Lugiato–Lefever soliton power threshold22, measuring a mode efficiency of 75% versus the theoretical limit of 5% for bright Lugiato–Lefever solitons23. Finally, we can tune the repetition rate by well over a megahertz without any active feedback.

Funding

TIMING: Time-Resolved Nonlinear Ghost Imaging; G2016; EUROPEAN UNION; 725046

UK Quantum Technology Hub for Sensors and Metrology; G1511; EPSRC-ENGINEERING & PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL; EP/M013294/1

CHRONOS - Route to On-Chip Resonating Optical Clocks via Nonlinear Optics; G1159; EUROPEAN UNION; IIF-GA-2012-327627

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Nature Photonics

ISSN

1749-4885

Publisher

Nature Research

Volume

13

Page range

384-389

Department affiliated with

  • Physics and Astronomy Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Sussex Centre for Quantum Technologies Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2019-03-12

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2019-09-11

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-03-11

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