Temporal Localized States (TLSs) are individually addressable structures traveling in optical resonators. They can be used as bits of information and to generate frequency combs with tunable spectral density. We show that a pair of specially designed nonlinear mirrors, a ½ Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser and a Semiconductor Saturable Absorber, coupled in self-imaging conditions, can lead to the generation of such TLSs. Our results indicate how a conventional passive modelocking scheme can be adapted to provide a robust and simple system emitting TLSs and it paves the way towards the observation of three dimensions confined states, the so-called light bullets.

We present the detailed characterization of the phase dynamics of a telecom hybrid III-V-on-silicon passively mode-locked laser with a ring cavity. We explore the various regimes of operation as a function of gain current and saturable absorber bias voltage. We use a stepped-heterodyne measurement to quantify the spectral chirp and reconstruct the pulse envelope. With this technique, we are able to identify regimes of near-transform-limited operation, and we assess the degradation of mode-locking in the comb phase relationship when saturable absorber bias voltage is changed. Finally, we present a preliminary study of the phase-locking in hybrid mode-locked operation and demonstrate transform-limited pulses.

We present the detailed phase-locking analysis of a telecom hybrid III-V-onsilicon passively mode-locked laser with a ring cavity and quantum wells as active region. We use a stepped-heterodyne measurement to quantify the modal phase chirp and reconstruct the pulse envelop. With this technique we are able to identify regimes of transformlimited operation and we assess the degradation of the phase-locking when saturable absorber bias voltage is changed.

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