Frequency comb assisted diode laser spectroscopy for measurement of microcavity dispersion

Del’Haye, Pascal; Arcizet, Olivier; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Holzwarth, Ronald; Kippenberg, Tobias J.

doi:10.1038/nphoton.2009.138

Cited by 275 publications

(172 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

170

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The measured group-velocity dispersion (GVD) is 2 2 190.7 8.4 ps /km   [36]. from an equidistant frequency grid defined by 01 D   [5], [14], [17], where 0  is the resonance pumped and  the relative mode number.…”

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mode-locked dark pulse Kerr combs in normal-dispersion microresonators

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Kerr frequency combs from microresonators are now extensively investigated as a potentially portable technology for a variety of applications. Most studies employ anomalous dispersion microresonators that support modulational instability for comb initiation, and mode-locking transitions resulting in coherent bright soliton-like pulse generation have been reported. However, some experiments show comb generation in normal dispersion microresonators; simulations suggest the formation of dark pulse temporal profiles. Excitation of dark pulse solutions is difficult due to the lack of modulational instability in the effective blue-detuned pumping region; an excitation pathway has been demonstrated neither in experiment nor in simulation. Here we report experiments in which dark pulse combs are formed by mode-interaction-aided excitation; for the first time, a mode-locking transition is observed in the normal dispersion regime. The excitation pathway proposed is also supported by simulations.Microresonator-based optical frequency combs, also termed Kerr combs, are generated through conversion of a single pump frequency to a broadband frequency comb inside a high-quality-factor (Q) microresonator via the third-order Kerr nonlinearity [1]- [10]. The advantages of Kerr combs include very compact size, high repetition rate, and capability of generating ultra-broad combs.The dynamics of Kerr comb generation have attracted intense investigations since the first demonstration of the method [11]-[28]. It has been found that Kerr combs are not always coherent [11]-[12] and may be characterized by high intensity noise [13]-[14]; furthermore, lack of coherence and high intensity noise are generally correlated. Experiments have revealed transitions from low coherence, high noise states to highly coherent mode-locked states accompanied by a sudden drop in the comb noise [14]- [18]. It has been found in simulations and experiments that the mode locking of broadband Kerr combs is usually related to soliton formation in the cavity [15], [17]-[28]. These dissipative cavity solitons are localized structures stabilized by a balance between Kerr nonlinearity and dispersion. In time domain they exist as bright or dark pulses, depending on whether the cavity dispersion is anomalous or normal, respectively. Bright microresonator solitons in the anomalous dispersion region have been observed in experiments and well studied through simulations [15], [17]-[27]. Reference [17] reported a method of tuning the pump laser frequency to an effectively red-detuned regime (pump laser wavelength longer than resonant wavelength) which is typically difficult to achieve due to thermal instability [29]. Mode-locking transitions yielding bright solitons were observed after passage through a broadband chaotic state [17]. In contrast, although dark solitons have been predicted in normal dispersion microresonators in 2 / 32 2 / 32 theory and simulation [27]-[28], investigating dark solitons experimentally is extremely difficult and no time-domain char...

show abstract

Section: mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mode-locked dark pulse Kerr combs in normal-dispersion microresonators

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Figure 4a shows a simulated mode profile superimposed on a scanning electron microscope image of a microresonator, which has been cut in order to image the toroidal cross section. Based on these simulations the resonator's group delay dispersion (GDD) and the resulting wavelength dependent mismatch ∆ν between positions of the equidistant comb modes and resonator modes (that are shifted from their equidistant positions due to dispersion) can be derived [30].…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

Octave Spanning Tunable Frequency Comb from a Microresonator

et al. 2011

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Optical frequency combs [1,2,3] have revolutionized the field of frequency metrology within the last decade and have become enabling tools for atomic clocks [4], gas sensing [5,6] and astrophysical spectrometer calibration [7,8]. The rapidly increasing number of applications has heightened interest in more compact comb generators. Optical microresonator based comb generators bear promise in this regard. allow deriving an optical frequency comb directly from a continuous wave laser source and have been demonstrated in a number of optical microresonator geometries [9,10,11,12,13,14,15]. Critical to their future use as 'frequency markers', is however the absolute frequency stabilization of the optical comb spectrum [16]. A powerful technique for this stabilization is self-referencing [16,17], which requires a spectrum that spans a full octave, i.e. a factor of two in frequency. In the case of mode locked lasers, overcoming the limited bandwidth has become possible only with the advent of photonic crystal fibres for supercontinuum generation [18,19]. Here, we report for the first time the generation of an octave-spanning frequency comb directly from a toroidal microresonator on a silicon chip. The comb spectrum covers the wavelength range from 990 nm to 2170 nm and is retrieved from a continuous wave laser interacting with the modes of an ultra high Q microresonator, without relying on external broadening. Full tunability of the generated frequency comb over a bandwidth exceeding an entire free spectral range is demonstrated. This allows positioning of a frequency comb mode to any desired frequency within the comb bandwidth. The ability to derive octave spanning spectra from microresonator comb generators represents a key step towards achieving a radio-frequency to optical link on a chip, which could unify the fields of metrology with micro-and nano-photonics and enable entirely new devices that bring frequency metrology into a chip scale setting for compact applications such as space based optical clocks.In addition to the advantage of compact integration, microresonator based frequency combs have high power per comb line, which is a result of the smaller resonator size and the correspondingly higher repetition rate. This high power per comb line enables direct comb spectroscopy [20] and is advantageous for many applications, and critical for high capacity telecommunication. On the other hand, the high repetition rate of micro-combs results in a smaller peak power of the optical pulses that are underlying the generated frequency comb. This renders spectral broadening using nonlinear fibres [1,18] inefficient. Spectral broadening is a method which allowed for the first broadening of mode locked lasers to octave spanning combs ten years ago [19], leading to a breakthrough of the optical frequency comb technology.Here we show that the high power enhancement in a microresonator itself is sufficient for direct octave spanning frequency comb synthesis without the need for any additional spectral broadening. Optical freq...

show abstract

“…[35] this is studied experimentally and with the help of the numerical tools described in Section 1.7. First, the mode structure of the microresonator is precisely measured using frequency comb assisted diode laser spectroscopy [86]. Figure 1.14 shows a fraction of the recorded transmission spectrum of a crystalline resonator, revealing several mode families.…”

Section: Resonator Mode Structure and Soliton Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissipative Kerr Solitons in Optical Microresonators

Herr¹,

Gorodetsky²,

Kippenberg³

2015

Nonlinear Optical Cavity Dynamics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This chapter describes the discovery and stable generation of temporal dissipative Kerr solitons in continuous-wave (CW) laser driven optical microresonators. The experimental signatures as well as the temporal and spectral characteristics of this class of bright solitons are discussed. Moreover, analytical and numerical descriptions are presented that do not only reproduce qualitative features but can also be used to accurately model and predict the characteristics of experimental systems. Particular emphasis lies on temporal dissipative Kerr solitons with regard to optical frequency comb generation where they are of particular importance. Here, one example is spectral broadening and selfreferencing enabled by the ultra-short pulsed nature of the solitons. Another example is dissipative Kerr soliton formation in integrated on-chip microresonators where the emission of a dispersive wave allows for the direct generation of unprecedentedly broadband and coherent soliton spectra with smooth spectral envelope.

show abstract

Frequency comb assisted diode laser spectroscopy for measurement of microcavity dispersion

Cited by 275 publications

References 27 publications

Mode-locked dark pulse Kerr combs in normal-dispersion microresonators

Mode-locked dark pulse Kerr combs in normal-dispersion microresonators

Octave Spanning Tunable Frequency Comb from a Microresonator

Dissipative Kerr Solitons in Optical Microresonators

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About