Soliton pulse pairs at multiple colours in normal dispersion microresonators

Abstract

AbstractSoliton microcombs are helping to advance the miniaturization of a range of comb systems. These combs mode lock through the formation of short temporal pulses in anomalous dispersion resonators. Here, a new microcomb is demonstrated that mode locks through the formation of pulse pairs in coupled normal dispersion resonators. Unlike conventional microcombs, pulses in this system cannot exist alone, and instead phase lock in pairs wherein pulses in each pair feature different optical spectra. The pairwise mode-locking modality extends to multiple pulse pairs and beyond two rings, and it greatly constrains mode-locking states. Two- (bipartite) and three-ring (tripartite) states containing many pulse pairs are demonstrated, including crystal states. Pulse pairs can also form at recurring spectral windows. We obtained the results using an ultra-low-loss Si3N4 platform that has not previously produced bright solitons on account of its inherent normal dispersion. The ability to generate multicolour pulse pairs over multiple rings is an important new feature for microcombs. It can extend the concept of all-optical soliton buffers and memories to multiple storage rings that multiplex pulses with respect to soliton colour and that are spatially addressable. The results also suggest a new platform for the study of topological photonics and quantum combs.