Widely tunable optical parametric oscillation in a Kerr microresonator

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a widely tunable optical parametric oscillation in a Kerr microresonator, achieving over 720 nm of tunability through phase matching enabled by higher-order dispersion, with results matching theoretical predictions.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of large tunability in Kerr microresonator parametric sideband generation using phase matching and higher-order dispersion effects.

Findings

Achieved over 720 nm tunability of sidebands

Good agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions

Demonstrated control of sideband wavelengths via pump wavelength adjustments

Abstract

We report on the first experimental demonstration of widely-tunable parametric sideband generation in a Kerr microresonator. Specifically, by pumping a silica microsphere in the normal dispersion regime, we achieve the generation of phase-matched four-wave mixing sidebands at large frequency detunings from the pump. Thanks to the role of higher-order dispersion in enabling phase matching, small variations of the pump wavelength translate into very large and controllable changes in the wavelengths of the generated sidebands: we experimentally demonstrate over 720 nm of tunability using a low-power continuous-wave pump laser in the C-band. We also derive simple theoretical predictions for the phase-matched sideband frequencies, and discuss the predictions in light of the discrete cavity resonance frequencies. Our experimentally measured sideband wavelengths are in very good agreement with theoretical predictions obtained from our simple phase matching analysis.