Counter-rotating cavity solitons in a silicon nitride microresonator

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental generation of counter-rotating cavity solitons in a silicon nitride microresonator, enabling a tunable dual comb source with potential applications in spectroscopy and distance measurement.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to generate and control counter-rotating cavity solitons in a microresonator using a fixed laser, with tunable repetition rates.

Findings

Demonstrated dual 3-soliton state with tunable repetition rate difference

Achieved control over soliton dynamics by adjusting pump power ratio

Proposed application in compact, tunable dual comb sources

Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of counter-rotating cavity solitons in a silicon nitride microresonator using a fixed, single-frequency laser. We demonstrate a dual 3-soliton state with a difference in the repetition rates of the soliton trains that can be tuned by varying the ratio of pump powers in the two directions. Such a system enables a highly compact, tunable dual comb source that can be used for applications such as spectroscopy and distance ranging.