Reversible Self-Replication of Spatio-Temporal Kerr Cavity Patterns

TL;DR

This paper reports a new phenomenon where spatiotemporal Kerr cavity patterns in microresonators can self-replicate reversibly, leading to stepwise changes in frequency combs, offering insights into multi-dimensional nonlinear pattern physics.

Contribution

It introduces the discovery of reversible self-replication of Kerr cavity patterns, a novel mechanism affecting frequency comb formation in microresonators.

Findings

Reversible pattern transitions cause stepwise addition/removal of combs.

Pattern drift instability drives the self-replication process.

The phenomenon offers new understanding of multi-dimensional nonlinear dynamics.

Abstract

We uncover a novel and robust phenomenon that causes the gradual self-replication of spatiotemporal Kerr cavity patterns in cylindrical microresonators. These patterns are inherently synchronised multi-frequency combs. Under proper conditions, the axially-localized nature of the patterns leads to a fundamental drift instability that induces transitions amongst patterns with a different number of rows. Self-replications, thus, result in the stepwise addition or removal of individual combs along the cylinder's axis. Transitions occur in a fully reversible and, consequently, deterministic way. The phenomenon puts forward a novel paradigm for Kerr frequency comb formation and reveals important insights into the physics of multi-dimensional nonlinear patterns.