Temporal dissipative structures in optical Kerr resonators with transient loss fluctuation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the emergence of stable optical dissipative solitons in Kerr resonators with loss fluctuations, operating in resonance, which simplifies their generation and enhances efficiency.

Contribution

It introduces a novel self-starting soliton state in resonance within Kerr microresonators affected by loss fluctuations, expanding the operational regime.

Findings

Stable soliton states observed near zero detuning.

Resonance operation improves soliton generation ease.

Potential for higher conversion efficiency in micro-combs.

Abstract

Dissipative structures are the result of spontaneous symmetry breaking in a dynamic open system, which is induced by either the nonlinear effect or loss fluctuations. While optical temporal dissipative solitons in nonlinear Kerr cavities has been widely studied, they are operated in a red-detuned regime that is non-trivial to access. Here, we demonstrate an emergent dissipative soliton state in optical cavities in the presence of loss fluctuations, which is accessible by self-evolution of the system and is operated in resonance. We numerically investigate both the effect of loss modulation and the effect of saturable absorption, based on a standard dissipative and Kerr-nonlinear microresonator model, and observe stable soliton states in a close-to-zero detuning region. The self-starting soliton state working in resonance is potentially of wide interest, which would not only ease the operation for ultrafast temporal soliton generation, but also imply a high conversion efficiency for soliton micro-combs.