Vibrational Kerr solitons in an optomechanical microresonator

TL;DR

This paper reports the first observation of vibrational Kerr solitons in an optomechanical microresonator, revealing new nonlinear dynamics and potential for enhanced precision measurements using combined optical and mechanical effects.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of vibrational Kerr solitons in an optomechanical system and demonstrates their unique properties and nonlinear behaviors.

Findings

Discovery of vibrational Kerr solitons modulated by mechanical oscillations

Observation of phonon lasing driven by soliton dynamics

Identification of complex nonlinear phenomena like chaos and limit cycles

Abstract

Soliton microcombs based on Kerr nonlinearity in microresonators have been a prominent miniaturized coherent light source. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate the existence of Kerr solitons in an optomechanical microresonator, for which a nonlinear model is built by incorporating a single mechanical mode and multiple optical modes. Interestingly, an exotic vibrational Kerr soliton state is found, which is modulated by a self-sustained mechanical oscillation. Besides, the soliton provides extra mechanical gain through the optical spring effect, and results in phonon lasing with a red-detuned pump. Various nonlinear dynamics is also observed, including limit cycle, higher periodicity, and transient chaos. This work provides a guidance for not only exploring many-body nonlinear interactions, but also promoting precision measurements by featuring superiority of both frequency combs and optomechanics.