Soliton crystals in optical Kerr microresonators in the presence of thermo-optic effects

TL;DR

This paper investigates how thermo-optic effects influence the formation and characteristics of soliton crystals in optical Kerr microresonators, revealing that while they do not prevent formation, they affect amplitude and thermal profiles.

Contribution

The study introduces a coupled model of the Lugiato-Lefever equation and heat diffusion to analyze thermo-optic effects on soliton crystals in microresonators, providing new insights into thermal influences.

Findings

Thermo-optic effects do not prevent soliton crystal formation.

Strong thermal detuning reduces soliton-crystal amplitude.

Temperature profile remains insensitive to soliton profile.

Abstract

The influence of thermo-optic effects on shape profiles of soliton crystals in optical Kerr microresonators is investigated. The study rests on a model that consists of the Lugiato-Lefever equation, coupled to the one-dimensional heat diffusion equation with a source term proportional to the average power of the optical field. Using appropriate variable changes the model equations are transformed into a set of coupled first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations. These equations are solved numerically with emphasis on the influence of thermo-optic effects on the amplitude and instantaneous frequency of the optical field, as well as on the temperature profile in the microresonator cavity. It is found that thermo-optic effects do not prevent soliton crytals from forming in optical Kerr microresonators, however, a strong thermal detuning will decrease the soliton-crystal amplitude. The model predicts a temperature profile in the microresonator cavity which is insensitive to the specific spatio-temporal profile of the soliton crystal propagating in the microresonator, a feature peculiar to the model.