Soliton compression and supercontinuum spectra in nonlinear diamond photonics

TL;DR

This paper investigates the use of nonlinear diamond photonics for generating ultrashort pulses and supercontinuum spectra, demonstrating efficient soliton dynamics and pulse compression on chip-scale devices.

Contribution

It introduces novel on-chip diamond waveguides with tailored dispersion profiles enabling supercontinuum generation and record-breaking pulse compression in a compact form.

Findings

Diamond waveguides support supercontinuum generation via soliton fission.

Millimeter-scale propagation suffices for nonlinear processes unlike silica fibers.

Potential for sub-10-fs pulse generation on chip.

Abstract

We numerically explore synthetic crystal diamond for realizing novel light sources in ranges which are up to now difficult to achieve with other materials, such as sub-10-fs pulse durations and challenging spectral ranges. We assess the performance of on-chip diamond waveguides for controlling light generation by means of nonlinear soliton dynamics. Tailoring the cross-section of such diamond waveguides allows to design dispersion profiles with custom zero-dispersion points and anomalous dispersion ranges exceeding an octave. Various propagation dynamics, including supercontinuum generation by soliton fission, can be realized in diamond photonics. In stark contrast to usual silica-based optical fibers, where such processes occur on the scale of meters, in diamond millimeter-scale propagation distances are sufficient. Unperturbed soliton-dynamics prior to soliton fission allow to identify a pulse self-compression scenario that promises record-breaking compression factors on chip-size propagation lengths.