Universal Bright-Bright Integrated Soliton Molecule via Parametric Binding

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a universal bright-bright soliton molecule formed via parametric binding in Kerr resonators, enabling stable multi-color frequency combs in normal dispersion regimes for advanced metrology and spectroscopy.

Contribution

It introduces a novel bright-bright soliton molecule formed through parametric interaction, independent of dispersion regime or visible wavelength pumping.

Findings

Bright-bright soliton molecules are formed via parametric binding.

The phenomenon occurs even in normal dispersion without phase matching.

Experimental and theoretical validation of the soliton molecule formation.

Abstract

Dissipative Kerr solitons (DKSs) have emerged as the preferred solution for on-chip integrated optical frequency comb (OFC) generation in metrology. A multi-pumped DKS enables either all-optical trapping in the Kerr-induced synchronization regime, or a multi-component OFC with \greg{a locked repetition rate yet with constant frequency offsets between the components} in the multi-color DKS regime. The multi-color DKS regime is of particular interest since nonlinear mixing between the DKS and the secondary pumped component generates idler waves at different frequencies that are useful for spectral extension of the DKS comb. Here, we explore multi-color idler generation at frequencies in which the resonator free spectral range matches that at the DKS. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that without phase matching, the idler forms a bright pulse fundamentally bound to the bright DKS through parametric interaction, despite occurring in normal dispersion. Our work can enable new applications in metrology and spectroscopy of quantum systems toward visible wavelengths, as the parametric nature of our bright-bright state eliminates dependence on dispersion regime or visible wavelength pumping.