Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne

Michael Gorodetsky

Tobias Kippenberg

Hairun Guo

Tobias Herr

Erwan Guillaume Albert Lucas

Grigory Lihachev

Nikolay Pavlov

Arslan Sajid Raja

A light pulse source and method for generating repetitive optical pulses are described. The light pulse source includes a continuous wave cw laser device, an optical waveguide optically coupled with the laser device, an optical microresonator, and a tuning device. The optical microresonator coupling cw laser light via the waveguide into the microresonator, which, may include, a light field in a soliton state with soliton shaped pulses coupled out of the microresonator for providing the repetitive optical pulses. The laser device includes a chip based semiconductor laser, the microresonator and/or the waveguide may reflect an optical feedback portion of light back to the semiconductor laser, which may provide self-injection locking relative to a resonance frequency of the microresonator. The tuning device is arranged for tuning at least one of a driving current and a temperature of the semiconductor laser such that the microresonator may provide the soliton state.

Generating optical pulses via a soliton state of an optical microresonator coupled with a chip based semiconductor laser

The present invention concerns a multiple soliton comb generation method comprising the steps of:

Multiple soliton comb generation method and device

A light pulse source (), being adapted for generating repetitive optical pulses, comprises a continuous wave (cw) laser () being arranged for providing cw laser light, an optical microresonator () being made of a resonator material, which has a third order (Kerr) nonlinearity and an anomalous resonator dispersion, wherein the cw laser () is arranged for coupling the cw laser light into the optical microresonator (), which, at a predetermined relative detuning of the cw laser () and the optical microresonator (), is capable of including a light field in a soliton state, wherein soliton shaped pulses can be coupled out of the optical microresonator () for providing the repetitive optical pulses, and a tuning device () being arranged for creating and maintaining the predetermined relative detuning of the cw laser () and the optical microresonator () based on a tuning time profile being selected in dependency on a thermal time constant of the optical microresonator () such that the soliton state is achieved in a thermal equilibrium state of the optical microresonator (). Furthermore, a method of generating repetitive optical pulses is described based on soliton shaped pulses coupled out of an optical microresonator () is described.

Generating optical pulses via a soliton state of an optical microresonator

Growing community of inventors

Moscow, Russia

Michael Gorodetsky