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Frequency combs induced by phase turbulence

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Piccardo

    (Harvard University
    Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia)

  • Benedikt Schwarz

    (Harvard University
    Institute of Solid State Electronics)

  • Dmitry Kazakov

    (Harvard University)

  • Maximilian Beiser

    (Institute of Solid State Electronics)

  • Nikola Opačak

    (Institute of Solid State Electronics)

  • Yongrui Wang

    (Texas A&M University)

  • Shantanu Jha

    (Harvard University
    Yale University)

  • Johannes Hillbrand

    (Harvard University
    Institute of Solid State Electronics)

  • Michele Tamagnone

    (Harvard University)

  • Wei Ting Chen

    (Harvard University)

  • Alexander Y. Zhu

    (Harvard University)

  • Lorenzo L. Columbo

    (Politecnico di Torino
    Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR-IFN)

  • Alexey Belyanin

    (Texas A&M University)

  • Federico Capasso

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

Wave instability—the process that gives rise to turbulence in hydrodynamics1—represents the mechanism by which a small disturbance in a wave grows in amplitude owing to nonlinear interactions. In photonics, wave instabilities result in modulated light waveforms that can become periodic in the presence of coherent locking mechanisms. These periodic optical waveforms are known as optical frequency combs2–4. In ring microresonator combs5,6, an injected monochromatic wave becomes destabilized by the interplay between the resonator dispersion and the Kerr nonlinearity of the constituent crystal. By contrast, in ring lasers instabilities are considered to occur only under extreme pumping conditions7,8. Here we show that, despite this notion, semiconductor ring lasers with ultrafast gain recovery9,10 can enter frequency comb regimes at low pumping levels owing to phase turbulence11—an instability known to occur in hydrodynamics, superconductors and Bose–Einstein condensates. This instability arises from the phase–amplitude coupling of the laser field provided by linewidth enhancement12, which produces the needed interplay of dispersive and nonlinear effects. We formulate the instability condition in the framework of the Ginzburg–Landau formalism11. The localized structures that we observe share several properties with dissipative Kerr solitons, providing a first step towards connecting semiconductor ring lasers and microresonator frequency combs13.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Piccardo & Benedikt Schwarz & Dmitry Kazakov & Maximilian Beiser & Nikola Opačak & Yongrui Wang & Shantanu Jha & Johannes Hillbrand & Michele Tamagnone & Wei Ting Chen & Alexander Y. Zhu & Loren, 2020. "Frequency combs induced by phase turbulence," Nature, Nature, vol. 582(7812), pages 360-364, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:582:y:2020:i:7812:d:10.1038_s41586-020-2386-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2386-6
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    Cited by:

    1. Prati, F. & Lugiato, L.A. & Gatti, A. & Columbo, L. & Silvestri, C. & Gioannini, M. & Brambilla, M. & Piccardo, M. & Capasso, F., 2021. "Global and localised temporal structures in driven ring quantum cascade lasers," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 153(P1).
    2. Dmitry Kazakov & Theodore P. Letsou & Maximilian Beiser & Yiyang Zhi & Nikola Opačak & Marco Piccardo & Benedikt Schwarz & Federico Capasso, 2024. "Active mid-infrared ring resonators," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

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