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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05090 |
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| _version_ | 1866912749712310272 |
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| author | Liu, Yang Jacobsen, Andreas Wildi, Thibault Zhao, Yanjing Ye, Chaochao Zheng, Yi de Beeck, Camiel Op Carreira, José Geiselmann, Michael Yvind, Kresten Herr, Tobias Pu, Minhao |
| author_facet | Liu, Yang Jacobsen, Andreas Wildi, Thibault Zhao, Yanjing Ye, Chaochao Zheng, Yi de Beeck, Camiel Op Carreira, José Geiselmann, Michael Yvind, Kresten Herr, Tobias Pu, Minhao |
| contents | Dissipative Kerr solitons in optical microresonators have emerged as a powerful tool for compact and coherent frequency comb generation. Advances in nanofabrication have allowed precise dispersion engineering, unlocking octave-spanning soliton combs that are essential for applications such as optical atomic clocks, frequency synthesis, precision spectroscopy, and astronomical spectrometer calibration. However, a key challenge hindering their practical deployment is the intrinsic bandwidth-efficiency trade-off: achieving broadband soliton generation requires large pump detuning, which suppresses power coupling and limits pump-to-comb conversion efficiencies to only a few percent. Recent efforts using pulsed pumping or coupled-resonator architectures have improved efficiency to several tens of percent, yet their bandwidths remain below one-tenth of an octave, inadequate for applications demanding wide spectral coverage. Here, we overcome this limitation by harnessing mode interactions between spatial modes within a single microresonator. The mode hybridization creates an additional power-transfer channel that supports large pump detuning while maintaining strong pump-to-resonator coupling, enabling broadband soliton formation at substantially reduced pump power. Using this approach, we demonstrate an octave-spanning soliton microcomb with a record pump-to-comb conversion efficiency exceeding 50%. These results resolve the fundamental bandwidth-efficiency dilemma in soliton microcombs and paves the way toward fully-integrated, high-efficiency, ultrabroad comb sources for next-generation photonic systems. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_05090 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Breaking the bandwidth-efficiency trade-off in soliton microcombs via mode coupling Liu, Yang Jacobsen, Andreas Wildi, Thibault Zhao, Yanjing Ye, Chaochao Zheng, Yi de Beeck, Camiel Op Carreira, José Geiselmann, Michael Yvind, Kresten Herr, Tobias Pu, Minhao Optics Dissipative Kerr solitons in optical microresonators have emerged as a powerful tool for compact and coherent frequency comb generation. Advances in nanofabrication have allowed precise dispersion engineering, unlocking octave-spanning soliton combs that are essential for applications such as optical atomic clocks, frequency synthesis, precision spectroscopy, and astronomical spectrometer calibration. However, a key challenge hindering their practical deployment is the intrinsic bandwidth-efficiency trade-off: achieving broadband soliton generation requires large pump detuning, which suppresses power coupling and limits pump-to-comb conversion efficiencies to only a few percent. Recent efforts using pulsed pumping or coupled-resonator architectures have improved efficiency to several tens of percent, yet their bandwidths remain below one-tenth of an octave, inadequate for applications demanding wide spectral coverage. Here, we overcome this limitation by harnessing mode interactions between spatial modes within a single microresonator. The mode hybridization creates an additional power-transfer channel that supports large pump detuning while maintaining strong pump-to-resonator coupling, enabling broadband soliton formation at substantially reduced pump power. Using this approach, we demonstrate an octave-spanning soliton microcomb with a record pump-to-comb conversion efficiency exceeding 50%. These results resolve the fundamental bandwidth-efficiency dilemma in soliton microcombs and paves the way toward fully-integrated, high-efficiency, ultrabroad comb sources for next-generation photonic systems. |
| title | Breaking the bandwidth-efficiency trade-off in soliton microcombs via mode coupling |
| topic | Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05090 |