IPHYS, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Russian Quantum Centre, Skolkovo, 143025, Russia.
Nat Commun. 2017 Sep 29;8(1):736. doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-00719-w.
Dissipative solitons are self-localised structures resulting from the double balance of dispersion by nonlinearity and dissipation by a driving force arising in numerous systems. In Kerr-nonlinear optical resonators, temporal solitons permit the formation of light pulses in the cavity and the generation of coherent optical frequency combs. Apart from shape-invariant stationary solitons, these systems can support breathing dissipative solitons exhibiting a periodic oscillatory behaviour. Here, we generate and study single and multiple breathing solitons in coherently driven microresonators. We present a deterministic route to induce soliton breathing, allowing a detailed exploration of the breathing dynamics in two microresonator platforms. We measure the relation between the breathing frequency and two control parameters-pump laser power and effective-detuning-and observe transitions to higher periodicity, irregular oscillations and switching, in agreement with numerical predictions. Using a fast detection, we directly observe the spatiotemporal dynamics of individual solitons, which provides evidence of breather synchronisation.Dissipative Kerr solitons enable optical frequency comb generation in microresonators, but these solitons can undergo a breathing transition which impacts the stability of such microcombs. Here, Lucas et al. deterministically induce soliton breathing and directly observe the spatiotemporal dynamics.
耗散孤子是由于色散由非线性平衡和驱动力引起的耗散而产生的自局域结构，这些驱动力出现在许多系统中。在 Kerr 非线性光谐振器中，时域孤子允许在腔中形成光脉冲，并产生相干光频梳。除了形状不变的稳态孤子外，这些系统还可以支持表现出周期性振荡行为的呼吸耗散孤子。在这里，我们在相干驱动的微谐振器中产生和研究单和多呼吸孤子。我们提出了一种确定性的方法来诱导孤子呼吸，从而可以在两个微谐振器平台上详细研究呼吸动力学。我们测量了呼吸频率与两个控制参数——泵浦激光功率和有效失谐之间的关系，并观察到与数值预测一致的更高周期性、不规则振荡和切换的转变。使用快速检测，我们直接观察到单个孤子的时空动力学，这为呼吸同步提供了证据。耗散 Kerr 孤子可以在微谐振器中产生光频梳，但这些孤子可能会经历呼吸转变，从而影响这种微梳的稳定性。在这里，Lucas 等人确定性地诱导孤子呼吸，并直接观察时空动力学。
