Various aspects of the nonlinear dynamics of Kerr frequency comb generation in optical microresonators are considered. It is shown that the comb generation process can, for the case of a single continuous wave pump, be given a simple interpretation in terms of modulational instability and that the essential dynamics can be captured using a three wave mode truncation for the pump mode and the dominant sideband pair. This idea is also extended using a four wave model to analyze an alternative dual pump configuration, for which comb generation may occur without a pump intensity threshold in both the normal and the anomalous dispersion regime.

Date Published: 4 March 2014
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8960, Laser Resonators, Microresonators, and Beam Control XVI, 896002 (4 March 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2036830

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8960:
Laser Resonators, Microresonators, and Beam Control XVI
Alexis V. Kudryashov; Alan H. Paxton; Vladimir S. Ilchenko; Lutz Aschke; Kunihiko Washio, Editor(s)