1. Stable Soliton Microcomb Generation in X-cut Lithium Tantalate via Thermal-Assisted Photorefractive Suppression
- Author
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Cai, Jiachen, Wan, Shuai, Chen, Bowen, Li, Jin, Wang, Xuqiang, Sui, Dongchen, Wang, Piyu, Qu, Zhenyu, Ke, Xinjian, Zhu, Yifan, Chen, Yang, Xu, WenHui, Yi, Ailun, Zhang, Jiaxiang, Wang, Chengli, Dong, Chun-Hua, and Ou, Xin
- Subjects
Physics - Optics - Abstract
Chip-based soliton frequency microcombs combine compact size, broad bandwidth, and high coherence, presenting a promising solution for integrated optical telecommunications, precision sensing, and spectroscopy. Recent progress in ferroelectric thin films, particularly thin-film Lithium niobate (LN) and thin-film Lithium tantalate (LT), has significantly advanced electro-optic (EO) modulation and soliton microcombs generation, leveraging their strong third-order nonlinearity and high Pockels coefficients. However, achieving soliton frequency combs in X-cut ferroelectric materials remains challenging due to the competing effects of thermo-optic and photorefractive phenomena. These issues hinder the simultaneous realization of soliton generation and high-speed EO modulation. Here, following the thermal-regulated carrier behaviour and auxiliary-laser-assisted approach, we propose a convenient mechanism to suppress both photorefractive and thermal dragging effect at once, and implement a facile method for soliton formation and its long-term stabilization in integrated X-cut LT microresonators for the first time. The resulting mode-locked states exhibit robust stability against perturbations, enabling new pathways for fully integrated photonic circuits that combine Kerr nonlinearity with high-speed EO functionality., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, article
- Published
- 2025