High-Energy Microresonator Soliton Generation
Abstract
Kerr resonators generate stable frequency combs in a compact platform with applications in coherent communications, sensing, quantum information processing, and astrophysics. Ultrashort pulses can be generated, moreover, with a wavelength and repetition rate flexibility inaccessible by traditional mode-locked lasers, which is desirable for high peak-power applications including in biomedicine and materials processing. However, for these applications, single-pulse energies will need to be significantly improved beyond the fJ level characteristic of sources today. Here we describe and demonstrate a simple approach for increasing the pulse energy in anomalous dispersion Kerr microresonators. Through scaling laws based on a mean-field cavity model and supported by experimentally-accurate numerical simulations, we show that pulse energy scales strongly with output coupling if supported by sufficient drive power. In strongly over-coupled cavities, femtosecond pulses can be stabilized with pulse energy beyond the pJ level. With this theoretical framework, by pumping a 12 GHz Si3N4 cavity with 30% output coupling with 2.6-ps time-lens generated pulses, we observe stable 74-fs pulses with a record output pulse energy of 6 pJ. High energy Kerr resonators are anticipated to improve performance for current applications and compliment mode locked lasers for high peak power applications.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.18611,
title = {High-Energy Microresonator Soliton Generation},
author = {Zhenhua Guo and Sushant Kumar and Xue Dong and Yi Zhang and Jiewei Xiang and Arunima Nauriyal and Junchi Zhang and Elias Veilleux and Jaime Cardenas and William H. Renninger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.18611},
year = {2026}
}