0000000000255665
AUTHOR
Stéphane Coen
Existence and dynamics of pairs of temporal cavity solitons weakly-bound through kelly sidebands in a passive optical fiber resonator
We report experimental observations of weaklybound states of temporal cavity solitons, with separations of 10 soliton widths and beyond, in a 100-m single mode fiber cavity. Bound state dynamics has been studied using the real time dispersive Fourier transform technique for roundtrip-byroundtrip measurements. Temporal oscillations in the cavity soliton background, associated with the presence of Kelly sidebands, have been identified as the binding mechanism.
Dissipative Polarization Domain Walls in a Passive Coherently Driven Kerr Resonator.
Using a passive, coherently driven nonlinear optical fiber ring resonator, we report the experimental realization of dissipative polarization domain walls. The domain walls arise through a symmetry breaking bifurcation and consist of temporally localized structures where the amplitudes of the two polarization modes of the resonator interchange, segregating domains of orthogonal polarization states. We show that dissipative polarization domain walls can persist in the resonator without changing shape. We also demonstrate on-demand excitation, as well as pinning of domain walls at specific positions for arbitrary long times. Our results could prove useful for the analog simulation of ubiquito…
Thermodynamic approach of supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber
We show that the spectral broadening process inherent to supercontinuum generation may be described as a thermalization process, which results from the natural irreversible evolution of the optical field towards a thermodynamic equilibrium state.
Towards a Thermodynamic Description of Supercontinuum Generation
Based on the kinetic wave theory, we describe continuous-wave supercontinuum generation as a thermalization process, i.e., an irreversible evolution of the optical field towards a state of maximum nonequilibrium entropy.
Asymmetric balance in symmetry breaking
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is central to our understanding of physics and explains many natural phenomena, from cosmic scales to subatomic particles. Its use for applications requires devices with a high level of symmetry, but engineered systems are always imperfect. Surprisingly, the impact of such imperfections has barely been studied, and restricted to a single asymmetry. Here, we experimentally study spontaneous symmetry breaking with two controllable asymmetries. We remarkably find that features typical of spontaneous symmetry breaking, while destroyed by one asymmetry, can be restored by introducing a second asymmetry. In essence, asymmetries are found to balance each other. Our st…
Dissipative polarization domain walls as persisting topological defects
We experimentally demonstrate the existence of dissipative polarization domain walls in a normally dispersive Kerr resonator. We excite and trap them with appropriate external signals thus realizing an all-optical buffer for topological data.
Buffering optical topological data using passive Kerr resonators
We experimentally demonstrate the existence of dissipative polarization domain walls, in a normally dispersive Kerr resonator. Through deterministic manipulation of the laser driving the resonator, we achieve systematic excitation and locking of the domain walls.
Imperfect symmetry breaking
By considering a nonlinear resonator driven by an elliptically polarized beam, we study experimentally the robustness of spontaneous symmetry breaking to controlled asymmetries. In particular, we reveal that different asymmetries can balance each other.
Nonlinear topological symmetry protection in a dissipative system
We report an experimental and theoretical investigation of a system whose dynamics is dominated by an intricate interplay between three key concepts of modern physics: topology, nonlinearity, and spontaneous symmetry breaking. The experiment is based on a two-mode coherently-driven optical resonator in which photons interact through the Kerr nonlinearity. In presence of a phase defect between the modes, a nonlinear attractor develops, which confers a synthetic M\"obius topology to the modal structure of the system. That topology is associated with an inherently protected exchange symmetry between the modes, enabling the realization of spontaneous symmetry breaking in ideal, bias-free, condi…
Toward a thermodynamic description of supercontinuum generation
International audience; We consider the incoherent nonlinear regime of the supercontinuum generation process in optical fibers. We show that, under certain conditions, the phenomenon of spectral broadening inherent to the supercontinuum generation may be described by simple thermodynamic arguments based on the kinetic wave theory. Accordingly, the supercontinuum generation process may be regarded as a thermalization process, which is characterized by an irreversible evolution of the optical field toward a thermodynamic equilibrium state, i.e., the state of maximum nonequilibrium entropy.