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Nonlinear optics is the study of how intense light interacts with matter. The optical response of a material usually scales linearly with the amplitude of the electric field. At high powers, however, the material properties can change more rapidly. This leads to nonlinear effects including self-focusing, solitons and high-harmonic generation.
Kerr resonators can support a new form of parametrically driven temporal cavity soliton (and associated optical frequency comb), with potential performance advantages that include background-free operation and the possibility of very high pump-to-comb conversion efficiencies.
There has been great success in observing the spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) of temporal cavity solitons (TCS) in Kerr ring resonators, but similar phenomena in linear Fabry-Pérot cavities are still unexplored. The authors establish the field polarization properties for the SSB of TCS, and characterize the SSB in a model Fabry-Perot resonator.
An integrated device that combines optical parametric oscillation and electro-optic modulation in lithium niobate creates a flat-top frequency-comb-like output with low power requirements.
I argue that a surface emitting laser that remains single mode irrespective of its size, a scale-invariant laser, should of necessity also waste light at the edge. This is a fundamental departure from the Schawlow-Townes two-mirror strategy that keeps light away from mirrors and edges to preserve gain and minimize loss. The strategy was implemented in the recent discovery of the Berkeley Surface Emitting Laser (BerkSEL).
Vladimir Zakharov was a man of a strong passion and grand intellect, who was equally and deservedly proud of both his scientific achievements and his poetry.