Control of Kerr-microresonator optical frequency comb by a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Opt Express. 2019 Feb 18;27(4):3873-3883. doi: 10.1364/OE.27.003873.

Abstract

A technique to integrate key functions of a Kerr-microresonator optical frequency comb into one device, i.e., a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder interferometer (DP-MZI), is proposed. In the technique, a DP-MZI enables the control of carrier envelope offset frequency (fceo), as well as repetition frequency (frep), in addition to generating a stable dissipative Kerr soliton. In experiments, influences on fceo and frep by pump frequency and power modulation via a DP-MZI are investigated, followed by a demonstration of long-term full stabilization of a microresonator soliton comb to a fiber-based optical frequency comb. As another example demonstration, timing jitter of a microresonator soliton comb is significantly suppressed by referencing to a fiber through a two-wavelength delayed self-heterodyne interferometer (TWDI).