Subharmonic instabilities in Kerr microcombs

Opt Lett. 2023 Feb 1;48(3):578-581. doi: 10.1364/OL.476647.

Abstract

We report experimental observation of subharmonic mode excitation in primary Kerr optical frequency combs generated using crystalline whispering-gallery mode resonators. We show that the subcombs can be controlled and span a single or multiple free spectral ranges around the primary comb modes. In the spatial domain, the resulting multiscale combs correspond to an amplitude modulation of intracavity roll patterns. We perform a theoretical analysis based on eigenvalue decomposition that evidences the mechanism leading to the excitation of these combs.