Abstract

Recent investigations of microcavity frequency combs based on cascaded four-wave mixing have revealed a link between the evolution of the optical spectrum and the observed temporal coherence. Here we study a silicon nitride microresonator for which the initial four-wave mixing sidebands are spaced by multiple free spectral ranges (FSRs) from the pump. Additional lines then fill in to yield a comb with single FSR spacing, resulting in partial coherence. By using a pulse shaper to select and manipulate the phase of various subsets of spectral lines, we are able to probe the structure of the coherence within the partially coherent comb. Our data demonstrate strong variation in the degree of mutual coherence between different groups of lines and provide support for a simple model of partially coherent comb formation.

Publication Details
Publication Type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2012
Volume
20
Number of Pages
21033
ISSN Number
1094-4087
DOI
10.1364/OE.20.021033
URL
https://www.osapublishing.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-20-19-21033
Journal
Optics Express
Contributors