Photonics Research, 2025, 13 (7): 1955, Published Online: Jul. 1, 2025
Stable soliton microcomb generation in X-cut lithium tantalate via thermal-assisted photorefractive suppression
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Abstract
Chip-based soliton frequency microcombs combine compact size, broad bandwidth, and high coherence, presenting a promising solution for integrated optical telecommunications, precision sensing, and spectroscopy. Recent progress in ferroelectric thin films, particularly thin-film lithium niobate ( ) and thin-film lithium tantalate ( ), has significantly advanced electro-optic (EO) modulation and soliton microcombs generation, leveraging their strong third-order nonlinearity and high Pockels coefficients. However, achieving soliton frequency combs in X-cut ferroelectric materials remains challenging due to the competing effects of thermo-optic and photorefractive phenomena. These issues hinder the simultaneous realization of soliton generation and high-speed EO modulation. Here, following the thermal-regulated carrier behavior and auxiliary-laser-assisted approach, we propose a convenient mechanism to suppress both photorefractive and thermal dragging effects at once, and implement a facile method for soliton formation and its long-term stabilization in integrated X-cut microresonators for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The resulting mode-locked states exhibit robust stability against perturbations, enabling new pathways for fully integrated photonic circuits that combine Kerr nonlinearity with high-speed EO functionality.
Jiachen Cai, Shuai Wan, Bowen Chen, Jin Li, Xuqiang Wang, Dongchen Sui, Piyu Wang, Zhenyu Qu, Xinjian Ke, Yifan Zhu, Yang Chen, Wenhui Xu, Ailun Yi, Jiaxiang Zhang, Chengli Wang, Chun-Hua Dong, Xin Ou. Stable soliton microcomb generation in X-cut lithium tantalate via thermal-assisted photorefractive suppression[J]. Photonics Research, 2025, 13(7): 1955.