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arXiv · 2608.18692

Nonlinear collective dynamics and microwave comb generation in a diamond maser

Christoph W. Zollitsch·Jonas N. Bach·Christopher W. M. Kay·Jonathan D. Breeze
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Abstract

Optically pumped room temperature masers are a promising platform for driven dissipative spin photon physics beyond steady state emission. Here we observe a sequence of dynamical thresholds in a room temperature nitrogen vacancy diamond maser as the optical pump is increased above the conventional masing threshold. The first threshold yields narrow-line continuous wave emission, while a second threshold produces a periodic train of microwave pulses whose repetition rate generates a frequency comb spectrum. At higher pump power, a third threshold gives rise to pulses with an oscillatory, frequency chirped decay. Time-resolved measurements link the comb directly to self-pulsing dynamics and Fourier analysis of individual bursts reveals a broad distribution of frequencies consistent with collective spin-resonator dynamics in an inhomogeneously broadened ensemble. These results establish the diamond maser as a room temperature platform for nonlinear nonequilibrium light matter dynamics and microwave comb generation.

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Christoph W. Zollitsch, Jonas N. Bach, Christopher W. M. Kay, Jonathan D. Breeze. 2026-08-19. Nonlinear collective dynamics and microwave comb generation in a diamond maser. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.18692

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