arXiv subjects

François Leo

Publications and source records attributed to François Leo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Mode locking by phase-sensitive amplification

Mode locking is the mechanism by which lasers organize many optical modes into stable trains of ultrashort pulses. It underpins optical frequency combs, precision timing and spectroscopy, and provides the phase-coherent waveforms required for applications ranging from strong-field physics to optical frequency metrology. Conventional pulse-forming mechanisms select pulse amplitude without fixing its phase relative to an external optical reference, leaving pulse formation and optical-phase stabilization as separate functions. Phase-sensitive amplification offers a different possibility: the optical reference can participate directly in pulse formation. Here we demonstrate this principle in a continuously pumped oscillator. Kerr-induced phase evolution and cavity detuning turn pump-referenced parametric gain into a power-dependent discriminator that supports stable single-soliton operation. Roundtrip-resolved interferometry reveals that the soliton optical phase remains referenced to the master laser modulo $π$. These results establish phase-sensitive mode locking, in which pulse-amplitude selection and optical-phase referencing arise from the same coherent nonlinear feedback.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Parametrically driven Kerr temporal soliton crystals

We theoretically investigate the dynamics of parametrically driven soliton crystals (PDSC) and their associated frequency combs in doubly resonant cavities with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities. We show that, in a regime with strong pump--signal walk-off where the homogeneous state is unstable, noise-seeded dynamics relaxes toward stable, equally spaced multi-soliton states. At fixed detuning, the driving strength acts as the primary control parameter for the soliton number. Pump signal walkoff extends pump depletion from a local perturbation to a global constraint, enabling long-range soliton interactions; in combination with the pump phase, this mechanism stabilizes the crystal's equal spacing and preserves comb coherence. Additionally, we identify a novel nonlinear state in parametric soliton crystals in which circulating solitons periodically alternate their intensities and group velocities, a phenomenon we term the {\it soliton-pursuing} state. Furthermore, due to the phase-selective nature of the optical parametric process, we show how different configurations of soliton phases determine the optical frequency combs, enabling odd-harmonic and subharmonic-like combs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Temporal dissipative solitons and optical frequency combs in coherently driven Kerr resonators

Kerr frequency combs have recently emerged as an exciting new photonic technology, with applications across science and engineering. Their formation within driven optical resonators that possess a Kerr nonlinearity is enabled through the rich landscape of localized nonlinear dissipative structures intrinsic to these systems. This article offers a comprehensive review of the physics that underpins these nonlinear comb-generating structures. Particular attention is placed on bright temporal cavity solitons and nonlinear switching waves -- the canonical stable comb-generating states in the anomalous and normal dispersion regimes, respectively. Written as both a review and tutorial, the article also includes an in-depth treatment of the numerical methods required to simulate driven Kerr resonators, alongside a comprehensive discussion of the laboratory techniques used to experimentally realize and characterize Kerr combs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Collective-Coordinate Fluctuations of Driven-Dissipative Solitons

Fluctuations of nonequilibrium localized waves are shaped not only by direct stochastic forcing but also by deterministic transfer among coupled collective degrees of freedom. We develop a pathway-resolved stochastic collective-coordinate theory that makes this transfer explicit for stationary driven-dissipative solitons of the generalized Lugiato--Lefever equation with Raman response. The reduction yields a refined stationary phase-locking relation, providing a fixed point for the subsequent stochastic theory. Projecting field-level fluctuations onto four soliton coordinates: amplitude, frequency shift, temporal position, and global phase, yields a reduced Langevin model and, after linearization about a stable stationary state, an analytic power-spectral-density matrix. This framework separates direct stochastic injection from deterministic inter-coordinate conversion and thereby resolves how each observable spectrum is assembled from distinct internal fluctuation pathways. It shows that timing jitter is governed primarily by Gordon--Haus-type frequency-to-timing conversion, while phase noise is often dominated by amplitude-to-phase transfer rather than by direct phase diffusion. Raman response opens additional cascaded pathways, and the low-detuning hump in the intensity and phase spectra is traced to the driven response of an underdamped amplitude--phase subsystem preceding the breathing instability. Comparisons with stochastic simulations of both the reduced model and the full generalized Lugiato--Lefever equation show good agreement throughout most of the stable stationary single-soliton regime, with systematic deviations mainly near the Hopf boundary. The theory provides a general route for connecting internal fluctuation-transfer mechanisms of dissipative solitons to measurable noise observables.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Temporal soliton generation in an ultra-high-effective-Q Kerr resonator enabled by Raman gain

We demonstrate temporal pattern formation in a coherently driven fiber ring cavity whose effective finesse is continuously reconfigured using distributed Raman amplification. We achieve an effective finesse of up to $\mathcal{F}_{\mathrm{eff}}\approx800$, corresponding to a linewidth of approximately 725 Hz ($Q\approx2.7\times10^{11}$) at 1555 nm. By exploiting the resulting increase in effective photon lifetime, we excite stable temporal cavity solitons and generate a low-repetition-rate frequency comb with a spacing of 580~kHz. Finally, we analyze the impact of the Raman loss-compensation mechanism, particularly its associated noise and show that a trade-off exists between soliton excitation threshold and stability.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2026

Self-organization of cavity solitons in Brillouin-Kerr ring resonators

We report on the interaction between stimulated Brillouin scattering and temporal cavity solitons in doubly resonant ring resonators. Our experiments are performed in coherently driven passive optical-fibre resonators. We demonstrate that the interplay between four-wave mixing and cascade Brillouin lasing spontaneously generates patterns of CSs on a temporal grid at twice the Brillouin-shift. These patterns are shown to be highly stable owing to a long-range locking mechanism mediated by the acoustic oscillation generated by the solitons. We introduce a unified mean-field model of the cavity to describe the dynamics between the coupled forward and backward waves under coherent driving. This model reproduces very well the experiments and explains the paracrystalline structures of the soliton pattern. Our findings significantly advance the understanding of hybrid Brillouin-Kerr optical frequency combs.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Modulation instability and frequency-comb generation in hybrid quadratic-cubic resonators with spectral filtering

We present an analytical and numerical investigation into the phenomenon of filter-induced modulation instability in passive hybrid optical resonators exhibiting quadratic and cubic nonlinearity. We show that asymmetric spectral losses, with respect to the continuous-wave solution frequency, can trigger sideband amplification in the normal dispersion regime. We calculate the parametric gain and demonstrate the associated pattern formation process. We furthermore show how this parametric process can be exploited to generate optical frequency combs with tunable repetition rate.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Dissipative solitons in parity-time symmetric laser cavities

The generation of optically coherent ultrashort pulses by mode-locked lasers has revolutionized advancements in modern science and technology. These pulses often arise from the formation of dissipative solitons, which emerge due to a balance between energy excitation and dissipation. Harnessing the concept of parity-time (PT) symmetry to control this balance, we demonstrate a new type of laser dissipative solitons hosted in linearly coupled ring cavities. Our experiments are performed in a laser where the linear hybridized modes are in the PT-symmetric phase. We experimentally observe the formation of short pulses, stabilized by the selective breaking of the PT-symmetry by the Kerr nonlinearity. Our results unlock new possibilities for passive mode-locking by showing spontaneous pulse formation in PT-symmetric lasers without the need for additional intricate components such as saturable absorber or non-reciprocal and polarisation sensitive elements.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Temporal solitons in a coherently driven active resonator

Optical frequency combs are lightwaves composed of a large number of equidistant spectral lines. They are important for metrology, spectroscopy, communications and fundamental science. Frequency combs are most often generated by exciting dissipative solitons in lasers or in passive resonators, both of which suffer from significant limitations. Here, we show that the advantages of each platform can be combined. We introduce a novel kind of soliton, called active cavity soliton, hosted in coherently driven lasers pumped below the lasing threshold. We use an active fibre resonator and measure high peak power solitons on a low power background, in excellent agreement with simulations of a generalized Lugiato-Lefever equation. Moreover, we find that amplified spontaneous emission has negligible impact on the soliton's stability. Our results open up novel avenues for frequency comb formation by showing that coherent driving and incoherent pumping can be efficiently combined to generate a high-power ultra-stable pulse train.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Manipulation and control of temporal cavity solitons with trapping potential

Temporal cavity solitons (CSs) are stable, localized particle-like objects in the form of optical pulses that circulate indefinitely in coherently driven nonlinear resonators. In the spectral domain, they form highly coherent frequency combs. Owing to their remarkable stability, they are attracting attention for applications in sensing, metrology, or optical signal synthesis. In this work, we report on the dynamics of CSs interacting with a trapping potential. We demonstrate that this interaction provides a powerful means to control their properties such as position, speed, and central frequency. Our theoretical analysis predicts fundamental limitations on the spectral shift of CSs relative to the driving frequency. Specifically, it reveals that within a broad range of detunings, frequency-shifted CSs encounter destabilization through a Hopf bifurcation. Moreover, we find that with periodic potentials, the Kelly sidebands emitted by trapped solitons undergo Bloch oscillations. In our experiments, we use an intracavity phase modulator to create the equivalent of an external real potential. We observe stable blue- and red- shifted solitons up to a limit close to our theoretical predictions. We then show theoretically and experimentally that this unprecedented level of control over the CS spectrum can be leveraged to cancel the Raman-induced self-frequency shift and even to stabilize CSs beyond the limitation imposed by stimulated Raman scattering. Our results provide valuable insights for applications requiring robust and potentially rapid tunable control over the cavity soliton properties.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Cavity Soliton-Induced Topological Edge States

Over the past decade, cavity solitons have attracted substantial attention for their rich dynamics and their myriad potential applications. Recently, there has been growing interest in understanding cavity solitons in systems of coupled resonators, where both new physics and applications can emerge. While numerous works have theoretically studied the interplay between cavity solitons and lattice topology, experimental demonstrations of cavity solitons in topological lattices remain elusive. Here, we experimentally realize cavity solitons in a Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) lattice and illustrate that the synergy between topology and soliton formation dynamics can induce soliton formation at the boundaries of a topological SSH lattice. Our work illustrates the rich physics of cavity solitons in topological lattices and demonstrates a flexible approach to study solitons in large-scale coupled resonator arrays.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

High peak-to-background-ratio solitons in a coherently-driven active fiber cavity

We demonstrate that the peak-to-background ratio of driven solitons can be greatly improved by harnessing the cavity detuning. We use a driven fiber laser pumped below the lasing threshold to increase the finesse and excite solitons in a very wide region of detunings. When driving a 50 m long fiber cavity close to the anti-resonance condition, we excite sub-800 fs solitons with a peak-to-background ratio over 30000. The experimental results are in good agreement with simple theoretical models describing the soliton peak power and the background power.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Parametrically driven pure-Kerr temporal solitons in a chip-integrated microcavity

The discovery that externally-driven nonlinear optical resonators can sustain ultrashort pulses corresponding to coherent optical frequency combs has enabled landmark advances in applications from telecommunications to sensing. The main research focus has hitherto been on resonators with purely cubic (Kerr-type) nonlinearity that are externally-driven with a monochromatic continuous wave laser -- in such systems, the solitons manifest themselves as unique attractors whose carrier frequency coincides with that of the external driving field. Recent experiments have, however, shown that a qualitatively different type of temporal soliton can arise via parametric down-conversion in resonators with simultaneous quadratic and cubic nonlinearity. In contrast to conventional solitons in pure-Kerr resonators, these parametrically driven solitons come in two different flavours with opposite phases, and they are spectrally centred at half of the frequency of the driving field. Here, we theoretically predict and experimentally demonstrate that parametrically driven solitons can also arise in resonators with pure Kerr nonlinearity under conditions of bichromatic driving. In this case, the solitons arise through four-wave mixing mediated phase-sensitive amplification, come with two distinct phases, and have a carrier frequency in between the two external driving fields. Our experiments are performed in an integrated silicon nitride microcavity, and we observe frequency comb spectra in good agreement with theoretical predictions. In addition to representing a fundamental discovery of a new type of temporal dissipative soliton, our results constitute the first unequivocal realisation of parametrically driven soliton frequency combs in a microcavity platform compatible with foundry-ready mass fabrication.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Parametrically-driven temporal cavity solitons in a bichromatically-driven pure Kerr resonator

Temporal cavity solitons (CSs) are pulses of light that can persist endlessly in dispersive, nonlinear optical resonators. They have been extensively studied in the context of resonators with purely cubic (Kerr-type) nonlinearity that are externally-driven with a monochromatic continuous wave laser -- in such systems, the solitons manifest themselves as unique attractors whose carrier frequency coincides with that of the external driving field. Recent experiments have, however, shown that a qualitatively different type of temporal CS can arise via parametric down-conversion in resonators with simultaneous quadratic and cubic nonlinearity. In contrast to conventional CSs in pure-Kerr resonators, these \emph{parametrically-driven cavity solitons} come in two different flavours with opposite phases, and they are spectrally centred at half of the frequency of the driving field. Here, we theoretically and numerically show that, under conditions of bichromatic driving, such parametrically-driven CSs can also arise in dispersive resonators with pure Kerr nonlinearity. In this case, the solitons arise through parametric four-wave mixing, come with two distinct phases, and have a carrier frequency in between the two external driving fields. We show that, when all waves are resonant, the solitons can experience long-range interactions due to their back-action on the intracavity fields at the pump frequencies, and we discuss the parameter requirements for the solitons' existence. Besides underlining the possibility of exciting a new type of cavity soliton in dispersive Kerr cavities, our work advances the theoretical modeling of resonators that are coherently-driven with polychromatic fields.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Self-pulsing and chaos in the asymmetrically-driven dissipative photonic Bose-Hubbard dimer: A bifurcation analysis

We perform a systematic study of the temporal dynamics emerging in the asymmetrically driven dissipative Bose-Hubbard dimer model. This model successfully describes the nonlinear dynamics of photonic diatomic molecules in linearly coupled Kerr resonators coherently excited by a single laser beam. Such temporal dynamics include self-pulsing oscillations, period doubled oscillatory states, chaotic dynamics, and spikes. The different states and dynamical regimes have been thoroughly characterized using bifurcation analysis. This analysis has allowed us to identify the main instabilities, i.e. bifurcations, responsible for the appearance of the previously stated dynamics.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2022

Mode-locking induced by coherent driving in fiber lasers

The generation of stable short optical pulses in mode-locked lasers is of tremendous importance for many applications. Mode-locking is a broad concept that encompasses different processes enabling short pulse formation. It typically requires an intracavity mechanism that discriminates between single and collective mode lasing, which can be complex and sometimes adds noise. Moreover, known mode-locking schemes do not guarantee phase stability of the carrier wave. Here we theoretically propose that injecting a detuned signal seamlessly leads to mode-locking in fiber lasers. We show that phase-locked pulses, akin to cavity solitons, exist in a wide range of parameters. In that regime the laser behaves as a passive resonator due to the non-instantaneous gain saturation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Bloch Oscillations of Driven Dissipative Solitons in a Synthetic Dimension

The engineering of synthetic dimensions allows for the construction of fictitious lattice structures by coupling the discrete degrees of freedom of a physical system, such as the quantized modes of an electromagnetic cavity or the internal states of an atom. This method enables the study of static and dynamical Bloch band properties in the absence of a real periodic lattice structure. So far, the vast majority of implementations have focused on linear and conservative processes, with the potentially rich physics and opportunities offered by nonlinearities and dissipation remaining largely unexplored. Here, we theoretically and experimentally investigate the complex interplay between Bloch band transport, nonlinearity, and dissipation, exploring how a synthetic dimension realised in the frequency space of a coherently-driven optical resonator influences the dynamics of nonlinear waves of the system. In particular, we observe and study nonlinear dissipative Bloch oscillations occurring along the synthetic frequency dimension, sustained by localized dissipative structures (solitons) that persist endlessly in the resonator. The unique properties of the dissipative soliton states can extend the effective size of the synthetic dimension far beyond that achieved in the linear regime, as well as enable long-lived Bloch oscillations and high-resolution probing of the underlying band structure. Besides representing the first experimental study of the interplay between Bloch oscillations and dissipative solitons, our work establishes Kerr resonators as an ideal platform for the study of nonlinear dynamics in long-scale synthetic dimensions, with promising applications in topological photonics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Self-Pulsing in driven-dissipative photonic Bose-Hubbard dimers

We experimentally investigate the nonlinear dynamics of two coupled fiber ring resonators, coherently driven by a single laser beam. We comprehensively explore the optical switching arising when scanning the detuning of the undriven cavity, and show how the driven cavity detuning dramatically changes the resulting hysteresis cycle. By driving the photonic dimer out-of-equilibrium, we observe the occurrence of stable self-switching oscillations near avoided resonance crossings. All results agree well with the driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard dimer model in the weakly coupled regime.

physics.optics↗