Title:  Ultrashort Pulses in Optical Microresonators with Kerr Nonlinearity

Committee:

Dr. Ali Adibi, ECE, Chair , Advisor

Dr. Stephen Ralph, ECE

Dr. Kurt Wiesenfeld, Physics

Dr. Benjamin Klein, ECE

Dr. Rick Trebino, Physics

Abstract: Over the last decayed, optical frequency combs have become indispensable tools for molecular fingerprinting, low-phase-noise and spectrally pure radio frequency signal synthesis, astronomical spectrogram calibration and search for exoplanets, and frequency metrology and timekeeping. While frequency combs were originally realized by mode-locked lasers, in recent years, their generation in high-quality-factor optical resonators has shown promise for light-weight, small-foot-print, robust, and power-efficient comb sources with larger repetition rates and in frequency regimes not available to mode-locked lasers. This thesis, focuses on ultrashort pulses based on microresonators which correspond to stable mode-locked frequency combs. The research described in this thesis has led to a novel synchronization model for mode locking in parametric frequency conversion and pulsed laser systems, a new method for deterministic generation of chip-based ultrashort pulses (dissipative Kerr solitons), and a robust design for broadband near-infrared frequency combs for rubidium-based optical clocks. The influence of higher-order dispersion on frequency comb generation and stability, and some limitations and advantages of different numerical approaches for theoretical comb studies are also explored.