Topic: Recent Developments in Fiber-based Kerr Optical Frequency Combs

Speaker: Dr. Yiqing Xu (University of Auckland)

Moderator: Professor Wei Xiaoming

Time: 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 26, 2023

Location: Academic Lecture Hall, Room 213, 2nd Floor, Physics Building (Building 18)

Welcome teachers and students to attend!

School of Physics and Photonics

October 20, 2023

Summary of the report:

Kerr optical frequency combs have emerged as one of the most versatile laser sources over the past decade. Through the nonlinear cavity soliton generation process within a Kerr resonator, a narrow linewidth coherent laser can be efficiently broadened into a wide-ranging comb, with all comb lines remaining mutually coherent. In the quest for miniaturization, the Kerr comb community has primarily focused on the microresonator platform. However, these combs often have large frequency spacings, making them impractical for many applications. Our latest work has centered on intriguing nonlinear phenomena observed in relatively large-scale resonators. By employing a synchronously pulsed driving scheme, we've explored unique cavity solitons that were previously overlooked in continuous-wave pumped microresonators.

About the speaker:

Yiqing Xu completed his Ph.D. from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, specializing in nonlinear optics with a specific focus on ultrafast nonlinear laser source generation. After earning his doctorate, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at the EEE department of the University of Hong Kong (HKU). During this time, he delved into the intriguing applications of ultrafast lasers in imaging. Subsequently, Ray transitioned to a postdoctoral research role at Zhejiang University, where he inadvertently became involved in pioneering work on spatiotemporal chirped cavity time-of-flight mass spectrometers. Currently, Ray is a research fellow at the University of Auckland. His primary research interest lies in the generation of Kerr frequency combs and their potential applications.