Accessing thermally stabilized single solitons in SiC microresonators through dynamic polarization control

Published

March 14, 2026

Author(s)

Haoyang Tan, Yi Zheng, Xiyuan Lu, Yang Liu, Andreas Jacobsen, Kresten Yvind, Kartik Srinivasan, Minhao Pu

Abstract

Optical microcombs based on high-Q microresonators are promising chip-scale light sources for applications ranging from optical communication to spectroscopy and metrology. However, thermooptic instabilities pose a major challenge for stable soliton comb access. Self-cooling via auxiliary modes can stabilize the intracavity power, yet the diverted cooling power is not utilized for soliton generation, limiting comb power and bandwidth. Here, we propose a thermal compensation scheme through dynamic polarization control. In this scheme, a controlled fraction of pump is coupled to the TM mode to provide effective self-cooling and ensure reliable soliton generation. After soliton formation, polarization rotation and pump tuning redirect the cooling power to the TE comb mode, enabling single-soliton generation with enhanced power and bandwidth. This dynamic polarization-based thermal compensation provides thermally stabilized soliton initiation and improved microcomb performance.

Citation

Photonics Research

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

Silicon carbide, microresonators, frequency comb, single soliton, polarization control

Citation

Tan, H. , Zheng, Y. , Lu, X. , Liu, Y. , Jacobsen, A. , Yvind, K. , Srinivasan, K. and Pu, M. (2026), Accessing thermally stabilized single solitons in SiC microresonators through dynamic polarization control, Photonics Research (Accessed March 21, 2026)