Noise Effects in Kerr Frequency Combs

Abstract

[eng] Frequency combs are astounding optical systems that aid to solve many technical and scientific problems. Those known as kerr frequency combs rely on the non-linear kerr effect to produce combs from a monochromatic light source in devices known as whispering gallery mode resonators. The goal of the thesis is to characterize the effect of fluctuations and to identify the scenario under which a series of modes around the pumping frequency are randomly excited. This result was obtained in the laboratory and it was not previously predicted. To that extent a spatio-temporal model 1D partial differential equation, the Lugiato - Lefever Equation, is reviewed and validated as a tool to study the dynamics of frequency combs. Consequently the stochastic version of the model is numerically solved, using a pseudo-spectral algorithm. Contributions come by characterizing fluctuations for different types of noise and comparing the numerical with the experimental results, identifying the more important mechanisms supporting such fluctuations.